Embellishing
With
Ollie WestonOllie Weston shows how to embellish the major scale with grace notes and triplets to bring jazz phrasing and colour to your saxophone lines.
What's in the course
51 lessons (2h 9m) · 1 free
01. Introduction + leaving town demonstration
Free lesson3:02
02. The Blues Scale
2:48
03. Swing Quavers
1:42
04. Combing the Blues Scale and Swing Quavers
3:57
05. Playing through the Blues form using root notes
1:18
06. Writes Your Own Blues
0:59
07. Leaving Town Blues - Improvise
4:13
08. Improvisation recap
0:49
01. Introduction to Minor 7th Chords
3:32
02. Dorian Scale Workout
1:40
03. Minor 7th Chord Lick
2:22
04. Minor Pentatonic Patterns
3:51
05. Minor Pentatonic Workout
1:52
06. Pentatonic vs Blues Scale
1:59
07. So Far so Good - Introduction
1:09
08. So Far so Good - Head
1:37
09. Minor Chord Extensions
2:45
10. Rhythmic Ideas
2:13
11. So Far so Good - Performance with Solo
3:50
01. Introduction to Modes
6:09
02. Diatonic Modes Exercise
4:04
03. Modes with a Static Root
1:58
04. Modes with Static Root Exercise
1:06
05. Modes with Static Root Recap
0:34
06. Phrase Exercise for Modes
1:07
07. Phrase Exercise for Modes (Demonstration)
1:29
08. Song Examples
1:56
09. First Impresssions - Chords and Harmony
4:06
10. First Impresssions - Performance
4:06
11. First Impresssions - Introduction and Analysis
3:30
Lesson transcript
Embellishing Your Major Scale
So now I'm going to show you some ways to embellish your major scale.
You don't just want to be improvising by running up and down scales; they're really fundamental building blocks. But to create music, we might want to look at some other approaches.
I'm going to show you how to embellish a few phrases and build up some common jazz articulation and touches to your playing.
Standard Phrase in G Major
Here's a standard phrase, swung in G major:
-
Grace Notes: The first thing I'm going to do is put a little grace note in at the start.
- Just having a little grace note, a little preparation to the starting note, is quite a common feature of jazz phrasing.
- I might let you detail your phrases a little more.
-
Semiquaver Triplets: Another approach, which looks really busy on the page, is found in printed Figure 2.7.
- I've added a semiquaver triplet, which may look daunting, but actually, it's very subtle.
- Instead of just going from D to C, I'm putting a little triplet up to the E.
Inspiration from Great Saxophonists
If you listen to lots of great saxophone players, Charlie Parker was particularly known for these kinds of embellishments. They add:
- Detail
- Colour
- Authenticity to your playing
Practice Suggestions
You could practice using the major seven workout tracks, going through all the different keys.
Feel free to:
- Practice these phrases and embellishments.
- Deviate from what I've written.
- Try to put your own embellishments in as well.
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Meet your guru
Meet your guru
Since graduating from the Leeds College of Music (BA Hons) and the Guildhall School of Music (Post Graduate Diploma in Performance), Ollie has built a busy and varied career in music. As a saxophonist he has performed in live and studio settings with artists as diverse as Amy Winehouse, Tim Minchin, Bonobo, Frank Turner, the London Jazz Orchestra, the Hackney Colliery Band, the Ambient Jazz Ensemble and the Nelson Riddle Orchestra. He is also the co-leader of the jazz quartet 'Time Is Of The Essence', and composes and arranges material for this and other ensembles.
Ollie is active in music education, currently as course leader for the jazz department at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama (junior school), where he runs jazz ensembles, big band and theory classes. He has written a series of 'Exploring Jazz' books for Schott Music that are published worldwide and feature on exam syllabuses in the UK. Ollie has also run workshops for Oxford University, Pro Corda Strings and BABSWE, as well as the Guildhall School of Music summer schools.
In his Exploring Jazz Saxophone courses, Ollie takes you from getting started right through to soloing confidently over songs and chord sequences, building the improvising skills that put a real jazz player's vocabulary at your fingertips.
