Digital Pill – working musicians talk about their lives

Dean explains how to slide effortlessly into the altissimo register of the sax in one long continuously ascending note.
Click > HERE < to download a pdf of the lesson

Listen to Dean’s music here

The Pearly Shells

Zydeco Jump

The Vanguards

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Paul Williamson explains the uses of bebop scales in jazz improvisation. In this video, Paul’s first post for Digital Pill, he describes the construction of bebop scales, jazz articulation, the use of a metronome and how bebop scales place the chord tones firmly ON the beat to create an “inside” sound in improvisation. The video together with the pdf download explain the uses of bebop scales over major, dominant and minor scales.

Click the links below to download a pdf of each of the lessons
Lesson 1
Lesson 2
Lesson 3
Lesson 4
Lesson 5
Lesson 6

Listen to Paul’s music here

Paul playing with Way out West on myspace

Way Out West – Old Grooves for New Streets available from iTunes

and from CDbaby

And last but not least check out this footage of Paul I shot at the gig

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Anton Delecca explains the uses of chromatic scales in jazz improvisation and as a warm up excercise for sax. In this video, Anton describes three excersices for warm up that improve tone and dexterity and are very useful to enliven passages of improvisation.

This video works together with a pdf of the lesson available here

Visit Anton website

Anton’s album is available on iTunes

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Leo gives a sax lesson on how to keep the various registers of the sax in tune. Using the interval of the 6th and some handy tips he picked up from studying J. S. Bach’s cello suites.

Click > HERE < to download a pdf of the lesson

Listen to Leo’s music here

Leo’s website

And then there’s all the Oxo Cubans albums on iTunes

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Dean looks at long notes from several different angles – the growl, vibrato, dynamics and ear training.

Listen to Dean’s music here

The Pearly Shells

Zydeco Jump

The Vanguards

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Tony Hicks demonstrates the 24 note scale within one octave and plays a free improvisation demonstrating the use of this extended tonality.

Visit Tony on these links

His bio on the Australian Art Orchestra website

Tony’s albums on iTunes

Tony also appears on tenor sax in this Digital Pill post

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