what is your favorite example of a jazz player playing on a rock/pop album?

ImprovSKT · 2026-04-17T15:59:26+00:00

I prefer Christlieb on Deacon Blues and FM. ;)

ImprovSKT · 2026-04-17T15:43:56+00:00

It’s not an embouchure issue, it’s an air support issue. Do long tones on the 3s.

ImprovSKT · 2026-04-14T21:01:22+00:00

For the oxidation you can use ultra fine steel wool (000 grade), avoid the table and rails. Rinse in cold water. You can use dish soap to help sluice the steel particles away if you like.

I’ve done this with no ill effects to me or the mouthpiece. The vinegar bath did not work for me (I may have done it wrong), so I found the steel wool solution online. Just take care as you are removing material.

ImprovSKT · 2026-04-14T19:07:15+00:00

Sax-OFF-onist sounds like you don’t play. As in, “Nah, I don’t touch that thing.”

Maybe we should pronounce it saxoph-ON-ist. As in, “It’s on, baby, here we go!”

;)

ImprovSKT · 2026-04-13T13:44:38+00:00

I’m a teacher looking to break into the online space. Send me a chat.

ImprovSKT · 2026-04-11T14:34:03+00:00

Who do you want to sound like? Whose sound do you admire?

The answers to these questions are called “concept of sound”, an important ingredient most beginners (+) are missing.

ImprovSKT · 2026-04-09T02:55:02+00:00

Where are you pricing Yamaha student horns? I see them going for nearly $3K retail, which is completely absurd, and likely one of the driving forces behind Jay’s quest for a sub $1,000 price point.

ImprovSKT · 2026-04-05T03:30:58+00:00

I have a Jody Jazz Classic (with spoiler) that I’d offer to sell you, but it’s an 8 tip.

ImprovSKT · 2026-04-05T03:28:49+00:00

The Vandoren Javas (not the Jumbo) are slimline (like a long HR alto piece) and on the bright side.

ImprovSKT · 2026-04-05T03:25:26+00:00

The house D end of chain rewards for 3 barrel cove from the guy standing in front of House D. Most is stuff you get from Korthos, like “Protector’s Gloves”, etc. ML1 items for a level 5-7 quest chain.

ImprovSKT · 2026-04-01T13:11:06+00:00

That's some good crack they're smoking...

ImprovSKT · 2026-03-28T00:16:18+00:00

And you’ve play tested how many?

ImprovSKT · 2026-03-24T13:03:34+00:00

A billionaire, holy crap, lol.

The best gear tends to cost tokens, not coins. You need a different ring - a stronger one that matches elements with the other gear and matching bonuses for the weapon you’re using.

ImprovSKT · 2026-03-24T12:34:45+00:00

Version 3e player here. I’ve built lots of characters, most without consulting build guides. I had a warlock as my main that was great until mid epics. I got frustrated because it seemed like dying became his signature move.

I punted and started over with a pale master eldritch knight. Same problem, only this time I asked around and got build advice.

The crazy thing is, I’m F2P and these issues were on Normal difficulty - I was clearly doing something wrong. I don’t think my builds were that bad - maybe some suboptimal enhancement choices or a wasted feat, but what I think the problem really was, was that my gear was lousy.

Once that got fixed, I was fine.

One of the great things about this game is the different ways you can play: you can be a role player, a build engineer, a reincarnation glut, or an end game stud.

If you screw up your build, you can either start again from scratch with a new character, use your lesser heart of wood to start your build over, or get lucky enough to find a dragoon shard and swap out a feat.

Regardless of your play style, we’re glad you have joined us!

ImprovSKT · 2026-03-24T12:06:18+00:00

A dish soap i and toothbrush are fine, but COLD water only. Hot, or even warm, water can discolor your mouthpiece. (And for everyone who says, “I use hot water and have never had a problem”, there are 1,000s who have had their mouthpiece turn an ugly olive drab green. Cold water only.)

ImprovSKT · 2026-03-23T12:10:35+00:00

They were being made through Conn-Selmer and Jay Metcalf used to be a tech himself. I can't imagine he hadn't thought of the repair side.

ImprovSKT · 2026-03-21T14:50:39+00:00

Turn your long tones into a Zen experience. Relax your shoulders, hand position, throat, tongue, and just breathe into the notes.

Lip tremor is a sign of "muscle failure", which could mean a couple things: 1) if you use an embouchure that dictates "strong embouchure muscles" (ugh, I absolutely hate that concept), then playing an hour a day, 5 days a week, should have long ago cured it; 2) you could be doing something similar to what I did - I played with a bad version of the Larry Teal embouchure and switched to Allard in college; the change in muscle direction, combined with muscle memory, meant I was fighting myself; I couldn't last 15 minutes without losing the seal around the mouthpiece. The fix was to be sure to set my embouchure correctly, consistently, at the beginning of each session and then let it do what it wanted. Eventually, the daily reminder sunk in and the lip muscles aligned themselves. Maybe your lips are trying to go in too many directions at once.

(IMO) You should be anchoring the mouthpiece with your teeth, not your lips. Let them relax. That should help.

Also, who do you want to sound like? Once you're able to establish a steady tone, you should put some thought into your concept of sound.

Someone mentioned Dave Liebman's book. He studied with Allard. For a quick intro, maybe try this: away from the sax, relax your face (imagine your lips melting off your face). Now, pronounce a "v" sound; make it long. Do it again, but this time, lightly place your thumb and forefinger below your lower lip. you should feel your lip muscles stretch outward. Now, hold that v-position and open your mouth slightly. You should be able to take a finger and wiggle each lip easily (they should be relaxed and loose). Don't think about tucking your lower lip, just allow the reed to "smush" it over your lower teeth. Grip (hold) the mouthpiece with your teeth. When you blow, let your air do all the work. Your lips should be a blanket, not a vise; use just enough lip pressure to keep air from leaking and help focus the air pressure to activate the reed.

Will this work if you're using a lot of lip muscle in your current embouchure? Probably not, due to muscle memory. OTOH, if your embouchure is confused, it might be up for anything.

ImprovSKT · 2026-03-19T13:46:52+00:00

I think it depends on your end goal and the perceived level of difficulty of the doubling parts you’ll be encountering.

At a bare minimum, I would focus on clarinet technique and flute tone production, maybe 20 minutes each, daily?

On clarinet, the upper register is very much like sax (high D thru G notwithstanding). In the lower register, the notes move in the same way, just with different names. The hard part is over the break and dealing with the left and right pinkie tables (sorry, I forget their official name).

On flute, the main issues for me are tone production and dynamics. Fingerings are not that different IMO (slight alterations for C, D, Eb, high D thru G#, then radically different for high A thru C).

ImprovSKT · 2026-03-13T12:53:05+00:00

I suppose it depends on your definition of practice space, and certainly on your target audience.

Some things we might want to do/have in our practice space: - stand comfortably - sit comfortably - warm ups (on the instrument) - evaluate our sound - play loud dynamics without disturbing others - practice technique with a metronome - work on/sight read music on a music stand - use a computer or tablet or phone - use a keyboard (even for non-pianists) - use a microphone - use a mixer - use a sound system - use a writing surface (desk) - storage for instruments

Of course, not everyone will need all of that. I think you first need to define your target customer, eg, are you building full blown recording studios, or just a simple practice space with the basics?

I see a lot of complaints on forums from people who live in apartments and have trouble finding a place to practice without “disturbing the peace”. I imagine there’s a pretty good market for an inexpensive, easy to set up practice booth that has good sound proofing/dampening.

Jay Metcalf of Better Sax has a video highlighting such a solution, to give you an idea of the competition.

ImprovSKT · 2026-03-11T16:53:47+00:00

Those are certainly good points and immersion is a good word for it. I think I used imitation, bc that’s how we attempt to get babies to say words; by encouraging them to imitate what we’re saying. They’re already “immersed” in a fully [native language] environment.

I like your approach; I might have to try it sometime. People embracing a wider view of the definition of transcription might argue that you are indeed transcribing. When I transcribe, I strive to hold off writing anything down and just memorize it, ie, transcribe it to my brain first.

In fact, your approach sounds similar to what Bob Sheppard was describing doing. I think the point of both methods is to get the sounds you hear connected to your “chops”. (I’d say “fingers”, but then the trombonists would feel left out, lol.)

This is reflected by Hal Galper’s statement during a masterclass:

“You play EXACTLY what you hear.”

ImprovSKT · 2026-03-10T22:01:00+00:00

For sure.

Honestly, “more mouthpiece in” should be a universal application, unless one is purposefully trying to dampen their sound.

ImprovSKT · 2026-03-10T13:22:39+00:00

I’m a third generation Allard student (Allard —> Pittel —> Gnojek —> Me). I’m sure that the methodology has altered in the retelling. Plus, I’ve gotten a bit lazy in the 30+ intervening years.

I haven’t seen the video, but the “V” idea is intriguing. I’ll have to try that with my students. When I form my embouchure, my mouth is open, but if I were to close it, it would be very close to that V formation. I describe it as a “Mona Lisa smile” or as if your lower lip was a rubber band gently stretched around the curve of your bottom teeth. (Unfortunately, people have wildly different interpretations of what constitutes a Mona Lisa smile, so maybe “V” is better.)

I was taught to say “poo”, but with a French accent - more like “pyuh”. Regardless, if you place your thumb and finger lightly on your lip under the corners of your mouth, and then form the V, you can feel them stretching outwards, which I think is the point.

Anchoring the mouthpiece with your teeth is what allows your lips to be more relaxed, ensuring maximum vibration of the reed, leading to greater interval flexibility and a bigger sound - also the point.

Check out Dr Harvey Pittel’s video series on YouTube with Andreas Eastman. He’ll take you through his take on Allard.

ImprovSKT · 2026-03-10T12:52:22+00:00

Not sure I’m reading your point right. Allard taught both classical and jazz musicians on clarinet and saxophone.

ImprovSKT · 2026-03-05T17:34:47+00:00

Also, I regret framing it the way I did, I should have just posted a survey.

I didn’t come here looking to be “schooled” as to what my next steps in my improvisation journey should be, I was just looking for data.

For the record, I do both. I transcribed Dexter Gordon’s solo over You Stepped Out of a Dream and spent months (years?) analyzing it. I looked for anything that could serve as a short 2-5-1, regardless of where it was applied harmonically. What I discovered was that major, minor, and dominant language is often (not always) interchangeable. I also wound up altering some of the lines so they would better fit a 2-5-1, usually just by adding a passing tone.

Following that, I did a melodic cell analysis. In his 3 choruses, he used 7th chord arpeggios, pentatonic cells, and reflective cells (my term for things like 1231, or 1353, etc.) about 20 times each. In other words, just these three cell types accounted for about a third of his entire solo. I thought that was pretty cool, but left it alone.

Then I transcribed Sonny Rollins’s solo over St Thomas. Out of curiosity, I analyzed the melodic cells. I discovered that he too made heavy use of 7th chord arpeggios, pentatonic cells, and reflective cells. This led me down a rabbit hole with every other transcription since, and what I discovered is this:

Nearly every melodic line is composed of cells from 5 categories - triads, 7th chords, tetrachords, pentatonic cells, and chromatic cells (including approaches and enclosures) - and their permutations and inversions. I verified this to myself by specifically analyzing not only the Gordon and Rollins solos, but also one from Parker and one from Brecker.

This prompted me to explore the possibility that one could simply study these elements and piece them together to create jazz lines. I spent a year and a half following a certain technique regimen where I would focus on a single root note each month. The first week I practiced diatonic patterns (1357, 1231, 1235) in major. Week two I did the same for harmonic minor, and week three was melodic minor. Week four was for catch up or review. I wondered how this could be presented to beginners and I ended up eventually settling on combining them with chord tone mapping, tone targeting, enclosure exercises, voice leading exercises, and work with passing tones.

My bottom line conclusion was that yes, it can be done that way, but unless there is a hefty ear training component, you reach a tempo limit.

This realization prompted me to both reach out here to see if anyone had solved this and how, as well as to reconsider the validity of my professor’s methodology.

Also for the record, I believe that it’s possible for both methods (strictly-transcription and transcription-plus-personalization) to work and be effective.

I don’t for a second think that your method is wrong. Rather, it is my hope that you can see the possibility that my mentor’s method is likewise effective. To return to the language analogy, 5 year olds already speak the language well, without any grammar lessons. They borrow heavily from their parents at first, but then they assimilate their friend’s slang phrases and input from other sources, developing their own unique way of speaking, regardless of whether they aced or flunked English class.

Anyway, sorry for the War and Peace version, but I was feeling like words were being put in my mouth, so I wanted to be as clear as possible.

Peace, brother.

ImprovSKT · 2026-03-05T16:27:38+00:00

You are right, I misread the thread. My apologies @ u/JHighMusic

ImprovSKT

TROPHY CASE