Creating a Lyrical Melodic Line in Jazz

Saxophonist Todd Williams guides us through using practice exercises to develop lyrical lines in your playing.
Learn more by visiting the Jazz Academy at academy.jazz.org
Todd Williams - Saxophone
Tom Dempsey - Guitar
Eli Yamin - Piano
Ari Roland - Bass
Alvin Atkinson - Drums
Eric Suquet - Director
Marshall Rose - Director of Photography
Jessica Paz - Sound Engineer
Richard Emery - Production Assistant
Seton Hawkins - Producer
Recorded May 3, 2013

[@thechunkytrucker5111]

his sax playing is so good that if you turn on the subtitles it occasionally says "Oh." Also i love how his really high notes almost sound like a muted trumpet. Great player.

[@grahamlyons8522]

Coltrane was one of the greatest innovators in jazz; BUT, but, but, far too many saxophonists have unfortunately imitated his tone. It is now so pleasing for me to listen, on this video, to Tod Williams with his pre-Coltrane sound.

[@bennyalvers1051]

come on -just an F ?

[@BrainToMush]

That's great how you have all those really talented middle schoolers in your class!

[@nicolasgiliberti1942]

Im a simple man, I hear a tenor sax, I give like.

[@EnlightenedRogue24]

Sensei Yeet - Oh brother. 🙄

[@Digitalpapii]

Enlightened Rogue or sister... 😭😂

[@lepatron4756]

Sensei Yeet youre back

[@ShakingMadDavid37]

@@jjy135 the man is speaking for himself. as one should always do.

[@willygmusic7860]

@@jjy135 he's referring to himself

[@TracksWithDax]

That TIIINY straight-16th's interplay between Todd and the drummer is pure brilliance. An extremely tiny detail that just sells and legitamizes the effect he's going for

[@Tirantekk]

I love seeing these guys fall into the music one at a time and smiles come over their faces. You can watch it as it spreads to each of them. I LOVE it!

[@alainvosselman9960]

Yeah, the coolest one is the drummer.. truly found his calling..

[@thebritandtheyank3821]

This truely is a straightforward yet inspiring jazz educational video - I'm currently going " back" to older tunes, working out the melodies and chords at the piano, then going to saxophone and enjoying playing minimally embellished melody, just like the originators did back in the day. There really is nothing more gratifying sometimes, than to go "backwards" in order to find your own way forward.

[@porlando12]

Eli laid back so much that he went back in time!

[@skaterocker666]

The guitar player has really keen eyesight

[@joelpierson2628]

Fummy.....I was impressed with that also. I have to get right up on the page to see the notes. Looking at getting cornea implants.

[@MrHestichs]

I'm suspecting he's cheating. He probably practiced at home!

[@miffy9871]

I love this sax player; what a great sound and solo. I’m going to check out some more of his music.

[@chiphammond1623]

Eli, all of your stuff is phenomenal - thanks!

[@hahabass]

Great sax tone. Masterful melodic lines. And I loved that open/spacious piano solo. I'm well inspired!

[@motob4406]

The bassist is tiny. I like that

[@JaggedEdgeBouldering]

i thought so too, but i looked closer, and seems like the saxophonist is really tall, and everyone looks small. even the drummer. and maybe a little depth perception thing going on too :-) how funny.

[@alainvosselman9960]

Check out the drummer, he's really, really feeling it... Thank you for sharing, very helpful !!!

[@Deeplycloseted435]

Being a human is cool sometimes. Beautiful sights, smells, and tastes are wonderful....but something about beautiful sound has an effect emotionally that the others just can’t touch. I can’t remember other senses moving me to tears, but music can do it all the time.

[@CHINABUSINESS88]

I want to go to that jazz school

[@shendshillova6872]

Same, I have 2 years until I finish school and oh boy I'm gonna use these 2 years to practice. Hope we'll make it buddy

[@geraldcody]

I hear lots of Prez in Todd’s playing. Beautiful!

[@insertname7032]

I really do not regret subscribing to this awesome channel

[@joelpierson2628]

I like what Mr. Williams did in the first few bars of the B section with just a few notes and especially with just the one note. Such an economy!

[@natronthegreat5150]

Such a smooth tenor sax sound. Right on brother!

[@moesang]

love the sound...dark and oldies...

[@chetheflin7447]

You guys are amazing. Great instruction. Thank you!

[@reggiechavez1747]

A wonderful explanation, and demonstration .

[@mourafmarcos]

Good style!..wonderful melodic line for this unforgetable song...

[@Smoobloob]

Alvin was fulla life, even on this simple tune, love it.

[@theantiantihero]

I love this. First class.

[@gsco82]

Very nice, and some interesting ideas. Todd talked about embellishing the melody, which he did at first when the song was played with the band. But after playing the melody and refrain, he also did the harder form of improvisation, playing improvised notes related to the chord structure of the piece. This is what I sometimes struggle with when improvising. Aint Misbehavin' is a good song to use, as it is not too complicated for improvisation.

[@undeniablySomeGuy]

To get better at improvising, expand your musical vocabulary by playing a lot of songs that express different ideas in different keys to internalize techniques. It's also important to explore your instrument to get comfortable with it; you'll need to be able to play all your notes 100% of the time without thinking about it no matter the key in order to think of your playing like speaking: you don't think of every word or letter in every sentence just as you can't be worrying about each note and fingering in each key. Lastly, you need to practice. Find friends you can improv with, preferably a pianist or any other chord-playing instrument. Let the pianist play chords as you internalize how to pick up on chord structure and learn to play in a way that isn't just in the chords but complementary to them.

[@JSDJerry]

@@undeniablySomeGuy That's exactly want I want to do, play without thiking. I don;t want to focue on what are the strong chord tones or thinking about notes. I know i should first practice and ingrain the original melody very well, then embelish. But for me, going the next step of improvising with a new melody but retaining the original melody in my head (so I can know when to end a phrade , is a difficult step. How do I practice that?

[@DoomerDad]

Jazz lives on

[@BirgitHeie]

Tears in my eyes ❤️

[@jamesmagana4303]

Wow and I'll say that backwards wow took us back to that era thanks guys great job

[@user-mk8mq6yb7u]

Enjoyed the Piece- Thanks

[@loocheenah]

this is so great

[@cetoutepierre8134]

Merci pour cette leçon est au delà de cette leçon un pur envol gratuit vers des cieux qui m'était alors bien inconnu ! Au plaisir de vous voir en vrai afin de savourer intimement votre musique.

[@MrFunxy]

That was wonderful

[@davidtphung]

Beautiful there. Does anyone know what brand of jacket, shirt and pants that Todd is wearing?

[@AlejandroGarcia-my7hb]

Nice ending..salutes from phoenix,az

[@soulfulstrutt74]

Very informative! Playing melodic and lyrical is so important. I recently put up a video on Keilwerth saxophones which may be of interest to you.

[@davisc1926]

Wow, great to see Todd still swinging! Miss hearing him during Wynton's early septet years. What is the 'Deacon' up to these days? lol

[@GuitarGod3711]

He's my jazz instructor at Indiana Wesleyan University. He's the best around.

[@laxpro28boy]

He just released an album! itunes.apple.com/us/album/lift-up-your-heads/id1031968009

[@lukesellers9245]

@@GuitarGod3711 not anymore u canadian leaf boi

[@jonniewadd56]

Very nice sounding Sax!! ..mellow!!

[@smokingjazz5067]

Very nice !!!!!!!! Great

[@MilesSpearman]

You guys sound absolutely outstanding and very smooth. I'm a trumpet player at Boardman Ohio I was wondering what types of books aided you to allow you to be able to embellish the melody and what made you come up with the amazing solo.

[@Zxx459]

Don't use books...thas a misleading info. TRANCRIBE SOLOS..

[@alexpollock6932]

I’m trying to get better at melodic improvisation. I’m a lot more bluesy with my solos, they’re broken up and don’t flow as smoothly as jazz should which works for some pieces but not others. I was playing Autumn Leaves earlier and was kind of impressed, my solos flowed really well and I even jumped back and forth between saxophone and the piano during the song (I played with a backing track) to get some practice in on that. Next I have to work on changing chords instead of just staying in one because while it sounds good they’re only so many places you can take the same notes before it becomes stagnant. I’m better with following progression by ear than I am by reading it on paper, can’t keep up.

[@kilgoretrout321]

Just off the top of my head but play to a backing track, with the accompaniment being a simple two or three chord progression, and you soloing for like 10-15 minutes at various tempos until you've exhausted your vocabulary. Maybe you'll generate something new once you've used all the old ideas

[@user-vy4co1fi9r]

I wish I was this good at Improv. 😔

[@sheskimusic]

Nice, man.

[@joehamilton4656]

Yes sir, I liked that.

[@kelloxstehtimwald3968]

is alvin playing a Slingerland soundking snare Drum?

[@yunus6365]

kellox steht im wald i guess

[@cesarbustosp]

👍👍👍

[@natebrown3390]

This makes me wanna play Tenor again. I regret switching back to alto sax! :(

[@Rob_-dv6ei]

Nathan Brown the tenor is a beautiful instrument, did you have to sell it for the alto or something? If not practise both! I play both - but the tenor is for my bands and orchestras and the alto is what I use for my lessons - but I use both to just play nice tunes anyway. Plus bear in mind that though the tenor does have a nice sound quality, the alto certainly has its own charm - take one of the greatest saxophonists - maybe even musicians - of all time: Charlie Parker, he rocked the alto - yes John Coltrane and Stan Getz were blasting the tenor and sounding fantastic - but his playing did more than rival the tenor's. Every saxophone is so beautiful because they are all so unique, and though this post was made 7 months ago (so you've probably already switched to the tenor and back again) it's just something to take on board.

[@kevinnguyen4123]

I do also play both horns and i think they both have their own characteristics... like the tenor has a dark, lovely and mellow sound, but on the other hand the alto has this "IN YOUR FACE" sound the tenor is often missing, if you know what i mean 😅 It really depends on the tune you're playing

[@pyannaguy4361]

They're both so cool, Right?. Back when I was coming up in the R & R 1950s, Tenor was king, so I always leaned that way, but there's no "better" about it - all you have to do is listen to Paul Desmond w/Dave Brubeck or, for specifics, Phil Woods gorgeous solo on Billy Joel's "Just The Way You Are" & you know it's not necessary to state the Alto's case for worthiness. But, back when I was a keyboard player doubling on sax & paid to play lotsa "oldies" & couldn't afford two horns & take 2 on board a plane? I found that I could make a tenor go higher than its "official" range but couldn't make an alto go lower. That's one thing that helped tip my personal choice to tenor.

[@inFAMOUSBlastshards]

Do you have Todd in one of these lessons playing alto?

[@undeniablySomeGuy]

It's the same thing. His advice can be applied to any instrument.

[@goatphilososphy]

Who can we get a choir with

[@Saxmanjoe]

I am curious to know why concert Eb was the key used. Is it the key the original was written in or is there a preference for that key for the tenor sax?

[@GraysonPeters1112]

it's the original key

[@gabrielbanks5396]

tenor is bflat

[@dylanmcgaharn5676]

It's the original key

[@wwssviewer]

So the tenor plays in F, and the alto plays in C. Both easy for the novice (like me) to improvise in.

[@dylanmcgaharn5676]

Warren Sch it's also the original key

[@ikemoemeka]

Is that a mark 6?

[@masonfullermusic]

Yup

[@lauratubah6805]

aint miss behavin :)

[@JackBlackTutorialesJAGH]

Its a beautiful song

[@Fuqua1337]

what mouthpiece does Todd Williams play

[@gutarsman]

I need chord

[@kevinyoon7004]

how do you achieve such warm tone on a tenor

[@mingoringo_]

Practice lol. I'm trying to get there too haha. I started about a week ago, so it will definitely take me a long time.

[@chasemiller4243]

Long tones, embrouchure, mouthpiece and ligature. A new mouthpiece can really open up your sound, but youre only limited by your own skill.

[@laxpro28boy]

Todd just released an album! itunes.apple.com/us/album/lift-up-your-heads/id1031968009

[@frankburn6312]

They forget the most important part that not many people talk about.: the lyrics of the song.

[@frosenzu8909]

Is this a song by them or a jazz standard? If this Is a jazz standard, what jazz standard is this?

[@georgehiggins1320]

It's called "Ain't Misbehavin'" by Fats Waller. Great song!

[@franlobatoruiz4289]

Que bien suena , nada de fraseos rapidísimos que no llegan a nada, pausado pero con mucho caracter

[@timmoethy]

How do you guys know what key it is without even saying it to each other

[@zmerz]

Piano guy looks like Mahoney from Police Academy!

[@gianb3952]

I could take my hace out the ghost player, he looks so happy

[@charliebates9587]

1:54

[@georgehiggins1320]

A guest artist was at my school this week and he said that many students begin varying the melody by adding to it, he said that you should try subtracting from it first. That blew my mind. It's so obvious, but nobody is talking about it.

[@nicolasleoni4945]

Makin' Whoopee? is that the tune?

[@Pumukl1000]

Ain't misbehaving by Fats Waller

[@da-mexican6290]

I Sample This On 1:53 MADE A HIP-HOP Beat 🌹

[@brettpiveral9313]

mKay? 😁👍

[@markymark9516]

Bill Murray really took off with his piano career I see!

[@patrickflanagan3184]

69th comment, nice.

[@James-gk8ip]

It's the 1930s sound that you hear from prewar bands.

[@Zxx459]

Saying you Lear how to play jazz from books ...is misleading info. Listen, transcription of the masters is the way to go