Pentatonic Exercises for Improvisation- All Instruments

Pdf of exercises available here :jazzduets.com/...
In this video we look at some Pentatonic shapes to practice with the aim of 'embedding' the sound in the ear and fingers!
Some of these' patterns' are inspired by Jazz Giants like Bill Evans piano voicings on 'So What' from 'Kind of Blue'
Later in the video I demonstrate ways to use the shapes over various backings including Minor, Major, and Minor Turnaround.

[@tommythegunny]

This is not just educational "material", it's beautiful music in its own right, and presented with such elegance and grace. My heartfelt gratitude to Nick from Jazz Duets - you're bringing light into the world through your music and teaching. My best wishes and thanks.

[@peterprosch-jensen712]

You are an educational legend. I just discovered your videos today and your approach to improvisation and scale patterns clicks with me immensely. Concise but not condescending. Thank you for all the amazing content, Nick!

[@Jefdelima]

Nick, you are a gift of god!

[@atanuduttamusicclassesadmc4626]

Best channel to learning real music

[@ThePrimeTimer100]

Just found your channel two days ago and I’ve probably learned more information about jazz here than the two years of high school jazz class that I took. Amazing channel you are building for jazz, great content overall!!!

[@SteveSpears-Kuhlah]

This is amazing. So expansive and compelling. Thank you

[@salvadorebaham7059]

Thanks for this awesome video on the pentatonic scale. It is so easy to understand the way you explain it. You should have been my teacher when I was in college. Keep the videos coming.

[@joshcharlat850]

The Cm7 vamp set up the change, and then when that low end of the piano began with THOSE chords, it was so cool it made my day!!! The acute sound of the soprano with those bass notes on the piano made an incredible effect.

[@winstonsmith8240]

I love this channel, and I love the way you play the sax. The alto always sends shivers up my spine. Beautiful. Thanks.

[@Anddrew914]

This is a fantastic channel. I'm glad I found it.

[@zandel_zandel]

hear, hear

[@saxyrep1]

I love these exercises, it just sounds beautiful.

[@hernanmeza2355]

Forma I 1453-4715-7341-3574-5137-1 Ascendente 1547-5314-3751-7435-4173-1 Descendente Muchas gracias Nick. La estudiaré con todas las pentafonas menores. 🇨🇱

[@roystongold]

The sax playing is beautiful and information extremely helpful. Thank you for all your hard work.

[@douglasthomson2986]

Yes I did. Listening to patterns over chords in this way is very helpful. Thanks

[@kpmaynard]

This is so helpful in opening up more creative use of this scale. Thank you!

[@MJCGuitar]

Part 2 - Applications. Amazing. It makes you "see" the instrument differently👌🌟

[@antibalas79]

Best channel on here.

[@neilloughran4437]

A lot of this reminds me of Oliver Nelson and Patterns... I never read his pattern book but can imagine it's like this. Really wonderful stuff.

[@alexgordon175]

That is a fabulous piece of jazz education- I will watch and absorb this for time- probably more times than I watched quadrophenia when it was my only Betamax vid (17 times). Thank you

[@pbh07]

Really cool lesson! If you close your eyes, you can almost imagine a choir singing chords in the background

[@joshcharlat850]

Having listened to this a few times...it it the left hand on the piano that gives it that mustard.

[@kyei-mensahemmanuel57]

sir you've been giving hope always thank you may God bless your beautiful work

[@tonyborthwick1234]

Great concepts and played with such a warm and inviting tone .. Thanks Nick

[@rockplay100]

This is great for a guitar. Fingerings are sometimes super weird and very helpful for building a great technique.

[@Ronno4691]

Agreed.

[@chrismills5110]

I am a raw beginner to tenor sax, and I found this helpful. Many thanks

[@zsuzsannaszucs4473]

I am so amazed how much you can take out of pentatonic scales... :) Thank you very much for sharing!!!

[@lobster54328]

listen to David Sanborn

[@alphonsechanekayebone7871]

Very good exercices for every days

[@BodhiFitness]

Just became a patron today. Thank you for inspiring me to get more disciplined with my practicing!

[@margimusicschoolkathmandunepal]

super this is nice exercise in the world thank you for lessons

[@a.j.veneziano2669]

You sound like Korg from Thor ragnarok. I love it

[@kipanshi]

Your saxophone sounds so good, I wish i could make my guitar sound like that

[@TypingHazard]

Ugh same

[@brighthsu8027]

you can do with something like gr300

[@AdrianFarrell]

Now you understand Holdsworth's frustration 😉

[@asukalangleysoryu6695]

It's a clarinet

[@MayerHonza]

@@asukalangleysoryu6695 its not lol its a soprano sax

[@zeenimy8037]

Wao 👏🏼 the penny just dropped💃! Thank you.

[@gmahajan991]

You teaching method is top notch...

[@YoBoView]

Hi Nick I just Got the PDF & backing Track !! will for pratictice ! thank a lot for this material simply explained !

[@johnshin3410]

Thank you so much for your effort! I really like your videos. 감사합니다! 이렇게 좋은 내용을 공유해주셔서

[@eckerjoe]

Beautiful playing and examples. I love your approach to approaches !

[@gsaxita]

You are an educational legend.!!!

[@pleximanic]

Very very good stuff so clear! and what a amazing sound you get on the Soprano one of the best Soprano tones i have heard !

[@emanuelaugusto6399]

Thanks a lot!! cheers from Argentina!

[@aristidebossou]

Genius man 🙏

[@jacquelamontharenberg]

Thank you Nick.... Great patterns to internalize

[@user-fi4nz1vu9f]

Thank you. just what I needed

[@psicopolitica]

Thanks for content!!

[@Swalexbass]

Awesome video!! Thank you for uploading

[@joelperez3331]

Jerry Bergonzi peut être fier de vous ! Quelle privilège d'avoir étudié avec un tel musicien...

[@peanutsfrancavilla8549]

Great channel and great musician, you play divinely soprano sax !

[@claudemiropacheco]

Nice approach. Sounds a little bit like triad pairs clashing each other. Makes my default up's and down's in pentatonics sound so silly. Same notes, but this arrange is a killer.

[@drachenfeuer7410]

Man, you are so blessed for sharing with us all these precious, and for so long hide knowledge. God bless you Man. Skol

[@paulfairchild3461]

Yes great like it .very helpful ,shall tune into this channel lots more . For help and inspiration 👍

[@skymision3815]

Muchas gracias seguí haciendo en español. Dios te bendiga

[@dbrapowell1306]

Very Interesting how you approach your method from different instruments and actual recordings. I just saw your channel today.

[@tarifanocturnajazz7564]

TECNICA Y CAMPO PARA BUSCAR MELODIA.

[@arnieus866]

An interesting aside I thought fascinating. In Lascaux, France there is a famous cave with paintings dated to 30,000 B.C. A flute carved from a bone was discovered there. There is a documentary where a guy plays a perfect pentatonic scale. He played the US Star Spangled Banner. Apparently we still like the pentatonic. BTW, great video. I have already started practicing.

[@bustan44]

Well I was just going to relax and watch some jazz instructional videos but then my brain exploded.

[@rafaelortsespadero4870]

Muchas Gracias !

[@ericking9061]

Love it great thanks

[@MrBeeCee]

i tend to think of a relative major pentatonic like Bflat pent vs G- pent......this broadens the approach

[@joshcharlat850]

C-7 A7b9+5 D7b9+5 G7#9+5 that kicked ASS!! What more can I say but like a really good drug.

[@LegacyOfHill]

Ah, lovely. Thanks for sharing.

[@nice-recordingstudio8512]

You have a great sound, you make me remember the great Javier Girotto

[@jamielundy8220]

Great help thanks

[@michaelroach4219]

Thank you!

[@ericking9281]

need that backing track to practice

[@johnpritchard9753]

What boring old pentatonic?! Lovely sounds. Thank you.

[@MrFree-vj8qj]

Boredom is the rut in your head, penta is anything and everything

[@henryobi7738]

Am improving through this channel But how can I get some backing tracks to improvise with

[@SACHMUSIC]

Excellent!! 🙂

[@artoan]

Super usefull, thanks!

[@yonahweiner]

I love your videos!

[@saxfish]

< DelightFully amazed. You have made me come down from the branches to hug the trunK & rOOts ! FarOut ! >

[@miguellegoff]

Thank you so much!

[@brucedobson860]

Loved it man!

[@brucedobson860]

Ps Subscribed and echo Peter Prosch-Jenson below.

[@MrAdvoga]

Amazing!!! Maravilha!!!

[@tdpatibet9007]

Hey nick Im new to music transcription but MA doubt is that does the E and B note on the notation will always be flat as there aren’t any E and B natural in C minor pentatonic...

[@tdpatibet9007]

Good exercise I will learnt it through MA ear...

[@themaxwelsexebitioninartsa8677]

I AM impressed

[@calogero4537]

Calogero Congratulations master for the work he prepares

[@2009assu]

you GREAT

[@jont8161]

too useful! thanks! keep it up!

[@oizaurare]

merci , tu as un beau son

[@DanielVerdesca]

Super Merci

[@ugurcanozeroglu]

He is the Jedi Master !

[@ianjohnson4987]

Liked very much and subscribed

[@josemariapaterninamedina4550]

Genial hermano. Mil gracias. Por favor en español tambiem. Tengo sed del jazz. BENDICIONES

[@ray66antonio]

obrigado

[@tajaejemison966]

Thank you soooooooooooooooo much

[@iamg07]

Great!

[@orlandovaldiviabravo5816]

Por favor subtitulos en español gracias

[@mariannevigeland6044]

Should this transcription be in the key of Eb? Yes, the Ab doesn't appear in C pentatonic minor, however, thinking modally, the foundation scale is Eb, not Bb- right? Please clarify- considering the high quality of your postings, bet you have reason. Thanks for your wonderful teaching.

[@marooned6052]

It's C dorian not C aeolian

[@moehudson001]

I love these patterns! Excellent practice. Question: At the beginning of the video (0:30) it says the scales are in Cm. -- is that correct? I looks to be in Gm. I am new to music theory and am confused. From what I understand Cm has 3 flats Bb, Eb and Ab?

[@UlisesRockerHR]

Thought the same thing. Prolly its cos its about pentatonics, so the sixth degree is not present, nor the second

[@EanGidman]

Just in case you get to read this.... you are correct, Cm has those 3 flats: Bb, Eb and Ab. This is the natural minor form and is used to notate the key signature and is used more commonly in classical music but not only there. In jazz we tend to use more often the Dorian form of minor. This differs from the natural minor form (also called aeolian) in that it has all the same notes except for what we call the Dorian sixth which is a major sixth. In natural minor it is a minor sixth. Hence in the key of C minor we get Ab in natural minor and A natural when going Dorian. In the end it‘s all about sound. Perhaps you might try playing the 2 scales (natural and Dorian) over a Cm7 chord, one after the other. You‘ll probably find the sound of the Dorian sixth to be more „jazzy“. Combine that major 6 with the 9th and you have 2 wonderful sounding notes in your playing repertoire. By the way and just to round things off, G minor has 2 flats - in the key signature and of course in natural minor form. G Dorian only has 1 flat because the note E natural is the major (Dorian) sixth. It is also important to realise that when writing notes, we write the key signature in the proper corresponding key, I. e. Cm has 3 flats, G minor has 2 flats, etc. regardless of whether we play Dorian (using basically 1 flat less/1 sharp more in other keys) or not. The differences are usually written in the notes using naturals and sharps. Thus in the key of C minor the key signature always has 3 flats and a Dorian sixth is notated as A natural within the music.

[@EanGidman]

By the way... to answer the question as to why there are only two flats in the key signature, although stated to be C minor... well, only Nick can really answer that - maybe „thinking Dorian“ even though Cm pentatonic doesn‘t have a sixth.

[@joaoperes5527]

Amazing!!! Thank you!!! Is there any pdf?

[@elgabytrastornado5993]

Thanks!!! 🎸 🎼 🤓 Hugs!!!

[@78naturalmystic]

Excelent!!!

[@kidpoker007]

How come no examples over the most come of all chord progressions 2/5/1 and 1/6/2/5

[@garysnowdon1918]

Amazing stuff here, where is the link to get the pdf?????

[@trancosomarcus]

Try to find the exact fingering for piano is an extra exercise.

[@davidsmusic]

A M A Z I N G ! ! Thanks my friend, excellent!! (Y) :D

[@jojotheworld]

Nick! I just purchased this set of PDFs from the website but there is nothing for Bass Clef instruments. Can you help a trombone player out?

[@dylancarther9627]

can you put notes instead of partitions i dont know how to read

[@wayne8161100]

Do you have this in bass clef? Or for bass clef instruments

[@magohipnosis]

You can always read it as E minor, lol

[@SteveSpears-Kuhlah]

0:23

[@yuehchopin]

danke

[@SirDLee]

NICE!!!!!