Transcription books can be a great way to quickly learn a player’s style. Buying a collection of transcriptions can help you to really understand what a player is doing in their solos and, along with plenty of critical listening, can be a short cut in the practice room.
Plus, they can be an excellent “technical study” resource to keep you on your toes.
Music publisher Hal Leonard has just released a new book in their Saxophone Play-Along series which features the brilliant commercial sax player Dave Koz.
The book features a good selection of Koz hits with 8 tunes taken from his earliest albums through to today. The transcriptions themselves are really accurate and clearly written. Plus, each tune is transcribed for both alto and tenor or soprano sax making it very useful whatever instrument you play.
Whereas other books in the Play-Along series come with a CD, this new book comes with a code to download both the backing tracks and their Playback+ software. Playback+ lets you change the speed of the track without changing the pitch. You can also set loop points and change the key which makes it a very powerful practice aid.
The selection of tunes in this book will appeal to all intermediate and advanced players. There are a couple of easier tunes (Know You By Heart, Emily), plus some real ‘roasters’ in tricky keys. Dave Koz is a master at making everything he plays sound very easy, but it’s an eye opener to see what he’s actually doing on the instrument.
Overall this is a great book, and with the playback+ audio features makes it a no brainer.
More info:
£11 / $16 from www.halleonard.com
Songs included
All I See Is You
Can’t Let You Go
Emily
Honey-Dipped
Know You By Heart
Put The Top Down
Together Again
You Make Me Smile