What’s the quickest way to start improvising?
I’m going to show you using the saxophone lick from Junior Walker’s classic tune “Shotgun”.
Using “Licks” or “Building Blocks” when improvising is one of the best and quickest ways to get an authentic sound on your sax.
In this lesson I’ll show you how to play a great lick from Junior Walker’s tune “Shotgun” and get that Junior Walker sound. And then we’ll use it to create great sounding solos.
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Don’t forget to download the resources for this lesson from our Locker – it’s free and there’s loads of great saxophone stuff inside for you.
Why learn licks
First of all, let me tell you why this is such an important technique.
Learning a building block or a lick from a certain style is the quickest way to get that style into your own playing.
Free PDF & Practice Track in Locker
Even the great sax players learned this way. So this is a fantastic way for you to learn any new style really quickly. Whether that’s something like this Junior Walker Shotgun saxophone lick, or you’re looking at a jazz or commercial style – it always works the same way.
So by taking an an actual lick from an original recording, and then learning that and absorbing it into our own playing, we can start to quickly create that sound.
The Shotgun saxophone lick
Watch as I play the lick we’re going to learn today. Did you recognise it?
This is one of the first licks from the opening sequence for Shotgun. And it’s a cool lick because it’s got a very Junior Walker sound about it.
We’ve got that growling E flat. We’ve got some scoops on there. And we’ve got a cool little rhythm as well.
I’ll show you the notes for this lick. Then I’ll show you how you can take a simple little lick like this and weave it into your own solo.
The notes on tenor
On a tenor saxophone, this starts on a high E flat. So I’ve got my octave key on, and I’ve got two side keys here, the D and the E flat.
When I hit that high E flat, I’m rolling with my tongue, and so that gets that rolling sound. If I start it normally and then add my tongue, you’ll see what I mean (watch as I demo on the video).
Did you hear the difference there? Now it’s a bit tricky to get. So the way to do it, is to keep all of your throat quite relaxed, your tongue very relaxed, and just let it vibrate. You might need to do that process of playing the note first and then introducing the roll to get it working and feeling comfortable.
So we go from E flat up to high F. And I’m playing the front F where I’ve got my octave key on, C key, and my index finger is up here on the F spatula key. So E flat rolling with my tongue, to F, down to D flat or C sharp, which is just my octave key. And then B flat -I’VE got my first finger on the B and the B flat key. Then G and then B flat, B flat.
So it’s roll on the E flat, F, D flat, B flat, G, B flat, and B flat.
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The notes on alto
So in the same key, it’s an easier sequence to play on the alto saxophone, because we’re gonna start on a B flat.
Rolling on the B flat, then up to C, down to an A flat (So it’s just like G sharp), down to F, D, F, F.
And make that last note nice and short.
Now, if you want to try an alternative to this, there’s a second riff that happens a bit later on in the solo. It uses the same melodic shape, but on a different note.
This time we’re going start on the E flat on the alto. E flat rolling again with your tongue, and then down to D, C, down to A flat, G, F, F.
So E flat with a roll, down to D, down to C (octave Key comes off), and then A flat, G, F, F.
The alternate line on tenor
So that second phrase on the tenor starts on an A flat. So we’ve got the octave key on, G fingers down and my A flat key here, and we’re rolling on the A flat. And then I’m going to a G, F. And then D flat, which is the same as C sharp, down to C and then B flat.
So rolling on the A flat, and then I’m going to G, F, and then D Flat, which is the same as C Sharp, down to C and then B flat.
So that’s an alternative line you could use.
Using the Shotgun saxophone lick in your solos
Okay, so let’s talk about how we can work this into our solo.
The trick is to use these building blocks as anchor points in your solo, as you’re improvising. You know they’re going to sound amazing. So all you’ve got to do is weave your improvised line, so that you come up to that lick, or building block. Then you can use it then as an anchor point in your solo, and go on from there with your improvising.
And if you’ve got a bunch of these stored up in your head, then you can use them as little points of interest as you go through your solo. They can be things that you use to start a phrase or to end a phrase. Or you can even use a section of them to incorporate into a melodic line. It’s a really powerful tool.
Back and-forth exercise
Now we’re going to do an exercise which is a great way to practice this technique.
I’ve got a longer backing track for you, and I want you to do this exercise with me.
We’re going take four bars each.
For my four bars, I’m going to make up something for the first two bars. I’m just going to use a B flat blue scale: B flat, D flat, E flat, E natural, F, A flat, and B flat.
So I’m going to make a solo up for two bars. And then for the second two bars, I’m going to play our lick.
And then it’ll be your turn for four bars. So you make a solo up for two bars using the blue scale, and then use the lick for the second two bars.
Then it’ll be back to me and we’ll swap backward and forwards and see how it sounds.
Remember if you’re an alto player, then you’ll be playing the lick in your key and you’ll be using the F blue scale: A flat, B flat, B natural, C, E flat, and F.
Okay. Are you up for the challenge? Remember four bars each. I get to go first and then it’ll be your turn. We’re going to go backward and forwards. Let’s have some fun.
Wrapping up
How did you get on with that?
You can do this sort of exercise over and over again, and there’s always something extra to learn.
And don’t forget, if you work out some more licks from Shotgun, then you could go through the same process with that. And even better when you’ve got a bunch of different licks is to then combine them in different ways, along with the backing track, to practice weaving them into your solo.
I can’t tell you how important this sort of technique is for quickly developing your improvising skills, and for understanding new styles, as a saxophone player.
So well done for making it through this lesson. Don’t forget to get the PDF and backing track from our Locker.
Free PDF & Practice Track in Locker
But if you really want to take things further, I’ve got a series of lessons on Shotgun inside Sax School PRO. There’s a lick workout where I show you six killer licks from Shotgun, and we have some fun working those through in a similar process. Get access with a 14 day free trial here.