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How (and why?!?) did this all come about? A few years back, during a practice session, I decided to challenge myself by playing ONLY with my left hand. I made a couple of videos and kind of left it at that (no pun intended), but it was always in the back of my mind to go further with it. I had witnessed pianists like Phineas Newborn Jr., and others (as well as numerous classical pianists) play solos with only their left hands and I thought, if they can do it, so can I! I discovered it wasn't quite as easy as it sounded. Cause it sounds kinda easy, right
All of these etudes are improvisations over jazz standards. I played through them a number of times using iReal Pro as the backing track, and once I was ok with what I had played, I transcribed each solo. I changed a few little things here and there to make the etudes a little more clear, or to clean up some of the notes I didn't necessarily mean to play. I absolutely blame my right hand for not helping out more!!
All my books are meant to benefit not only my current students but also the many students I have worked with over the years. I find there are certain fundamental aspects of the saxophone that usually need to be addressed and I have tried to address those various fundamentals in my books.
Playing these particular etudes on saxophone has many benefits. They help in 'voicing' the notes more naturally and consistently. They also help with intonation, phrasing, voice leading, melody, rhythm, time, interval leaps, harmonic and rhythmic displacement, pattern recognition (sight reading), and more.
To play these, you have to relax and sort of let your body take over the process. They aren't easy but they are certainly not unplayable. Most importantly, you're gonna learn some things and they are fun to play! They are not meant to be played too quickly so take your time and really hear the phrases. I always recommend playing things slowly at first, that is to say, REALLY SLOWLY. Getting the lines clean and making them feel as smooth and consistent as possible is the goal.
I first played these on tenor sax so, if you play them on alto be sure to transpose your backing track. You should play along using the iReal Pro app, because that's what I used when I played and recorded these. You can download a recording of me playing each of these etudes (on tenor and alto sax) on my website at www.jeffcoffin.com/lhetudes
You will notice that there are many 'fourth line D' notes in these etudes. For clarity, I am using side D (Palm D). I was tempted to use side Eb (Palm Eb), and altissimo, but avoided both because I felt that doing so would overcomplicate these already complicated etudes.
So here it is, my book of Left-Handed Improvisational Etudes for your educational edification. I truly believe these will help musicians of all levels take their saxophone playing to an entirely new level. I certainly noticed a number of things in my own playing that were helped by doing these. Thanks so much for checking these out and please let me know what you think of them. Peace, JC
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Like it was written by George Santos
Received an Advanced Reader Copy from a friend. I am an avid true crime reader and upon completion I question if the author is credible. The timeline does not add up for his age and the times of his alleged involvement in organized crime. Some of the things in the book he is alleged to have said and done I remember almost word for word from movies I had previously watched. He literally stole a scene from the movie the accountant with Ben Affleck and said that he did it. I did a little research after completing the book and learned that this author was also claiming in 2010 that he was a long time member of the Bloods Gang. That coupled with the above leads me to believe that it is nothing more than fantasy. Do not waste your time or money
Like it was written by George Santos
Received an Advanced Reader Copy from a friend. I am an avid true crime reader and upon completion I question if the author is credible. The timeline does not add up for his age and the times of his alleged involvement in organized crime. Some of the things in the book he is alleged to have said and done I remember almost word for word from movies I had previously watched. He literally stole a scene from the movie the accountant with Ben Affleck and said that he did it. I did a little research after completing the book and learned that this author was also claiming in 2010 that he was a long time member of the Bloods Gang. That coupled with the above leads me to believe that it is nothing more than fantasy. Do not waste your time or money
What a difficult story to tell. I appreciate the honesty and vulnerability. Definitely made me think.
I had hopes for this book but was not expecting what I would read within the pages. If your kink is deplorable grammar, incoherent sentences, and inconsistent messages, then this book is for you. At first, I thought the book I received was not the book I ordered. But as I dived in, it was very confusing. I would not recommend this book to anyone
There are not many reviews on the internet for this book. In researching the many stores selling the book, it was self-published which makes a lot of sense. The online description is written perfectly, so reading the actual book was very difficult. Pages two and three are written clearly as well as the table of contents. Pages 155 and 156 are also written logically.
It appears this book was written, then sent through a program like “Grammarly.” Once completed it seems it was published without being re-read or edited. The first clue was the title narrative that used “Has” instead of “As.” The table of contents is one page off from what it shows on pages four though seven. Many of the “q’s” are written as “[]”
Below are some examples of what was within the pages of this book written verbatim:
“Chains & Discipline/ Domination & entry/ Sadism & Masochism (BDSM) is a wide classification of bed room play.” Page 9
“When bringing up the topic of chains, you are actually asking a person to offer you their depend on, their flexibility, and also possibly their suggestion of security in exchange for sensual/sexual enjoyment, power-play, and also feasible re-evaluation of your very own connection.” Page 39
“Techni[]ue can take a selection of kinds and also be as easy or facility as you pick to (new paragraph) bargain for your details scenario” Page 52
“BDSM stands for chains as well as entry, technique and also supremacy as well as sadism and also masochism.” Page 125
“SHELF means Risk Aware Consensual Kink.” Page 130
“Approval is whatever.” Page 152
“your twist isn’t my twist, yet your twist is OKAY.” Page 153
“You can be a top, base, or button” Page 153
Good service, good book. Just what I was looking for! Thank you!