First and Second Endings
The next song contains first and second endings. The first time you play through the song, play the first ending, ( Z ), then go back to the beginning. The second time you play through the song, play the second ending ( X ) instead of the first.
This traditional song was made famous by Louis Armstrong and has been played by many of the great Jazz players.
The following 12 Bar Blues uses almost everything you have learned in the book up to this point. Practice it slowly at first. There are no breath marks in this piece, but by now you should be able to work out the best places to breathe. Anywhere a rest occurs is usually a good place to take a breath. If there are no rests, breathe at the end of any whole note or half note.
You now have enough musical knowledge to begin improvising, which means creating your own melodies as you play. Try varying the notes of some of the songs and examples in the book, and then make up some of your own phrases based on them.
The 12 Bar Blues is an excellent progression for improvising, particularly with the Blues scale. Experiment and have fun! If you wish to learn more about improvising, playing in all keys, expressive techniques, and theory as it applies to sax playing as well as expanding your sax playing in the areas of Rock, Blues, Funk and Soul, the book Progressive Rock Saxophone Method is highly recommended.
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