Much has been written about the creative process and even more has been written about practice habits and materials. It is rare, however, for a creative practice process to be revealed through a legend’s own personal notes. Fortunately for us, the influential saxophonist Michael Brecker kept extensive practice notes over the whole span of his career.
These notes are the ultimate tour guide through Michael’s development from a promising young kid from Philly to the admired and widely imitated giant he became. While Michael’s virtuosity is beyond most humans, his methodology is very accessible and understandable. It is a “how to practice” and much as a “what to practice” book. You’ll “get it” when you see how he created his own patterns and etudes, often slight permutations of standard exercises.
Highlights:
- This unique and beautifully produced book presents the essence of these notebooks - jam-packed with useful, and often brilliant musical ideas.
- Over 700 exercises, clearly re-engraved from his hand-written notebooks
- Useful for any treble clef instrument (since he often wrote "Play in all keys!")
- Explanation of how Michael actually worked on these ideas from Joey Calderazzo, John Patitucci, Richie Beirach, Steve Khan, etc.
- An appendix of his saxophone-specific exercises on fingerings, multiphonics, etc.
Michael Brecker beyond your capabilities? Not a problem - you don't have to be a genius to learn from a genius! For all intermediate and advanced players.
“You can get right inside Mike’s head if you spend time studying and internalizing these hundreds of musical ideas and theories. Have fun seeing where they lead you!” Randy Brecker
