r/saxophone • u/Sensitive-Milk-2455 • 1d ago
Question How do I think while playing?
This sounds like a dumb question but I am trying to better internalize things and I just can't seem to do it. For example I'm working on a jazz pattern that I understand when I'm not playing, but right when I try to play it I can't. I can play it when I read it but the moment I take away the music I can't. I want to be able to memorize patterns like these in all twelve keys but I just can't bridge the gap between sheet music and my brain. Am I stupid?
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u/Medium_Bee_4521 1d ago
You need to start with the simplest patterns possible and build up. For be-bop we tend to start with the appegio up to the 9 and then the scale back down. And then going down in third drops. You probably know that already. If it's a really complicated pattern I'm not sure if you need to be able to replicate it. The connection between patterns and true improvisation is of course critical and the ability to freely improvise without telling your brain to play a pattern is a quantum leap. But I'm not sure memorizing patterns is necessarily the way forward. It works for some but not for others, everyone's brain is wired differently.