Scott Henderson Discussion

[RobGLA]

Hey Scott,
I often hear you mention transcribing. Lately I've been working on transcribing two of my favorite sax players, Bill Evans and Chris Potter. One thing I often notice when doing this is that cool phrases that sound like they are being pulled out of thin air actually are often more grounded in familiar territory than I expect them to be, such as chord tones, triads and pentatonic runs, but because of the tone of the sax and the rhythm these guys use, they make the notes sound much more interesting than some standard guitar lines.

Just wondered if when you first started transcribing you had any similar epiphanies?

Thanks so much,
Rob
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[Scott Henderson]

Yes, the element of surprise always makes it more mysterious than it actually is. If out lines aren't grounded in some form of scale, chord, pentatonic, etc, they'll sound random and not so musical. These great sax players are able to play ideas quickly in different keys and scales, and come back in when it makes the most rhythmic sense. In other words, it's just good phrasing. That, along with a huge amount of confidence in what they're doing, allows them to play as out as they want and still sound musical.

[sieuminh]

I remember hearing the very first phrase of the first song in Micheal Brecker's "Now You Hear It, Now You Don't" CD, thinking how very hip it is, and then finding out it was a straight minor pentatonic run! And of course it's his touch that made it so special ...