First time on Sax Station? Then start here and learn more about my saxophone lessons.

SaxStation

Speak Saxophone

What is the Circle of Fourths (and/or Fifths)

By 1 Comment

What is the circle of fourths and why is it useful?

The movement in fourths that comes to my mind is that of the five chord to the one chord. If you’re in the key of ‘C’ then the fifth would be G and the one chord would be ‘C’. To go from a dominant five chord to a one chord has resolution. G7 to C major in this example.

Another example is in the blues from the one chord to the four chord. Similar sort of movement.

So the movement in fourths happens quite often in a lot of different types of music. Learning the ‘circle of fourths’ and practicing in patterns that use the progression will be similar in some ways to playing those patterns in actual songs. It therefore can be a useful tool for practicing.

If you progress in fourths you could start with C, go to F, then to Bb, then to Eb, etc. Each successive key has one more flat than the previous key.

You can also go in the reverse direction.

Starting with any note if you ascend by fifths you will reach all twelve keys. Descending by fifths is the same as ascending by fourths. If you begin with C major there are no sharps or flats. F Major has one flat. G Major has one sharp.

Enharmonic equivalents, such as G# sounding the same as A flat, have the same pitch, but are written differently. They show relationships and one may be easier to read or think about than another.

Circle of Fifths

Joe Viola Saxophone Technique – Saxophone Music Books

By 1 Comment

Joe Viola teaches at Berklee College of Music and came out with a few books.  I worked with volume II quite a bit.  At first I would just read through it to practice site reading since he covers all the chords and it starts becoming a beast when you have multiple double b’s or #’s.

The chord studies book works by going from major to dominant to minor to dminished all within one key.  So you can really work on one that you’re having trouble with.

Joe Viola Technique of the Saxophone: Scale Studies

Joe Viola Technique of the Saxophone – Volume 2: Chord Studies

Stanley Turrentine Discography

By Leave a Comment

Stanley Turrentine CDs

  • 1960 Stan “The Man” Turrentine – Bainbridge
  • 1960 Look Out – Blue Note
  • 1960 Blue Hour – Blue Note
  • 1961 Comin’ Your Way – Blue Note
  • 1961 Up at Minton’s, Vol. 1 – Blue Note
  • 1961 Up at Minton’s, Vol. 2 – Blue Note
  • 1961 Up at Minton’s – Blue Note
  • 1961 Dearly Beloved – Blue Note
  • 1961 Z.T.’s Blues – Blue Note
  • 1961 Ballads – Blue Note
  • 1962 That’s Where It’s At – Blue Note
  • 1962 Jubilee Shout – Blue Note
  • 1963 Never Let Me Go – Blue Note
  • 1963 A Chip off the Old Block – Blue Note
  • 1964 Hustlin’ – Blue Note
  • 1964 Stanley Turrentine – Blue Note
  • 1964 In Memory Of – Blue Note
  • 1964 Mr. Natural – Blue Note
  • 1964 Let It Go – Impulse!
  • 1965 Joyride – Blue Note
  • 1965 Tiger Tail – Mainstream
  • 1966 Rough ‘n’ Tumble – Blue Note
  • 1966 Easy Walker – Blue Note
  • 1966 The Spoiler – Blue Note
  • 1967 New Time Shuffle – Blue Note
  • 1968 Ain’t No Way – Blue Note
  • 1968 Common Touch – Blue Note
  • 1968 Look of Love – Blue Note
  • 1968 Always Something There – Blue Note
  • 1969 Another Story – Blue Note
  • 1971 Sugar (with Ron Carter, George Benson, Butch Cornell, and Freddie Hubbard) – CTI
  • 1971 The Sugar Man – CTI
  • 1971 Salt Song – CTI
  • 1972 Cherry (with Milt Jackson) – Columbia
  • 1973 Don’t Mess with Mister T. – Columbia
  • 1974 Pieces of Dreams – Original Jazz Classics
  • 1975 In the Pocket – Fantasy
  • 1975 Have You Ever Seen the Rain? – Fantasy
  • 1976 Everybody Come on Out – Fantasy
  • 1976 Man with the Sad Face – Bainbridge
  • 1977 Nightwings – Fantasy
  • 1977 West Side Highway – Fantasy
  • 1977 Love’s Finally Found Me – Classic World
  • 1978 What About You! – Fantasy
  • 1979 Soothsayer – Elektra
  • 1979 Betcha – Elektra
  • 1980 Inflation – Elektra
  • 1980 Use the Stairs – Fantasy
  • 1981 Tender Togetherness – Elektra
  • 1983 Home Again – Elektra
  • 1984 Straight Ahead – Blue Note
  • 1986 Wonderland (with Stevie Wonder) – Blue Note
  • 1987 The Baddest Turrentine – CTI
  • 1989 La Place – Blue Note
  • 1990 Introducing the 3 Sounds – Blue Note
  • 1991 The Look of Love – Huub
  • 1992 More than a Mood – Music Masters
  • 1993 If I Could – Music Masters
  • 1995 Three of a Kind Meet Mr. T – Minor Music
  • 1995 Live at Minton’s – Blue Note
  • 1995 T Time – Music Masters
  • 1995 Time – Music Masters
  • 1999 Do You Have Any Sugar? – Concord Jazz
  • 2002 Deuces Wild – Prestige Elite
  • 2002 The Blue Note Stanley Turrentine Quintet/Sextet Sessions – Mosaic
  • 2003 Look Out – Toshiba
  • 2004 Blue Hour, Vol. 2
  • 2004 Story of Jazz – EMI
  • I’m in Love – Fantasy
  • Love Hangover – Fantasy
  • Stan the Man – Time
  • 2007 A Bluish Bag, Tracks 1,2,4 & 5 issued on New Time Shuffle in 1979 Tracks3,6 & & originally issued on Stanley Turrentine 1975