Hi, I'm pro saxophonist Jamie Anderson and this is Get Your Sax Together - saxing
up your Sunday in the most delightful way with another free online saxophone
lesson for alto and tenor sax. And what could be more delightful than Jr.
Walker's epic, career defining tenor solo on Urgent by Foreigner.
Urgent is from
Foreigner's 1981 album "4" and features the screaming tenor sax of legendary R&B
saxophonist Jr. Walker. Walker was in a bit of a career slump from 1979 and this
big hit totally got his career back on track, leading to him re-signing with
Motown in the same year. If you want to know more about this extraordinary
saxophonist you can go to the card linked above to watch my Jr. Walker
Sax Legend profile Billy Joel's saxophonist Mark Rivera is also credited
on the track, so if that's right maybe he does the staccato, choppy riff in the
song that comes just before the main solo, I don't know. If you know the full
story please comment below. Also, if you've got a favorite solo you want me
to cover, leave me a comment but remember and don't do sax cover songs at the
moment - just bona fide sax lines that were originally played on sax. This track
has been much requested by you guys, including Ian Page, so shout out to you
Ian, hope you enjoy this one. I'm not gonna lie - I couldn't play this when I started
this lesson and I even thought I was gonna have to abandon it. It's insanely
high, going up to a fourth octave F-sharp and G-sharp for tenor. Typically for
Jr. Walker, there's nothing in-between, without
warning he suddenly shoots up two octaves. Anyway, I've eventually worked
out how to do it, and apart from the minor surgical procedure needed on my
bottom lip after all this the show can go on!
However, it goes without saying, this is definitely not one for the faint of
heart. Then again if you take the screamers out
of the equation the rest of it is okay, and you're left with some memorable and
funky pentatonic licks. If you go down into the description and click the link
you can pick up your free PDF sheet music for Urgent, carefully transcribed
for tenor and alto, plus - as requested by you guys -
after I've played it, the backing track runs for you to play along waves at the
end of the lesson. I've broken the solo into nine phrases - let's start by
breaking down the first phrase which acts as a rhythmic intro to the main
solo.
I found a couple of different versions of Urgent, and sometimes this
solo lead in section is twice as long. I went for the radio edit length as the
real action gets going in phrase 3. Also as I said earlier I'm not a hundred
percent sure this bit is even played by Jr. Walker.
Anyway here's phrase two...
Okay, that's the warm-up, now it's about to kick into high gear. But, just before
the fireworks start if you're frustrated with your progress on sax and you want
to take your plane to the next level, I can help you get super clear about how
and what to practice in my Saxophone Success Masterclass. This is an hour-long,
in-depth lesson, suitable for saxophonists of any standard, that will help
you with everything from embouchure to improvising, and best of all, the price is
zero pounds and zero pence! Just click the link in the description or go to
www.getyoursaxtogether.com/masterclass
Okay, getting back to the
solo then, here's the third phrase. This is insanely high for tenor and alto. I'll
be doing a video soon on altissimo and in the meantime you can check out
Sir Valor on YouTube who's the man for all things altissimo. The fingerings here
are the ones I experimented with and used for this video, but you'll have to
find something that works well for you. Don't be disheartened if you use these
fingerings and just get a damp squib - it's super difficult, and most of it is
in the embouchure not the fingerings. You might just want to take it all down an
octave or even down two octaves!
Man, Jr. Walker plays like double F sharps so beautifully. Clear as a bell
and perfectly in tune. Unbelievable. Phrase four has another hallmark of
Jr. Walker style and that is this tongue roll growl. If you want to learn
how to do this go to the card linked above now, but basically you have to roll
your tongue at the same time as you blow, giving this raspy effect.
Here's phrase 5 in slow motion - now some funky pentatonic stuff...
Phrase six continues with the funky pentatonic stuff. If you want to get to grips with
pentatonix and blues, go to the card linked above now, where I give you a clear and
simple explanation of what pentatonics are and why they're so important. If you
go down into the description and get your free PDF transcription for this
solo you'll see that, apart from one dog-whistle note here at the end, this
whole solo is on an F-sharp minor blues scale for tenor, or a C-sharp minor
blues scale for alto.
More tongue roll action in phrase seven...
Phrase eight really is one of the most extraordinary things I've ever heard on
sax. The phrase starts off just funking out on the pentatonic as you'd expect,
but then suddenly - without warning - he instantly leaps up an octave and a fifth
to a fourth octave G sharp on tenor. Now a note Jr. Walker was the man, but
even for him this seems like a stretch to get up there with no chance to set
his embouchure. I suspect it's an edit, but if it isn't it just makes Jr. even more
incredible! Insane. Here we go, let's get our dog whistle on.
Final phrase is still well and truly upstairs, here it is broken down. Your
neighbors are gonna love you for this one!
So there we have it, that's all the
pieces you need to play this classic solo. I've had a go at making a
backing track for this one but my guitar skills are a bit limited, and the
production of this one is hard to replicate, but it should give you the
basic idea. After I've played it through, the backing track will run without sax
for you to practice with. By the way, in case you didn't know, if you want to
quickly find specific places in the video you can click on the time stamps
listed in the description, and remember, you can slow down YouTube videos if you
need to work at a slow tempo. Okay, fingers crossed here we go!
So that's it for this week - I'm off to give my bottom lip and ice bath! If you
haven't already, don't forget to go and check out my Saxophone Success
Masterclass - I literally give away everything I know about sax that I could
fit in an hour! You can get your free PDF for Urgent using the link in the
description and if you want to help me out you can subscribe, click the bell to
be notified when new lessons come out, follow my socials -
Insta and Facebook and give me a nice thumbs up and a comment. Thanks for
watching, I really do appreciate it, and keep practicing smart and I'll see you
next week for a great lesson where I lay out the basics of how to play jazz. See
ya!
Here's phrase [BLEEP]
Here's phrase five now in slow motion. Ughhh [BLEEP]
No its not.
Take two: phrase 8 really is the one. Oh no. [BLEEP]
Get it together...