Minor Pentatonic Tutorial

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In this video, Paul Hanson breaks down three very easy to use minor pentatonic scales that sound great over a minor (dorian) mode.  Minor pentatonics are built by the using scale degrees 1, b3, 4, 5, b7.  The pentatonic scales that he uses are built from the 1, 2, and 5.  So in the key of G minor those scales are G minor pentatonic, A minor pentatonic, and D minor pentatonic.  As you can hear, the different pentatonic scales sound different when played over the G minor,  but they all work rather well as all the notes sit naturally inside the G dorian mode.  

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Hercules Stands Rock!!!

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All of my horns

I have been using Hercules stands for the past five years now.  In fact, with the addition of their bassoon stand, I have a Hercules stand for each one of my axes.  Recently, I've had to contact the company about the bari sax stand that I own, and their excellent response leads me to tell you that Hercules stands are the best stands to buy.

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More from Paul Hanson

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In doing research for my interview with Paul Hanson, I came across his old website, jazzbassoon.com. Though he now has a new website (paulhansonmusic.com), I found some of that content very informative, and worth a reposting.  So please enjoy the following musings from Paul.  And as an added treat, a live recording of Paul playing Wayne Shorter's Fee-Fi-Fo-Fum in a duo with guitarist Steve Erquiaga.

 

Paul Hanson on Bassoon Technique:

I believe in a good classical foundation for the bassoon. Without being overly obvious-if a bassoon student does not have certain traditional skills on the instrument that student will have too hard a time taking on the difficulty of jazz and other improvised music forms.  The important point is that without studying long tones, etudes, excerpts and the like the bassoonist won't have the experience with the instrument necessary to tackle improvisation.

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