johnkg
Verified buyer
07/13/26
Just started getting into it and finding that, like all Truefire courses, the content will be of real benefit. Truefire is an absolute treasure!
30 Sax Licks for Guitar You MUST Know
Featuring Mike Stern
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About this course
We’ve all heard our favorite guitarists talk about how much horn players influence their playing. Listen to any of the great jazz, blues or rock guitarists and you’ll hear improvisational approaches and lines inspired — if not copped directly - from the lines of great saxophone and horn players like Miles Davis, Charlie Parker, John Coltrane, Wayne Shorter to the more contemporary players like Branford Marsalis, the Brecker Brothers, Clarence Clemons and Bill Evans.
Bill Evans' 30 Sax Licks for Guitar You Must Know will infuse your playing with 30 versatile, tasty saxophone licks that will majorly spice up your own improvisations. Bill cherry-picked this collection just for jazz, blues and rock guitarists who can then tweak, twist and combine them to make them their own.
Bill is a world-class, Grammy Award winning saxophonist and producer who made his debut on the international music scene in the 1980’s, at the tender age of 21, with Miles Davis. Bill has 25 solo albums to date and today performs with the likes of the Allman Brothers, Warren Haynes & Gov’t Mule, Robben Ford, Randy Brecker, Medeski Martin and Wood, and Umphrey’s McGee to name just a few of the artists that invite Bill to join them on stage.
“I've had the privilege over the years of playing with some really great guitar players. People such as John McLaughlin, Steve Lukather, Warren Haynes, John Scofield, and Mike Stern. In my conversations with all these guys, there's always been one very common thing that they'd talk about, and that was saxophone lines. They'd say to me, ‘I really love to listen to saxophone players and learn their saxophone lines.’ I’m thrilled to now present this collection of sax licks to the guitar world at large!”
To optimize the educational value of the course, Bill invited his long-time friend and frequent bandmate, Mike Stern to contribute to the course by demonstrating Bill’s sax licks on the guitar.
“I'm very ecstatic to have one of my favorite guitar players in the world on this course with me, Mike Stern, who knows the language backwards and forwards; and when I say the language, I mean blues, jazz, rock, and improvisation, with few people as versatile as Mike Stern. He's here to help me demonstrate the sax licks on the guitar. I'll play through the lick twice, then Mike will take over, and then we'll play them together and finish by going through the fingering on the guitar.”
Both Bill and Mike demonstrate the licks over rhythm tracks and then Mike breaks the licks down, emphasizing the key concepts and techniques employed in the performance of the lick on the fretboard.
All of the licks are tabbed and notated for your practice, reference and study purposes. You’ll also get Guitar Pro files so that you can loop and/or slow any section down as you work through the lessons. Plus, Bill generously includes all of the rhythm tracks for you to work with on your own.
Grab your guitar and let’s sax up our jazz, blues and rock licks with Bill Evans!
Bill Evans' 30 Sax Licks for Guitar You Must Know will infuse your playing with 30 versatile, tasty saxophone licks that will majorly spice up your own improvisations. Bill cherry-picked this collection just for jazz, blues and rock guitarists who can then tweak, twist and combine them to make them their own.
Bill is a world-class, Grammy Award winning saxophonist and producer who made his debut on the international music scene in the 1980’s, at the tender age of 21, with Miles Davis. Bill has 25 solo albums to date and today performs with the likes of the Allman Brothers, Warren Haynes & Gov’t Mule, Robben Ford, Randy Brecker, Medeski Martin and Wood, and Umphrey’s McGee to name just a few of the artists that invite Bill to join them on stage.
“I've had the privilege over the years of playing with some really great guitar players. People such as John McLaughlin, Steve Lukather, Warren Haynes, John Scofield, and Mike Stern. In my conversations with all these guys, there's always been one very common thing that they'd talk about, and that was saxophone lines. They'd say to me, ‘I really love to listen to saxophone players and learn their saxophone lines.’ I’m thrilled to now present this collection of sax licks to the guitar world at large!”
To optimize the educational value of the course, Bill invited his long-time friend and frequent bandmate, Mike Stern to contribute to the course by demonstrating Bill’s sax licks on the guitar.
“I'm very ecstatic to have one of my favorite guitar players in the world on this course with me, Mike Stern, who knows the language backwards and forwards; and when I say the language, I mean blues, jazz, rock, and improvisation, with few people as versatile as Mike Stern. He's here to help me demonstrate the sax licks on the guitar. I'll play through the lick twice, then Mike will take over, and then we'll play them together and finish by going through the fingering on the guitar.”
Both Bill and Mike demonstrate the licks over rhythm tracks and then Mike breaks the licks down, emphasizing the key concepts and techniques employed in the performance of the lick on the fretboard.
All of the licks are tabbed and notated for your practice, reference and study purposes. You’ll also get Guitar Pro files so that you can loop and/or slow any section down as you work through the lessons. Plus, Bill generously includes all of the rhythm tracks for you to work with on your own.
Grab your guitar and let’s sax up our jazz, blues and rock licks with Bill Evans!
What you'll learn
- Create more dynamic and unpredictable musical lines
- Using dynamics for musical expression
- Understanding syncopated rhythm
- Understanding improvisation as a skill
- Develop improvisational skills
Release date: 04/08/2016 • 2h 09m runtime
Sample lessons
Blues Bop
Lick 1
Hiccup Now
Lick 3
Hendrix Triplets
Lick 6
Going Out There
Lick 16
What's included
35 lessons • 32 charts • 10 Jam Tracks
30 Sax Licks for Guitar
Hi this is Bill Evans, and welcome to 30 Sax Licks for Guitar You Must Know. I've had the privilege over the years of playing with some really great guitar players. People such as John McLaughlin, Steve Lukather, Warren Haynes, John Scofield, and Mike Stern. In my conversations with all these guys, there's always been one very common thing that they'd talk about, and that was saxophone lines. They'd say to me, "I really love to listen to saxophone players and learn their saxophone lines."
I'm very ecstatic to have one of my favorite guitar players in the world on this course with me, Mike Stern, who knows the language backwards and forwards; and when I say the language, I mean blues, jazz, rock, and improvisation, with few people as versatile as Mike Stern. He's here to help me demonstrate the sax licks on the guitar. I'll play through the lick twice, then Mike will take over, and then we'll play them together and finish by going through the fingering on the guitar. Everything is tabbed and notated, and you'll receive the rhythm tracks to work with on your own. So grab your guitar and let's get started!
I'm very ecstatic to have one of my favorite guitar players in the world on this course with me, Mike Stern, who knows the language backwards and forwards; and when I say the language, I mean blues, jazz, rock, and improvisation, with few people as versatile as Mike Stern. He's here to help me demonstrate the sax licks on the guitar. I'll play through the lick twice, then Mike will take over, and then we'll play them together and finish by going through the fingering on the guitar. Everything is tabbed and notated, and you'll receive the rhythm tracks to work with on your own. So grab your guitar and let's get started!
Blues Bop
As in most of the lines we'll be playing, lay back into the groove. Everything swings more that way. The first bar is like a pick up bar leading toward the major/minor 3rd note. Emphasize those notes (B and Bb) when you play the line. There’s a 2 beat break, then an answer to the first 2 bars. You can sometimes leave out a few notes in the line (I call them ghost notes) and see how it sounds. For instance, leave out the 2nd through 7th notes in the second bar while playing the line.
The Descent
This is a classic blues type lick that sounds good on both saxophone and guitar. Be sure to bend the notes on the last bar as much as you want to add personality! Sometimes you can start phrases on the 1st beat, 2nd beat, or the 3rd beat. Break it up.
This line happens to start on the 1st beat and descend down. Again we have that major 3rd, minor 3rd sound that you can do in so many ways. Experiment.
This line happens to start on the 1st beat and descend down. Again we have that major 3rd, minor 3rd sound that you can do in so many ways. Experiment.
Hiccup Now
This is a blues lick with a couple of intervallic jumps, which gives the line some tension. Here I want you to lay back when you play it. Try to even get behind the beat for practice. Blues and jazz alike sound the best when laying back and swinging. Have fun experimenting with trills, turnaround, etc. on these.
Quarter Trip
Starting on the 1st beat, this line seems to keep pushing you ahead to the next note. The sound of this phrase is based around the 6th and the b5 of the chord. Those notes give the line tension and color. As long as you don’t stay on them too long, and resolve back to the original key of G, its very cool. Practice that sound - very bluesy and colorful. I love that sound, and so does Mike.
Cinco-Pation
Any time you leave space between the notes it allows the rhythm section to react more to what you play. Don't be afraid to syncopate your lines. Write out a line and then take some notes away, put rests in, and see how it sounds. Bend the notes, like on this phrase, and leave some space. You'll like what happens to your line.
Hendrix Triplets
This a very twisty line that can sound good with just about any kind of music; blues or jazz especially. Why? Because it's very chromatic. Anything chromatic is great for most keys, you really only need to know what key the line is pointing to when you get to the last note. Lay on the b5 on this line, and really lay back as well (like most of the lines).
+ 28 more lessons
Reviews
23 results
Troggman
Verified buyer
03/09/26
Cool
Very useful and easy to understand instructions
Joegift
Verified buyer
11/25/25
Must have!
Great job from to monsters of jazz-funk! The licks are extremely useful and you can use them in various contests. Very well explained from the authors. Must have!
Chrisberger
Verified buyer
04/06/25
30 sax licks sax and guitar
I am enjoying the course. I also am enjoying the true fire market place… however, I made a purchase on line that i can not access. I was charged and I have the receipt. So I purchased the same class through the app which went perfectly well. I would like to be refunded for the first class I bought on line since I can’t access it. Please let me know how I do that? Even though I’m a sax player, I’m finding the options of courses wonderful. The bass courses I’ve reviewed are wonderful for horn players. I see myself using more course work in the future. Stern and Evans are amazing! Thanks C
motoputz
Verified buyer
12/10/24
incredible
too much good stuff by two monsters
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