How to Play the Uptown Funk Alto Sax Solo

This article is a collaborative effort, crafted and edited by a team of dedicated professionals.

Contributors: Andranick Tanguiane, Fred Lerdahl,

Contents

Check out this tutorial on how to play the uptown funk alto saxophone solo.

Uptown Funk

Uptown Funk is a song by Bruno Mars. The song was released on November 10, 2014 as the lead single from Mars’ upcoming second studio album, titled “24K Magic”. The song was written by Bruno Mars, Jeffrey Bhasker, Philip Lawrence, and Mark Ronson. The song is a mix of funk, soul, and hip hop.

The song’s music video became popular on YouTube, accumulating over 1.5 billion views. It features Mars and his band playing in various locations around New York City. The video has been parodied by several artists, including Justin Bieber and One Direction.

The song has been very successful commercially, reaching number one in several countries including the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, and New Zealand. In the United States, the song has sold over 4 million copies as of March 2015. It is also one of the best-selling singles of all time worldwide, with sales of over 14 million copies.

The Alto Sax Solo

The alto saxophone is one of the most popular instruments in jazz and pop music. The solo in “Uptown Funk” by Bruno Mars is a great showcase for the instrument’s versatility and range. In this article, we’ll go over how to play the alto sax solo from “Uptown Funk.”

To start, let’s take a look at the solo itself. The solo is played over two chord progressions, both of which are repeated twice. The first progression is Dm7-G7-Cmaj7, and the second is Fm7-Bb7-Eb7. There are also two measures of rest before the second chorus.

The first thing to notice about the solo is that it covers a lot of ground melodically. The melody starts on the root of the Dm7 chord (D), then jumps up to the 9th (E), before resolve down to the root again. From there, it climbs up to the 13th (A), before falling back down to the root again. This pattern continues for several more measures, before finally resolving back down to D in the last measure.

Now that we’ve looked at the solo itself, let’s talk about how to play it. The best way to approach this solo is to break it down into smaller pieces and learn each one separately. We’ll start with measures 1-4, which cover the first chord progression (Dm7-G7-Cmaj7).

In measure 1, we start on D, the root of Dm7. We then jump up to E, before resolve back down to D again in measure 2. In measure 3, we climb up to A, the 13th of Cmaj7, before falling back down to D again in measure 4. Notice that each time we jump up to a higher note, we resolve back down to D before moving on. This creates a nice sense of forward motion in the melody.

Now let’s take a look at measures 5-8, which cover the second chord progression (Fm7-Bb7-Eb7). In measure 5, we start on F, the root of Fm7. We then jump up to G#, before resolve back down again in measure 6. In measure 7, we climb up to C#, before falling back down again in measure 8. Just like in measures 1-4, each time we jump up to a higher note we resolve back down before moving on. This gives us a sense of forward motion as well as a sense of closure when we finish on Eb in measure 8

Playing the Uptown Funk Alto Sax Solo

The Uptown Funk alto sax solo is one of the most iconic solos in recent pop history. It’s a great solo for beginners to learn, as it’s not too difficult to play. In this article, we’ll walk you through how to play the solo.

Tips for playing the solo

Here are some tips for playing the solo:

-Start by practicing the melody slowly. Once you have the melody down, you can start to speed up.
-Pay attention to the dynamics of the piece. The solo gets louder and softer at certain points, so make sure you are following those changes.
-Use your breath to control the sound. There are a few places in the solo where you need to take a breath, so make sure you practice those breath points.
-Articulation is important in this piece. Make sure you tongue each note clearly so that it doesn’t run together.

The sheet music for the solo

The sheet music for the “Uptown Funk” alto saxophone solo can be downloaded for free from a number of websites. A simple search will reveal many results. The solo is not terribly difficult, but it does require a good understanding of rhythm and some basic knowledge of jazz scales.

A video tutorial of the solo

Hi, my name is George B and I will be showing you how to play the alto saxophone solo from Uptown Funk by Mark Ronson ft. Bruno Mars. This should be a relatively easy solo for most alto saxophone players out there. I will be using a B-flat alto saxophone in this video tutorial. The first thing you’ll need to do is find the sheet music or transcription of the solo. Once you have found it, take a look at it and find out what key the solo is in. In this case, the solo is in the key of E-flat. Next, you’ll want to watch the video tutorial and then pause it when I start to play the solo. Listen to how I play the solo and then try to mimic what I’m doing. If you can’t figure out how to play a certain part, then feel free to fast forward to that part of the video and then pause it so you can take your time figure out how to play it. Good luck and have fun!

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