Nothing says smoochy, romantic saxophone quite like Sade's Smooth Operator. The track was released on Sade's debut 1984 album Diamond Life, and features the tenor saxophone of multi-instrumentalist band member Stuart Mathewman (aka Cottonbelly). For this video, which is Part 1, we'll just be learning the famous melody section at the start. If you want to learn the main sax SOLO, then go and check out Smooth Operator Part 2.
Be sure to pick up the free PDF sheet music for Smooth Operator and if you want to play along you can get the backing track here. Here are the Q&A topics covered in this lesson, with video time stamps (min:sec). Clicking on the time stamp will take you straight to that portion of the video on YouTube (in a separate tab). Full Time stamps for the video and a complete transcript are at the bottom of the blog.
Who plays the sax solo on Smooth Operator by Sade? (0:16)
the sax solo on Smooth Operator is played on tenor sax by multi-instrumentalist band member Stuart Mathewman (aka Cottonbelly)
What saxophone is used for the solo on Smooth Operator?
the Smooth Operator sax solo is played on tenor sax by Stuart Mathewman (aka Cottonbelly)
What are the chords for Smooth Operator?
in concert pitch, the chords for the intro section of Smooth Operator are: |Dm7 | G6 |
the key of the song is concert D minor (E minor for tenor and B minor for alto)
Who is Sade?
Nigerian born Sade, full name Helen Folasade Adu, is one of the most successful British female singers of all time.
Her most successful album, Diamond Life, was one of the most successful albums of 1984
What are the notes for the sax melody in Smooth Operator?
-=low C# and below, *=second octave, __=longer note
phrase 1 - tenor (2:10): E F# G A B D* E* F#* G* F#* D* E*
phrase 2 - tenor (2:58): E F# G A B D* E* F#* G* E* F#* D* E*
So that's it for this week. I hope you enjoy learning this iconic sax melody. Don't forget to get your free PDF sheet music for Smooth Operator, which has all the phrases marked in for alto AND tenor sax and remember to check out Smooth Operator Part 2 where you can learn the main solo. Next week, due to popular demand, I'll be looking at jazz II-V-I chord sequences for you, so see practicing smart and I'll see you there!
Hi, I’m pro saxophonist Jamie Anderson and you’re watching Get Your Sax Together. I sax up your Sunday every week with technique tips, player profiles, tips on playing great solos and, of course, my famous breakdowns of the world’s best loved sax lines.
In today’s free online sax lesson you’ll be learning how to play one of the most famous lines of all time, and that’s Stuart Mathewman’s iconic hook on “Smooth Operator” by Sade.
[TITLE MUSIC]
Smooth Operator is from Sade’s 1984 debut album Diamond Life and features the tenor sax of multi-instrumentalist band member Stuart Mathewman aka Cottonbelly. This track is the very definition of smoochy, romantic sax and unlike some of the other difficult breakdowns you’ve seen on this channel recently - I’m talkin’ Forget Me Nots and Urgent here - this one is suitable for beginners on sax, especially beginners on tenor sax. If you play alto, you just have to make sure you’ve got a nice reliable low B, or you could take it up the octave. In the interests of brevity, and to cater for less experienced players, this lesson only covers the main intro hook, not the full solo in the middle. Let me know in the comments if you wanna learn the main solo, and if there’s enough interest I’ll break that down for you at a later date. And while you’re in the comments let me know YOUR top smoochy, romantic sax track of all time! lol
Before we learn the first phrase, make sure you go down into the description for this video and click the link to get your free PDF sheet music for Smooth Operator, which is lovingly transcribed by yours truly for tenor AND alto sax. And keep watching to the end of the video - not just because of the amusing blooper reel - but cos I’ve included a free backing track for Smooth Operator that you can play along to. So, without further ado, here’s the first phrase, broken down in slow motion.
[DEMO PHRASE 1]
Just before we move on to the second phrase, let me quickly mention my free Saxophone Success Masterclass. It’s a totally free and exclusive one hour video lesson, with loads of in-depth teaching to help you transform your tone and technique, improvise a great solo and design a structured daily routine so you don’t waste your precious practice time with junk playing. The best part is…it’s totally free! Just go to link in the description, or you can visit double-u double-u double-u dot get your sax together dot com, forward slash masterclass.
Okay without further ado, let’s look at phrase two now. Here it is played nice and slowly…
[DEMO PHRASE 2]
If you listen to the original you’ll hear that Stuart Mathewman scoops up to certain notes. If you wanna learn how to do that properly, check out the video linked on the card above now, which shows you how to do every kind of bend, fall, scoop or glissandos you can imagine!
Moving on then, the third phrase that’s played in the song is exactly the same as phrase one, so the final phrase, phrase three for us, is actually the fourth phrase that you’ll play when you come to perform the whole song. Clear as mud! Here it is in slow motion…
[DEMO PHRASE 3]
You might notice that lovely blues note in that last phrase - the B flat for tenor or F natural for alto. I’ve done a whole lesson on the blues explaining those blue notes and much much more. Just use the card linked above now to watch it.
So we’ve now got all the notes for the intro line, however, as a special bonus I’m gonna throw in one more phrase, which is used throughout the song as a filler part. You’ll recognise it when you hear it, and if you know the song you’ll know where to chuck it in. This bonus phrase is phrase four…
[DEMO PHRASE 4]
Okay, let’s put this whole thing together now - remember to get your free PDF from the description to follow along with each phrase as I play it. You’re gonna play phrase one, phrase two, phrase one again, then phrase four. I’ve put together a backing track for this one and after I’ve performed the song you can play with it on your own. As always, it’s essential to go and listen to the original song and mimic the phrasing, timing and tone if you wanna sound convincing.
There’s a two bar intro before the sax comes in, here we go…
[SONG PERFORMANCE]
[BACKING TRACK]
So that’s it for this Sunday, thank you SO much for watching and supporting this channel and I really hope you enjoyed learning Stuart Mathewman’s iconic tenor hook on Smooth Operator. Just before we get to the funky end card music and blooper reel, if you wanna learn some more in-depth sax stuff go to double-u double-u double-u dot get your sax together dot com, forward slash masterclass and get your free one hour lesson with me and, as always, you can support me by giving this video a thumbs up, subscribe to the channel, click the bell icon to be notified when I upload new content and check out my Insta and Facebook pages. Comin’ up NEXT Sunday - you wanted jazz, and your wish is my command - so we’re gonna learn the basics of jazz two five ones. Until then, sayonara saxers! lol
[ROLL END TITLES]
[IG PROMO]
Out now on the Get Your Sax Together YouTube Channel - Stuart Mathewman’s classic tenor hook on Smooth Operator by Sade. The ultimate smoochy sax track! lol Video preview coming up now and the link to the channel is in the bio.
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