EP 8: Sean Payne on Perfect Pitch, Learning Obsession & Musical Truth

In this episode of The Louis Dowdeswell Podcast, I sit down with the phenomenal saxophone player and fellow music school alum, Sean Payne.

We go deep—from our early gigs and pub chats to intense topics like perfect pitch, internalising music, composition philosophies, circular breathing, and the psychology of practice. Sean shares what it means to be a "serial learner" and why musical breakthroughs often come from reducing things to their simplest forms.

You'll hear us talk about:

The myth of perfect pitch and how it can actually be developed

Writing jazz melodies without rhythmic crutches

The emotional reason most people don’t improve

How listening habits shape your entire sound

Why Sean refuses to slow solos down when transcribing

And what Michael Brecker, Wayne Shorter, Joey Calderazzo & Cannibal Adderley all taught him indirectly

This one's a goldmine for sax players, jazz musicians, teachers, and anyone obsessed with getting better at their craft—no fluff, just real talk from the trenches.

🧠 Real musicianship. Real learning. Real stories. Come join us inside the mind of one of the UK’s most exciting young jazz voices.

📍 Timestamps / Highlights:

00:00 – Welcome & intro to Sean Payne 03:14 – Internalising music: “If you can’t hear it, you can’t play it” 08:45 – Perfect pitch: Myth, memory & training 15:20 – Developing pitch through singing in unfamiliar keys 20:33 – Altissimo register & limiting beliefs 28:40 – Circular breathing story from the pub 33:12 – What Sean’s learning now: melody-rhythm 39:50 – The art of leaving space in writing 47:10 – Does prescription kill creativity in large ensembles? 56:45 – Minimalism in writing: what Miles, Wayne & Coltrane taught us 1:02:10 – Transcribing vs understanding: deeper than just notes 1:08:02 – Pattern playing, originality & Joey Calderazzo’s brutal honesty 1:20:15 – Practicing without your instrument 1:24:40 – Tonguing, tempo, and mental “sloppiness” 1:30:11 – Deep listening: why 3 albums are better than 300 1:37:33 – Music vs lawnmowers: finding your sound in an age of overwhelm 1:44:00 – What people really mean when they “don’t have time to practice” 1:51:18 – Why Sean won't copy Brecker anymore 1:57:20 – The difference between wanting an outcome & doing the work 2:04:00 – Wrap-up: the mental game of mastery