Thursday, December 17, 2015

Saxophone Daily Workout

Saxophone Daily Workout


Pitch Bending (5-15 minutes)

For more detail go to The Secret to Playing the Saxophone.


Saxophone Focus Pitches

These pitches are only a rough guide.  They work for some mouthpieces and some sound concepts, but not all. For jazz, I and many others use a lower focus pitch. Those printed above work well for some classical sound concepts. Lately, I have been playing my S80 C* again on alto, and I find that a higher focus pitch works better than those above. Regardless, play the focus pitch loud, long, and as stable as possible.  Do not attempt the Mouthpiece Pitch Exercise until you can do this.

Mouthpiece Pitch Exercise

To be played on the mouthpiece alone very loudly after the focus pitch has been firmly established.  Example is for alto.  Soprano, tenor, and baritone use their respective focus pitches as the starting point of this exercise.

High Tone Bending

This is a variation of the Mouthpiece Pitch Exercise.  For example, play the following while fingering high Eb only (do not move the fingers).  Then do the same on increasingly higher notes.  This is especially usefully for gaining control and flexibility in the altissimo register.  Go slow.  Don't rush this.

Overtones/Harmonics

Do a Google search for "saxophone overtones," and you will find many sites with good exercises.  One of the best resources, however, is Donald Sinta's book, Voicing: An Approach to the Saxophone's Third Register.

Long Tones (5-10 minutes)

Traditional long tones are good but often boring.  You may also play slow, lyrical melodies that you know by heart.  Cover the entire range of pitch and dynamics.  Focus on your tone quality.  Great sound is key!

Tuning (15 minutes)

Play notes and intervals on the piano using the sustain pedal.  Sing the notes and intervals.  Then play and match pitch carefully, using a great sound.
Tuning drones like the ones in Steve Colley’s method from Tune Up Systems are also extremely useful.

Scales (up to 1 hour)

Practice according to the phase you are in.  See “Scale Exercises” sheets (to be uploaded soon).  
Focus on good air support and even sound throughout the range.  Slur the scales when not practicing specific articulation exercises.  

Articulation Exercises

The following (Sprints and Endurance) are examples that should be repeated in all keys/notes.

Sprints

To be played with a metronome as fast as possible.  However, clean, clear articulation is more important than speed.  Be sure to incorporate various styles: staccato, legato, marcato, etc.  Repeat as many times as necessary, and use a whole note to end each pattern with great, stable tone.

Endurance

To be played with a metronome.  The 16th notes will dictate the tempo.  You must focus on clarity of attack at all subdivisions.  Over time, work to increase the tempo.  Do this on all notes.

Finger Exercises (5 – 10 minutes)

Open and close one key at a time, starting very slowly, smoothly building speed to a fast trill, and then smoothly slowing again.  Do this for every finger.  The finger should never leave the key.  

Dynamic Exercise (5- 10 minutes)

On one note, begin a very soft sound that builds from the silence itself.  Crescendo this sound smoothly to maximum volume while maintaining great pitch and tone.  Then decrescendo smoothly back to silence in the same time it took to crescendo.  Do not decrescendo too quickly.  Do this all on one breath.  You will have to practice your pacing. Now pick other notes in all of the ranges.  

Octave Slurs (2-5 minutes)

Starting in the low register, you should bump the octave key quickly.  The instrument should respond by going up and down the octave according to the position of the octave key. If you get stuck in one octave, adjust the embouchure.  For example, getting stuck in the upper octave could indicate that you are biting too hard and/or that your throat is too closed.  This exercise teaches us to get out of the way and let the instrument do its job. Focus on playing with a stable embouchure and fast, stable air.

Vibrato Exercise (2-10 minutes)

Saxophone vibrato is generated with the jaw as if saying "yah, yah, yah" or "vah, vah, vah." More important than this exercise, though, is to listen to great examples of vibrato and to emulate the way it is used indifferent styles and contexts.  For example vibrato will be significantly different for the Marcelo Oboe Concerto, than for Rachmaninoff's Vocalise, than for Desmond's Take Five.
  1. Set the metronome to 80
  2. Play a G major scale in whole notes with 4 undulations of vibrato per click of the metronome (like 16th notes).  If this is too difficult, slow the tempo until you can do this, and then speed back up to 80 over time.  Do not go on until you can do this.  
  3. Play in half notes, alternating vibrato on one note and straight-tone on the next, and then reverse the pattern.  Do not go on until you can do this.
  4. Play in quarter notes, alternating vibrato on one note and straight-tone on the next, and then reverse the pattern.  Do not go on until you can do this.
  5. Play odd numbered Ferling etudes at 8th=80 with vibrato on every note long enough for 4 undulations.  

Sight-reading

Do this as often as possible. Any new material is fair game.  


Practicesightreading.com is another great resource.  In the lower left corner of the main page, you will find a small section labelled “Create.”  Here, you can choose a time signature, the number of measures, and the level of difficult (1 is easiest).  This will generate a rhythmic pattern that you should clap and Ta.  Clap the time with the metronome, and Ta the rhythm.  Daily practice with this tool can greatly increase rhythmic proficiency and therefore enhance sight-reading ability.  

Circle of 4ths and 5ths.  



This is an important tool that all musicians should be familiar with.  As seen below, it is the circle of 4ths going clockwise because every new note is a 4th above the previous note.  Whereas going counterclockwise, every note is a 5th above the previous note: the circle of 5ths. This is not the only way to diagram this tool, and you may encounter it in other forms.  

Saturday, January 3, 2015

The Ferling Project Part 2: The Fast Ones - UPDATED 25 JULY 2016

I never really intended to record the even numbered Ferling etudes.  For me, the greatest value lies within the slow etudes.  See my other post The Ferling Project for the complete set of the slow etudes including those in the Mule edition.  Here I am, however, with two of the fast etudes complete.  I am not editing these, and it is a little harder to get a clean take than with the slow ones.  I think it is important, though, to present them raw as they will often be played in practice or in lessons.  My interpretations are fleeting.  The examples I have presented are only that, examples, and the next time I play them might be quite different.  In fact, I was experimenting with several different ideas for etude number 2.  The one I settled on is not necessarily my favorite musical idea, but it is cleaner than the others.  I am not concerned with metronome markings; you may find my tempos quite different than Mule's or Andraud's markings.  That's okay.  Those metronome markings are not Ferling's.  I am, however, trying to capture the spirit of each etude as notated in Ferling's tempo/style markings.  I may add to this project over time, so keep your eye out for updates.  I hope you find these helpful.  Best wishes!

Ferling Etude No. 2


Ferling Etude No. 4


Ferling Etude No. 6


Ferling Etude No. 8


Ferling Etude No. 10

Thursday, January 1, 2015

A Few of My Favorite Things

**Updated December 11th 2015**

It's 2015, and it has never been a better time to be a saxophonist.  There are so many good tools and accessories that there is little to keep an aspiring musician from reaching whatever heights they desire.  Below are some of my favorites.

Neckstrap - justjoessaxgelstrap.com

I have been using a Just Joe's Sax Gel Strap for a couple years, and it is awesome!  The strap looks great, disappears well, hold its adjustment, and is quite comfortable.  The materials seem every bit as good as claimed, and the strap is holding up very well; it could still almost pass for new!  I forget what size I have, but I can use the same strap on alto, tenor, and bari, though I still prefer a harness for bari.

**Update**
I also really like Brancher's neckstraps.

Swab

The Cannonball Dragon Swab is one of the best designs I have seen.

Reeds

With the right setup, Legere Signature Series reeds eliminate my need for cane.  I have always dreamed of being able to perform a recital on synthetic, and now I can.  Everything is better.  The tone has greater clarity, faster response and articulation, and the intonation is more stable.  Right now, my favorite mouthpiece to use with these is a custom faced modern Larry Teal.

**Update**
Legere's Inspiration mouthpiece has a lot of potential as a classical mouthpiece.  I've only played on or seen one, but it is well-made and has good response, tone, and intonation.  For me, it tends to get a bit too buzzy in the lower register, but your results may vary.

The PlayNick LM1 is another mouthpiece with a lot of potential and is designed to work well with Legere reeds.  The example I have is well made and quite a bit darker than the Legere Inspiration.  It also has good response, tone, and intonation.  The tone is very well-balanced in all registers.

Ligature - silversteinworks.com

Wonderful new design!  I have always been a fan of the string ligature, and this one is fantastic!  It is the best sounding ligature in my collection, and the sound can be modified by adjusting the side bars.

**Update**
I am no longer so enamored with this ligature.  Yes, it can sound really good with some of my mouthpieces but not all of them.  I do tend to like it with my Larry Teal and Beechler, but there is a major problem, one that plagues many minimal contact ligatures especially with Legere reeds.  You see, Legere reeds have much less friction against the mouthpiece than cane.  This means they slide around easily and really rely on a ligature to hold them in place.  The Silverstien can hold them in place... until I need to adjust my mouthpiece for intonation.  Then, the whole setup slides.  This makes quick pitch adjustments on the fly in a performance impossible, and therefore, I cannot use this ligature in performance.  I have even tried sticking a thick BG mouthpiece patch to the top of the mouthpiece where the ligature's two primary contacts are.  This gives them something better to hold onto, but it is not enough.  I can never seem to get the ligature tight enough to keep the reed secure, and I've even tightened the top screw with pliers.  I still think there is a lot of potential in this design, but more refinement is needed.  By the way, contrary to the claims of the makers, the string material in my ligature has indeed stretched over time.  The problems I have described have been getting worse.  

Tuning Drones - tuneupsystems.com

Steve Colley's Tuneup Bootcamp System has helped me refine my my ability to hear fine intonation and play in tune like nothing else.  Every musician should use this daily!