Blues line from Stanley Turrentine, on alto sax this time. Played in The Hustler. As I said before, good one to learn in all keys, if you like it. Adding to your vocabulary.
It’s played over a minor two five one. It has the flat fifth in there as a grace note.
From the Nutcracker Suite by Tchaikovsky, here’s the first line on tenor saxophone.
One thing that might be slightly unfamiliar is the E#, it is played and sounds like an F. Notes that are uncommon like that come up in notation to keep things clean.
From the Nutcracker Suite by Tchaikovsky, here’s the first line on alto sax. Also recorded it on tenor. One thing that might be slightly unfamiliar is the B#, it is played and sounds like a C. Notes that are uncommon like that come up in notation to keep things clean. The reason it’s not written as a C natural is because there are C#’s in the same measure and it would look a little unconventional to see C natural and C# in the same measure.
Let me know if you have questions about it.
Another blues line from Stanley Turrentine. Played in The Hustler. This is a good one to learn in all keys, if you like it. Adding to your vocabulary.
It’s played over a minor two five one. It has the flat fifth in there as a grace note.
The great solo by Sonny Rollins, transcribed a couple choruses of it. Took a little time to work on the solo. Some good stuff in there! Here’s a link to buy the Tenor Madness Recording
Coltrane plays on that recording too. Check out Saxophone Tribe if you would like to expand your vocabulary, work on technique, and more.
Sometimes I am asked about holding notes longer on saxophone. It’s a somewhat common question. And I was curious about how long I actually could play notes. So I did an experiment to find out how long I can play different notes. Middle D, G w/ octave key, G w/o octave key, low Bb.
G with octave key: 22.0 seconds
Middle D: 18.8 seconds
G without octave key: 15.6 seconds
Low Bb: 8.3 seconds
________________
To put these note lengths in perspective, 60 bpm, beats per minute would be a fairly slow tempo. In 4/4 time, I played the Bb for a little more than two measures.
120 bpm would be a more common tempo. That would mean I played the low Bb for four measures.
You’re unlikely to need to play a note for more than four bars continuously. And if you do, generally it wouldn’t be on a low Bb. If a composer/arranger set something like that up, chances are they are unfamiliar with the saxophone.
I also played these notes on tenor, on alto, I could play them a bit longer, might try that out actually since I’m curious.
On bari, I would likely play them a little shorter.
Mouthpiece/reed and even saxophone are another consideration. So I may change the variables and try this experiment for a few more rounds.
Circular breathing is necessary for a few instruments – oboe and didjeridoo among the list, but I don’t think it is for saxophone. If you have a good reason why you think it is necessary, I would like to hear about it though.
What do you think of this experiment? What questions do you have? Leave a comment!
Click the like button if you’re interested in learning part of this sax solo. I thought it was pretty cool, learned it by ear. Spent a little time on it.
Let me know if you’re interested by clicking the like button/google+ button, etc. Thanks!
Game of Thrones Theme song for the HBO series based on the book by George R. R. Martin. The music is by Ramin Djawadi. First note on tenor saxophone is A, that means it’s a concert G or an E on alto sax.
For alto sax, https://saxstation.com/how-to-play-game-of-thrones-on-alto-sax-composed-by-ramin-djawadi.htm
Thanks
In college I took sax lessons with with Kristen Strom, known for being in San Francisco’s Nuclear Whales sax quartet and more recently for leading her own group.
Stanley Turrentine
She has a lot of funny stories from her life as a musician. One day at a lesson, I turned to Stanley Turrentine’s “Sugar” to practice for a performance and she told me about how Turrentine’s dad made little Stanley play only one note per day for a while.
Probably not too much fun to do that, but it helped him get an incredible sound on all the notes.
I got a cassette tape with “Sugar” on it when I was about 12 years old and have always liked that song. Lately I’ve been working on transcribing some of Turrentine’s solos. Coming back to Turrentine’s solo on Midnight Special from the album with Jimmy Smith and from a few of his other pieces. Learned a bit from The Hustler.
You’ll find that some of his solos definitely extend into the altissimo range. Just something to be aware of.
I like Stanley Turrentine because of the soul he puts into the music, you can really hear the emotion.
Got a few requests asking how to play the Pink Panther Theme, by Henry Mancini, on alto sax. It is a bit trickier on alto sax to play it this key which seems to be the most commonly published key (down a whole step from the original key).
Starts on a Db concert. That’s Eb (or D#) for tenor/soprano sax and A# for alto/bari sax.
If you would like to learn the rest, I recommend learning it by ear or buying the sheet music (alto sax/piano arrangement).
Still laying it down on the tenor. Here’s a clip from 1985 of ‘Don’t Stop the Carnival’ a pretty col tune he plays.
Want to play saxophone, but feeling lost and not sure how to get started?
In this online/downloadable class you will see methodical lessons in a sequence and you can get feedback and ask questions at any point.
Learn more
Want to take your playing to the next level?
You’ll learn fundamental saxophone skills, building past the basics. Master rhythms. Learn about phrasing, tone, and more. Here you will get feedback which is crucial to developing good habits.
Learn more