Randy Brecker’s tune, a couple choruses straight ahead & funky, a couple swung. Dennis on bass, Mike on guitar, Micah on drums, Michael on keys.
Saxophone Embouchure and Saxophone Muscles
Ezio asked about Saxophone Embouchure –
I am 52 and I just started learning the sax tenor.
I had my first lesson last week.
My previous music experience amounts to 1 year of studying the piano 20 years ago.
As expected I am finding the embouchure very hard so much so that I am trying different ways like with the lower lip sticking out rather the folding over the teeth.
Do you know exercises to strengthen the muscles around the lips?
By the way my teacher is clarinet player who also owns an alto sax.
Is there a difference between the embouchure for the clarinet and the one for the sax?
Any suggestions are welcome.
Regards.
Ezio
Hello Ezio,
Good to hear from you. That’s great you started learning saxophone, you should have a lot of fun with it. I have played just a bit of piano myself, but mostly I do saxophone. How did your first lesson go?
For embouchure….. you might be okay sticking the bottom lip out a bit more, but don’t put your teeth on the reed at all. I started playing clarinet before saxophone myself- the difference is that you need to be a bit tighter on clarinet and it requires more control. Therefore it’s better to go from playing clarinet over to saxophone rather than the opposite. If you’re not planning on playing clarinet, I wouldn’t worry about that though.
You’ll develop the muscles naturally as you play, but one thing that really helps is long tones. What I do is take a breath, start on low E and play it as quietly as I can then move up to F. You use one breath for two notes and go up chromatically. I go up one octave and then come back down. Does that description make sense? I was thinking about making a video of myself doing it…. so I could do that this week sometime.
-Neal
Greatest Saxophone Player of All Time?
The greatest saxophone player of all time…..
Certainly up for debate. But a number of saxophone players are definitely contenders.
Saw a poll on Sax on the web about who the greatest sax player ever is. Here are their results:
| Charlie Parker | 48 | 27.75% |
| Ornette Coleman | 0 | 0% |
| John Coltrane | 38 | 21.97% |
| Brecker | 18 | 10.40% |
| Mule and Rascher | 10 | 5.78% |
| Branford Marsalis | 3 | 1.73% |
| Lester Young | 11 | 6.36% |
| Plas Johnson | 1 | 0.58% |
| Cannonball Adderley | 14 | 8.09% |
So Charlie Parker and John Coltrane get the top two spots. Makes sense. The other players on the list certainly sound great as well. Who do you think should also rank in the top tiers?
A few more contenders I would add to the list of possibilities would be-
Coleman Hawkins
Stanley Turrentine
Stan Getz
Sonny Stitt
Joe Henderson
Dexter Gordon
James Moody
Paul Desmond
Hank Mobley
Eddie Harris
Wayne Shorter
Sonny Rollins
Grover Washington Jr.
Benny Carter
Gene Ammons
Maceo Parker
Eddie ‘Lockjaw’ Davis
King Curtis
Jimmy Heath
Jr. Walker
Louis Jordan
Gerry Mulligan
Illinois Jacquet
Earl Bostic
Johnny Hodges
Art Pepper
Some of these I like personally, my favorite is Stanley Turrentine. Others were suggested by visitors to Sax Station.
Feel free to add a comment of your own.
It’s somewhat a question of taste. Charlie Parker and John Coltrane were pioneers of bebop though.
Another question might be who you think the greatest living saxophone player is.
Introducing Little Sax Man
He comes from Chile. And naturally tends to look pretty epic. He is a sax man after all.
How to Play the Force Theme from Star Wars by John Williams on Saxophone – Tenor Sax
Melody from Star Wars that I really like. First note is a concert D, that’s an E on tenor sax or soprano sax. That would be a B on alto sax. Let me know what you think of this one! Thanks
How to Play Crystalize by Lindsey Stirling on Sax – Tenor Saxophone
How to play the first part of Crystalize by Lindsey Stirling. There are three notes in the intro and then the melody comes in on an A. That’s a concert G, so it would be an E on alto. You can get the full sheet music for Crystalize from her site.
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Crystalize notes for Alto sax and bari sax:
D C# B
E D C# D B
B C# D F# E
G D E C# B
F# D B F# B
E D C# D B F# B
D E D C# D F#
D E C# D E C# B
Saxophone Video Lesson – Latin Line on Tenor Sax
Line I picked up from a piano solo. Harmonically, not all that complicated. The rhythm, space, and phrasing need to be spot on though!
Saxophone Transposition in a Nutshell
Tenor and soprano saxophones are in Bb. Alto and bari saxophones are in Eb. Let me know if you have questions. This diagram has what you basically need to do.
Tenor/soprano notes are a whole step above concert pitch notes
Alto/bari notes are a minor third below concert pitch notes.
Tenor/soprano notes are a perfect fifth above alto/bari notes. Alto/bari notes are a perfect fourth above tenor/soprano notes.
How to Play Dynamite (Taio Cruz) on Alto Sax
First note on alto sax is an F. That means Ab concert, so it’s a Bb on tenor saxophone. The scale that will help you play this is Db (C#) on alto or F# on tenor sax. If you know that scale on your saxophone, you should be able to play this part easily and the rest of the song if you want to.
Getting Started Playing Saxophone by Ear/Memory
Practicing Saxophone at the Speed of a Turtle
Manny: A big weakness of mine is that I want to play without music; just from my ear and memory, but I always have trouble playing just the right notes. They are either a note or two higher or lower. I notice many players play from memory and I really want to do that. I can hum the tune very well, but can’t get that ability on my sax or translate/transpose the notes from memory. Any suggestions?
Thanks for your message. Catch you later!
Manny
Neal: To play by ear/memory you just need to practice doing it. It sounds like you’re getting pretty close to the right notes most of the time if you’re off by a little bit.
One thing that really helps is to slow down and practice less material more- that is to concentrate on a small amount. Then you’ll learn it well, instead of being able to play a lot of material so-so.
Also, starting with music that is simpler should help. It’s better to learn ‘Twinkle Twinkle Little Star’ than Charlie Parker’s solo on Confirmation. At least initially. You want to build some momentum.
You can also check out these upcoming lessons on sax ear training to get started with learning music by ear.
-Neal
Monterey Jazz Festival – 55th Year! September 21 – 23, 2012
The Monterey Jazz Festival is Upon Us!
55th annual Monterey Jazz Festival in this year, longest running in the world. At the Monterey Fairgrounds.
Gordon Goodwin’s Big Phat Band will play Friday. Eddie Palmieri will be playing some salsa. Sax man Greg Fishman will be here. Trombone Shorty and Esperanza Spaulding will be here among others.
Food from around the world, clothing, music, etc are available within the grounds.
Maybe I’ll see you there!
