First time on Sax Station? Then start here and learn more about my saxophone lessons.

SaxStation

Speak Saxophone

Splitting Saxophone Practice Time

By Leave a Comment

Hey Neal.
It’s David [] from Denmark. I have a question for you. I play both tenor and alto saxophone, which i think is great!
I practice around 3 hours a day, but is one hour and a half for each instrument enough when playing to types?
Thanks for this service, i am looking forward to hear/see more.

Best regards
David

Hey David,
Good to hear from you.  I would say that many of the things on alto and tenor that you practice will transfer easily between the two horns.  You should do long tones on both instruments though, since the tone and your embouchure is going to be different between them.  Do you play both horns with the same group or in separate groups?

Regards,

Neal

fb_neal

Circle of Fifths Question

By 6 Comments

Neal, interesting Circle of Fifths picture. A couple of questions for you. My favorite diagram goes the opposite direction with the flats on the left side of the diagram. Is that a circle of fourths? Have you seen Jamey Aebersold’s discussion of scales. It’s very thorough.
Cheers,
Jim

Hey Jim,
Actually, I think it’s more common to think of it as the circle of fourths.  Hadn’t realized that it actually went the opposite direction in other diagrams, thanks for letting me know about that.  The whole moving in fourths happens more in music, so it sounds more natural to go in that direction.  What happened was I originally learned it as being the circle of fifths for whatever reason, maybe it just was easier for me to think of moving in fifths.
I’ve seen the Jamie Aebersold material on it, but I’ll go look and it more closely.
-Neal

fb_neal

Paul Desmond-isms

By Leave a Comment

From AllAboutJazz.com

Paul Desmond-isms:
“I have won several prizes as the world’s slowest alto player, as well as a special award in 1961 for quietness.”

“I was unfashionable before anyone knew who I was.”

“I tried practicing for a few weeks and ended up playing too fast.”

“I think I had it in the back of my mind that I wanted to sound like a dry martini.”

On the secret of his tone: “I honestly don’t know! It has something to do with the fact that I play illegally.”

When asked by Gene Lees what accounted for the melancholy in his playing he replied,
“Wellllll, the fact that I’m not playing better.”He was an English major in college. His reason for not pursuing a  literary career,

“I could only write at the beach, and I kept getting sand in my typewriter.”

“Writing is like jazz. It can be learned, but it can’t be taught.”

Of writer Jack Kerouac he said, “I hate the way he writes. I kind of  love the way he lives, though.”

Of Vogue fashion models, he said, “Sometimes they go around with guys who are scuffling — for a while. But usually they end up marrying some cat with a factory. This is the way the world ends, not with a whim but a banker.”

“Sometimes I get the feeling that there are orgies going on all over New York City and somebody says, `Let’s call Desmond,’ and somebody else says, ‘Why bother? He’s probably home reading the Encyclopedia Britannica’.”

His response to the annoying banality of an interviewer, “You’re beginning to sound like a cross between David Frost and David Susskind, and that is a cross I cannot bear.”

Shortly before the Dave Brubeck Quartet disbanded, “We’re working as if it were going out of style — which of course it is.”

Of yogurt he said, “I don’t like it, but Dave is always trying things like that.
He’s a nutritional masochist. He’ll eat anything as long as he figures it’s good for him.”

Of contact lenses: “Not for me. If I want to tune everybody out, I just take off my glasses and enjoy the haze.”

On Ornette Coleman’s playing, “It’s like living in a house where everything’s painted red.”

Doug Ramsey wrote that Desmond on seeing Barbara Jones’ oil painting of four cats stalking a mouse said, “Ah, the perfect album cover for when I record with the Modern Jazz Quartet.” Ramsey pointed out that the mouse was mechanical and Desmond responded, “In that case, Cannonball will have to make the record.! ”

Desmond’s fondness for scotch was well known. So in early 1976 when a physical examination showed lung cancer, he was ironically pleased that his liver was fine. “Pristine, perfect. One of the great livers of our time. Awash in Dewars and full of health.”

Randy Hunter Jazz Etudes

By Leave a Comment

The other day I found Randy Hunter’s website.

His etudes have an endorsement by sax player Jerry Bergonzi, who said,

“Randy’s Jazz Etudes for Saxophone are tailor made for the musician who wants to read & study great accessible jazz melodies that are totally in the tradition of jazz. The are fun and great for the ear.”

So I went and checked them out.

The ones on the site  seem to be for beginner-intermediate saxophone players.  Level Three Jazz Etudes for Saxophone are available and are at a more advanced level.

Here is a clip of Randy Hunter playing- he is on bari sax.

The site has two free etudes and one duet arrangment that you can also download and hear.

Creating Your Own Sound on Saxophone

By 1 Comment

Find a favorite player, listen to them a lot.  Try and sound like them.

Sounding like your favorite will be great practice.

From there you can branch out and start taking elements from other saxophone players.

You can try and phrase like one player, use the Afro-Cuban rhythms that another player tended to play and try and incorporate the classical influence you hear in another.

And you can take elements from other instruments and voices.

Miles Davis really loved the phrasing of Frank Sinatra.

It takes some time to create your own sound on sax and you need to really listen….

Multiphonics on a Tuba!

By Leave a Comment

Nat McIntosh plays multiphonics on tuba.

I thought this was cool, had seen multiphonics by Brecker on sax, but not on a tuba before.

“I’ve received hundreds of questions about my solo feature, “The Warrior Comes Out to Play”. I wrote this piece about seven years ago, designing it to be a showcase for all of the extended techniques I had perfected up to that point, including multi-phonics, (singing and playing simultaneously), emulation of electric bass and guitar sounds (done trough manipulation of the embouchure), DJ scratch effects, (high percussive rhythmic patterns made with extreme register playing, and what I call “Cosmic Bass”, (sound alterations most akin to a flange or didgeridoo).

There are so many unexplored possibilities of the sousaphone and being a longtime fan of groove-based, high energy music, it is very rewarding to utilize my instrument’s versatility to play something that is both technically impressive and funky at the same time. Hope you enjoy it!”

(http://www.dallasbrass.com/nat.html)

Learning Saxophone A Very Brief Outline

By 2 Comments

How I did it:

Started on clarinet.

Began saxophone three months in (continuing to play clarinet).

Played in an orchestra, concert band, jazz band in middle school.

Then marching band, jazz band, swing band in high school.

With private lessons during this time.

Started practicing ~30 minutes a day in the beginning and gradually more as I got better and it became more fun.

Long tones every day.

Learned all major schools during middle school.

Practiced with a metronome.

Lessons & tips:

Play less material, but really master it.

Play long tones every day (takes about 8 minutes)

Use a metronome!

Saxophone Sound Ideas from Herman Riley

By Leave a Comment

One day when I was about 13 years old, I went up to Herman Riley and asked him about sound on saxophone.  I wrote down some key ideas all related to saxophone sound, here are the notes I took about components of sound:

Breathing
Listening
Posture
“Round”
Intonation
Embouchure
Setup
dynamics
feeling
tone
articulation
tonguing
phrasing
vibrato

-Herman Riley

So there are a lot of parts to sound!  Herman Riley taught us a long tones exercise which I do everyday.  He also told us to breath with our stomachs- like babies do naturally.

Posture affects breathing too.

Don’t get overwhelmed with all of these things, but keep them in mind and gradually you can work on all these elements in improving your sound on sax.

Saxophone Mouthpiece Numbers & Variables

By 7 Comments

Vandoren V16 T9The mouthpiece can make a huge difference in your sound!

Using the mouthpiece that comes with the horn is fine initially, but after 2-3 years you may want a new one.

Different players will give varying advice on what sounds the best and the discussion could probably last for days. The main thing is to try them out and see what you like.

The Search– Once you have been playing for a while it may be a good idea to look for a new moutpiece. Paul Contos says that it’s a good idea to bring another musician with you when you try one out too, since they can also hear the differences in tone quality.

Number-The number assigned to a moutpiece refers to the tip opening, which will making it necessary to use more air to make the reed vibrate, thus making the mouthpiece more powerful. You should also use softer reeds for more open moutpieces, as I said in the article about reeds. And while a powerful sound is cool when you’re soloing and such, it might not work as well in an orchestral setting. Some people solve this dilema by getting multiple mouthpieces, but I wouldn’t go overboard and buy way too many.

Metal vs. Rubber vs. Crystal?– The material that a saxophone moutpiece is made out of also makes a difference. Plastic is usually the material for stock moutpieces, and is not really the greatest. More professional mouthpiecs are made of hard rubber and metal most times. However, some nontraditional moutpieces are made out of crystal and other materials. The metal moutpieces are said to have a “brighter” sound, but it is harder to control them.

After the stock moutpiece I would recommend getting a hard rubber moutpiece.  I have Vandoren V16 and a Meyer 8*, which may be a little bit too open for some people. I also have a metal Selmer 7*. On a really basic level you will want a rubber mouthpiece for orchestral or concert band types of groups. They also work for jazz, but metal will give more power and a brighter sound.

Brand– One of my saxophone teachers had a plan to get all of the same brand mouthpiece with exactly the same specifications for all his saxophones. Unfortunately the plan didn’t work perfectly. He seemed to like one thing on tenor, but it might not work on alto or soprano. Just try out some different types to see what you like on a particular horn.

Cost-Some moutpieces, like guardala, cost insane amounts of money (over $1200 for some models) and do play pretty well, but I do not think they are worth the cost. Also, if you want to sound like Michael Brecker, don’t necessarily get the Guardala brecker mouthpiece. He needs an unusual moutpiece because he hurt his throat from excessive playing in his earlier days. Someone asked me if I was playing a Guardala the other day, I had played one before, but my Selmer metal feels and sounds fairly similar.

My setup-Right now I am mostly using my Vandoren V16 T9- that is the V16 mouthpiece for tenor sax with a 9 tip opening.  A size 2.5/3 reed seems to work well with it.

saxophone mouthpiece