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Saxophone Schmutz – Cleaning Up Your Saxophone Technique

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Sometimes when you go between some notes on saxophone, it’s not clean- you hear a note in between that don’t mean to play!  It’s called ‘schmutz’ (dirtiness) by some people.  I first heard that term from George Young who played in NY for a while.

The problem can be a sticky pad.  You should only be drinking water when you play and it’s good to brush your teeth before hand.  That can prevent the problem.

To fix the sticky pad, you can use a clean dollar bill since it has fiber in it.  You put it under the pad, press the pad down with a little pressure and then slide it out.  That’s a quick fix anyway.  You may need to take it to a sax repair guy.

It’s also just difficult to play between certain notes cleanly.  Between the D and B on the staff is one example.  The little key near your middle finger on your left hand tends to stick.

The schmutz can be your fault too.  Practicing going between these notes can help clean up your technique.

Learning Saxophone – the Slight Edge

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Back in elementary school, the kid who was a little bit better at saxophone got placed in the ‘first chair’ position.  He or she would probably be playing the melody instead of harmony and would be more likely to take a solo.  Basically, their part would stand out more.

If you stand out more, more people are going to pay attention, and therefore you don’t want to sound bad.

Therefore, that kid is probably going to practice more.

Lotus_flower1

With more practice, you’ll probably get better.  And if you’re better, you’ll get applause when you take a solo and people will encourage you more.

With more encouragement, you’ll probably keep practicing more and keep getting better.  And when you’re better, things tend to be more fun.

Whether you were that kid in the first chair or not, the difference in skill on saxophone wasn’t very high in the beginning.

It’s just that little steps added together form a much greater result.

So if you were good in the beginning, cool.  If you weren’t, don’t be discouraged!  It’s not like the other sax players were very much better than you in the first place.

When you take a lesson or read something useful, put it into practice, a piece of good information can help your playing IF you use it.

And not matter what your goals are with saxophone, have fun with the music!

Saxophone Fingering Positions – Are You Holding Your Sax Correctly?

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Clarinets and open-holed flutes require very careful placement of your fingers. Sloppy positioning will allow leaks and will stop you from getting a good sound.  The pads on a saxophone pretty much close the holes as longer as they are pressed by some part of the finger.
clarinet

Your fingers should be somewhat curved somewhat like your fingers when playing piano.  The fleshy pad part of the finger should be on the pearl of the key.

If your fingers are flat, they will move more than is necessary.

Watch videos of saxophone professionals and see how they play.  There seems to be very little movement of the fingers.  Charlie Parker is a great example.

Kirk Whalum's Mouthpiece?

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In summer 2008 I got a Vandoren V16 for my tenor (T9).  I have really liked the sound and it’s open enough to get me some volume.  Later I ended up getting one for my alto.  Overall, it seems like hard rubber gets a better sound than metal.  Metal is brighter and can get you more volume though.  It’s a matter of preference for your own sound.

tenor_v16

It turns out Kirk Whalum is playing the V16 these days too!

I was talking with Sola the other day and he asked me, so I looked it up.

“Realizing that many players just like to “talk shop” and love trying out the “next new thing,” I’m glad I’ve found the mouthpiece that brings my sound up to ground zero… nothing in the way. Now I can concentrate on what really counts… developing a lovely, powerful, sensitive sound.”

Kirk Whalum (from his blog)

Learning Saxophone and Getting Better a Little Each Day

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Hi Neal,
I just play the sax for fun so I am not expecting miracles,
the one thing I would like to be able to do is play along
with tunes but unless I am reading the music I am lost.
Other musicians tell me it will come but I can’t see it happening.

-Paul

sax-player

Hey Paul,
If you play a little each day with good technique you’ll get better.

The trick for you would probably be to practice a little bit at a time.  If you really master a piece of a song before you move on, it will stick better.

So learn a few measures to start with.  As you develop, it will be easier to learn more music in less time since you’ll have patterns under your fingers and you’ll recognize ideas in the music.

-Neal

Saxophone Types – Historically and Today

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Once upon a time there were a whole group of saxophones in the keys of C and F and they were the series ‘A’!  The ones in Bb and Eb were known as series ‘B’!  Having a saxophone in the key of C is convenient, but they aren’t too common anymore.

experimentalsax

The Saxophone was invented around the year 1844, by Adolph Antoine Joseph Sax. The patent was received by Sax on June 28, 1846.

Saxophones played an important role in military bands where they had more power than the other woodwinds.

Orchestras eventually brought saxophones into the mix, and down the road the saxophone became a signature instrument of jazz and an important piece in many other styles of music.

Saxophones were classed in two series:

Series A

Sopranino Saxophone in F

Soprano Saxophone in C

Alto Saxophone in F

Tenor Saxophone in C

Baritone Saxophone in F

Bass Saxophone in C

Series B

Sopranino Saxophone in Eb

Soprano Saxophone in Bb

Alto Saxophone in Eb

Tenor Saxophone in Bb

Baritone Saxophone in Eb

Bass Saxophone in Bb

Contra-bass Saxophone in Eb

The first series (A) was originally designated for orchestral use, and the second series (B) for the military band.

A Bass in Bb and Contra-bass in Eb are sometimes used, and (though very rarely) a Sopranino in Eb.

Saxophone quartets generally use an alto, a tenor, a soprano, and a baritone saxophone.

However, it  is also common to see in Saxophone quartets two Alto Saxophones, one taking the part of the Soprano in Bb.

Saxophone Fingering Chart – Beginning Saxophone

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Sax finger chart from Randy Hunter – beginningsax.com.

It includes two fingerings for Bb on the staff.  There are a few more- one main one where you use the B fingering with the first fingering of your right hand (the one that is pressed for the note F).

At the top, it goes to F.  Some saxophones have F# keys and there is an alternate fingering for F# that helps when you don’t have the key and is actually easier to use in some situations.

This chart works for all saxophones -alto, tenor, soprano, bari, etc.

Learning Saxophone Songs – Some Order to the Crazyness!

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The other night I decided I wanted to know ‘Goodbye Porkpie Hat’.  The song written by Charles Mingus as a tribute to Lester Young based off of the jam session after he passed away.

It’s a ballad that I have played before and somewhat knew.

saxophone_silhouette

So I thought I would concentrate on this one song and learn it.

The whole strategy of working on less material- making you really master it seems like a great idea in theory, but historically I definitely haven’t always done it.

After a little while I learned all the notes, the melody isn’t terribly complicated.

Spent a little time getting the crescendos right and trying to play the inflections.

Probably should listen to a few players on the tune to get some ideas.

Then I went on to the chord changes.  The chord changes are not standard by any means.  The melody has one set and the solo section has a completely different set.

Charles Mingus says, “I went home and wrote a blues the way I thought they were playing, with different types of chord changes0note just the regular blues- and it became part of the book.”

That makes it an interesting song.  It has alterations, changes between multiple chords within a measure and has a sequence of altered ii V progressions.

But it also made me realize that I should really master the harmonies of the standards first.  Getting down the blues changes, minor blues, Rhythm changes, etc in all keys will be useful for many more songs.

Just like you learn the common words in a language as a young child, rather than the complex medical terms that will only be useful in a very certain situation.

It’s a cool tune, but for now I think knowing the melody is enough!

Playing Funk on Saxophone Like Maceo

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Hello, Neal I was listening to Maceo Parker which I understand his style is funky or R&B?  Question what is the difference between Jazz and Funky  or R&B….  And is true no matter what style one chooses to play one must first learn Jazz? or what?
Thanks,
Yvonne
Maceo Parker
Hey Yvonne,
Maceo would call his style funk, he says onstage that it’s 2% jazz and 98% funk.  But that’s also kind of his signature thing and he did play with James Brown.

The chord changes are a lot simpler in funk and R&B most of the time.

Maceo Parker can definitely play jazz.  His CD ‘roots revisited’ has some jazz stuff.  But it’s still funky, since that’s how he plays.

You hear the ‘funk’ in the inflection, phrasing, approach to sound, etc.

Jazz is a very broad term.  If you can play the most complicated kinds of jazz, it will often times seem simpler to play other styles- at least harmonically.

However, we tried out a bass player who can play funk and jazz, but he didn’t have the rhythm down for latin music.  He could learn it, but just because he could play more complicated harmony didn’t make him a master of all musical styles.

So someone who can play jazz shouldn’t be overconfident and assume that any kind of music is ‘easy’.

-Neal

Sax Players, What the Woodshed WON'T Do….

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Practicing for hours in the woodshed won’t help you get over stage fright.  It won’t help you interact with musicians.  Some things can be learned on your own, other things can’t.

saxophone-mic

Practicing at home, in the “wood shed” as musicians refer to it- going and just practicing, can help you with many aspects of your playing.  You can build your technique, endurance, familiarize yourself with chord changes, transcribe, and work on other elements.

However, even if your technique has flawless precision, it will sound dead if you don’t have emotion.  Reading about music theory without applying it won’t get it under your fingers.

And when you’re practicing with Jamey Aebersold, the bass player will always play the same background on that CD.  It’s not dynamic like real music.

Playing with real musicians is more fun and it’s what you do when you perform.  The interplay between the saxophone player and everyone else on stage makes the music more interesting.  When you get to a piano solo and everyone brings the dynamics down it sounds like you know what you’re doing.

So master the saxophone through practice AND playing with other musicians.

Check out jam sessions and play with people whenever you can.  Preparing beforehand shows respect, but don’t be afraid to ever get out there.

Beginning Saxophone – Major Scales Question

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I would like to learn all there is to know about the sax.. whats the difference between my major and minor scale and what are they
-Lavert

piano

Hey Lavert,
The major scale is 7 notes with a certain set of intervals between them.

If you played a C major scale on the piano, it’s the white notes traveling from C up an octave to the next C. C D E F G A B C

Between E and F and and B and C there are half steps.

So the pattern is W W H W W W H, where W = whole step and H = half step.

It’s the same pattern for all twelve major scales (one for each scale starting on each different note).

Minor scales are a bit more complicated, since there are three types- harmonic, natural, and melodic.

Master your major scales first. Then you can relate minor scales and many other types of scales to them.

-Neal