Great and quick summary of all possible colors of expression!!! My scoops require some more work but I like your idea of using grace notes as a subsitute. Exactly how fast or short the grace note has to be before the targeted note is the question!! Your masterclass on Phrasing is the best !!! Highly recommend. Wayne Pharo
Same. I just try to remember that Paul Desmond put his horn in the closet for 7 years and game back for a solo career that was amazing. We can still if we want it enough. And maybe when/if we get back to it, it'll somehow be better with all the life under our belts. Cheers man.
That was a great lesson You gave at least 3 months of working lesson challenge, right here I hope some people took note and learn how to do them step by step Thank you very much 🎉
Ha ha! I am that "one charcoal" absolute 'senior adult' beginner (I haven't practiced enough to even have basic note reading or smooth transitioning to the next note skill yet) user. Although occasionally I can manage some nuance on a note by slowly increasing my air pressure at the beginning of a note and slowly decreasing air pressure at the end of the note. I learned that the best thing about trying to learn to play the sax is learning how nuanced playing the sax really is, which exponentially increases my enjoyment when I hear certain passages elicited by master players 🤗👍
Your suggestions are encyclopedic for sax playing. After over 40 years as a semi-pro bary, you thought me many tips. I'm very gratefulfor your so instructive vidéos. Keep up our pleasure and yours ;-)
Such a great breakdown of the variety of techniques and articulations. I found it interesting how you continually refer to vocal technique as the paradigm to which saxophonists are aiming for, after all we are not in fact vocalists, but we do aspire to the expression that vocalists present. One thing I tell my students is, if you want to sound like a particular saxophonist then listen to the vocalists that those saxophonist listened to when they were learning their instrument. Playing along to vocalists will naturally bring out the techniques that you delineate here. Thanks a heap for providing essentials to a whole new generation of saxophonists. Cheers.
Subtone! Subtone! So THAT'S what it is called! That Sax subtone at the beginning before Johnny Hartman begins to sing "Stairway to the Stars" is one of the reasons I purchased a Sax. In a different vid you showed how to growl (listen to how Dexter Gordon growls that same tune), now I have to look for your Subtone video...I was all set to go out and buy softer reeds than 2.5 to get what I now know to be subtone. You have been a big part of me learning the sax, thank you. Once I feel comfortable after having learned the notes and being comfortable with the fingering, I will look into taking your lessons. Thanks again🎷
I have to confess that I usually tongue wrong. I tongue off the roof of my mouth. I don’t know but I think I learned it that way right from the start in 6th grade, but I might have regressed to palette tonging when I became a flute player in my college days in the 70s. Palette tonguing makes double and flutter tonging more available, but you have to be able to avoid moving your jaw when tonguing, producing the wow (unless that is what you are going for). But as I try to correct this “bad” habit, tonguing the reed gives me another sound on the spectrum. I’ve written that into scores where I want a pop. Reed tonguing should lead me to faster tonguing.
Yeah, to be honest I’m not aware of anyone proficient at saxophone doing what you call palate tonguing. It’ll disrupt your voicing too much and have no clarity.
This is like the discussions I have with my piano teacher. She says something like “a horn player can play only a single note, no chords, so it is limiting.” I say “but each note on my horn can have an almost infinite choice of treatment. Approximating a singer. There are more super star singers than keyboard players. I often wiggle my fingers on the piano left and right, trying to get some vibrato. Ask a piano player to play a simple piano to forte crescendo
What is the purpose of embouchure anyway? if it's so loose, then is the only thing an embouchure has to do is not leak air at the sides? Or does there need to be firmness, but just not overbearingly so?
I enjoy your videos. I am a "pro" saxophonist that plays as well as anybody in the world. I've "cut" the person that I think has the most chops (ever, actually) twice. But I don't make my living playing saxophone. I'm going to do my own "how to" channel (someday, I'm still in Ben Hogan mode), but it won't be just sax, because I play multiple instruments. In my course, I'll reveal the SECRET to living a great life AND being an artistic sax bad mo fo!
Awwww I have only just watched the video and the drawing cracked me up....I wanted to be the first to comment on the obviously very "vigorous" stick "man".
