Great video! I didn't learn to slap tongue until I was in grad school 2004. I also found it easier to start on Bari. Another helpful thing, to piggy-back on your suggestion of just using the reed by itself to achieve suction, was to use the flat part of the back of the reed since it wouldn't split/crack. When I've taught students to slap, I had them do these in steps (just 30sec-1min. a day), about a week at a time - basically all the things you had mentioned :)
I love your channel! I've recently started playing my sax again because all of your videos have inspired me and made me want to play again. So thank you very much!
That's what she said. But seriously, thank you for posting this! Been getting back into sax after about two decades (former first chair bari sax player, hey oh lol) and i used to be able to slap tongue with the best of them at my peak. Hopefully i can get back in that saddle soon since I just bought my own alto sax and get back to my former glory
I was wondering if you were going to do a follow-up for the jean paul alto saxophone. Also, great video today, I loved the was you communicate with your audience
Absolutely, in a few weeks. I've been having some GREAT conversations with Jean Paul, incredibly kind family that owns/runs the business. We're cooking' up some really cool ideas - stay tuned!
May sound stupid, but I first learned not with a reed, but with a spoon. I hear people say to use a larger reed like a Bari or bass clarinet, and then someone will say they don’t have one, but it’s easy to forget that just in your Kitchen Drawer, is something with the same effect. It’s also a lot easier to grasp the overall concept of getting that suction, it sounds weird, but even when it was explained to me that the tongue sunctions it, I didn’t really understand anyway. Once I did it with a spoon I realized, I would often do that of similar effect with bottle caps for fun. I was also a highschool sophomore so maybe I needed that extra help, but I feel it worked very well!
This technique is hard! I can only get an occasional slap. I want to get good at it because I love playing funky bass lines on bari and slaps really add another level to them
Wally I'm not sure if you've touched on this because I have seen all your videos which is a flaw I have as a human. However moving I suffer from the bad habit of fly away fingers and now that I'm trying to achieve greater things on the sax, I've crippled myself with this bad habit. In the end I know the answer for me is practice good technique, so what I getting at is do you have any advice or tips for the people who are starting out and don't understand how serious it is that they don't do this to themselves and myself included. Thank you for what you do.
Doc I just started playing again after 20 years of not touching a horn. Picked up a used Selmer AS500. What literature do you recommend as I’m “remembering” what the heck I’m doing? I also got the classic middle school style “Standard of Excellence” book, but I was wondering what you thought. Thanks Doc 👍
Thats great, thanks. So...how loud is it on the sax? I can do it but its not loud. There's a RU-vid vid of a contemporary piece played solo with a lot of very resonant slap tongue. But there's something in the sax bell. A mic? maybe though I can't see any connections, radio maybe.
Nice! Can you do a similar lesson on how to do the sound effects that Leo P. does on the baritone? I know a lot of it is altissimo, but I do think that there is more to it. Maybe you can do a cover of Confirmation with laser sound effects on the alto. 😀
So, it's genetic! My take away is: you need to be able to roll your tongue to grip the reed. Tongue rolling is genetically determined, you can either do it or you can't and you can't learn to do it just like you can't learn to be a red head or 15cm taller.
