My Dad always said "two shakes of a lamb's tail" too!! Especially when he wanted me to do something fast! Hearing you saying it today is the first time I have heard it in years....thanks for that and the lesson!!
I keep trying to figure out how much, if any, vibrato to add when playing in a section or recording parts. It seems like if the section is holding a long ish note in unison or a chord, vibrato causes clashes. However, sometimes a note held in unison produces beats, the interference between slightly different frequencies. Sometimes having the top part doing the vibrato can hide the beats in a unison note. Sometimes, I think it works out in chords if it is just the top part who adds a little vibrato, especially a little terminal vibrato. During home recordings, I think that since I’m playing all the parts, I might be able to match the vibrato, but it doesn’t work.
“Terminal vibrato” - It’s always good to learn new teaching vocabulary. The other name I’ve used is “end spin”, but I did not have a word for the breathy version. I’m definitely gonna add the term “chuff”! I’ve found that teaching vibrato is one of the best ways to get kids to realize just how much air it takes to REALLY play the sax. They hang out in the middle of their school bands feeling OK about eaking out 2nd alto parts. When they try to play wide vibrato the sound dissappears before the pitch can drop even a 1/4 tone. When they do finally get results they’re light-headed because of blowing 5X more wind than ever before! Thanks!
When I was taking violin lessons recently, I have a terrible time learning vibrato. It’s not like rocking your left wrist horizontally on a guitar neck. It’s more complicated. It involves bending at the list joint of each finger that matches a bend in the wrist away and toward you. I told my fiddle teacher that on sax, I can give you an Ethel Merman vibrato so deep and wide that it will give you vertigo. You’ll beg me to stop. I have to concentrate at dialing it back on sax. But I started sax as a pre teen, and started fiddle at 58. I wonder if I was an older beginning sax student if it would be as hard. I’m still taking piano lessons, and I annoy my piano teacher by rocking my hands on the keys, and saying I’m just trying to get some vibrato out of the stupid keys. Can’t bend notes either. A much smaller expressive vocabulary on piano. We got a nice 7 ft. Baldwin Grand for my wife, and I keep crawling around under it, looking for the MIDI plug.
That breathy terminal vibrato used by players such as Ben Webster has always sounded cool to me. (I love how he played Chelsea Bridge.) Now I know how it’s done. Thanks!
Hey Jimmy funny you bring this up now. Last week my sax coach told me that I have too much vibrato in my play and that I sound too vintage. Nobody plays like anymore and I should tone it down to aim for a modern sound (whatever that is). He also told that he dislike the sound of my sax players inspirations (Rudy Pompilli and Sam Butera). So he does admit that it is somewhat a matter of taste. Never the less I wonder if he could be right and I am not sure that what refers to as a vibrato is not really the growl I have developed in my sound listening to Sam and Rudy all the time. What do you think?
Play the way that sounds good to you. Unless you're playing classical music or cookie-cutter covers, the stylistic choice is yours. Record yourself and if the result sounds both subjectively and objectively good to you and he won't back off, you might need to find a different tutor.
If you join my Inner Circle you can play for me and I can help you, but can't do much over a RU-vid comment I'm afraid! www.getyoursaxtogether.com/innercircle
@@raygelato3254 Just watch one of your video I am an instant fan. That is the style I am aiming for.good luck to me to find a tutor that will help me in that direction in my neck of the wood.
