 The Doublers BBoard
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Author: scoleo
Date: 2007-06-01 02:26
I'm a band director looking to create a better warm-up/exercise routine for my concert bands and jazz ensembles. As a brass player, I'm well versed in the brass-specific needs of my students (lip slurs, buzz exercises, etc.). I'm trying to educate myself about the SPECIFIC needs that are unique to my sax students. I'm obviously aware of the benefit of long tones, scales, etc, etc. In terms of aspects that benefit all wind instruments, I'm already covered. Can anyone educate me as to what sax-specific needs are needing to be addressed and what exercises to create to address those needs for my sax students? I teach beginners, middle school, and high school students, so I don't want to leave anyone out. Much appreciation!!
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2007-06-01 08:02
Teach them to play low notes from D downwards quietly (without subtoning), using plenty of embouchure and breath control.
And make sure they don't tighten up their embouchure when playing up high or they'll go sharp.
Teach the three main Bb fingerings, and the use of the RH side C and forked F# key for the more promising or advanced players.
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.
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Author: William
Date: 2007-06-01 14:25
It may also be "prudent" to develop a sensory listening warmup which would specifically address good balance between the brass, percussion and woodwind sections of your jazz and concert groups as we woodwind players are too often simply "blown away" by out-of-control screamers and bangers from those sections. Ensemble balance is a concept that is learned through constant reinforcement and should be initiated, in some form, from the "getgo" of warmup. Slow long note crescendo-diminuendo and scales in round excercises come immediately to mind, but perhaps there may be some other creative activity as well. Just a stray thought this AM......any others out there??
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2007-06-01 15:37
There's always the usual 'if you can't hear the soloist, you're playing too loud', and 'if you haven't got the tune, keep the volume down'.
Don't let the players use a wide mouthpiece while they're still learning (such as a Link or Meyer 7*) - a Selmer S80 C*or C** (or even a D at the most) is the widest they'll need for learning and concert band playing, or if they're on a budget, a Yamaha 4C or 5C will do the job just as well.
If the alto players want to do big band work later on, recommend an ebonite Meyer 6 to 7* mouthpiece for them once they've been playing for a few months, and a metal Link 6 to 7* for the tenors.
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.
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Author: allencole
Date: 2007-06-01 15:49
Slurred octave jumps are a fantastic exercise for sax players with the bottom notes being on written 4th line D and the E-flat, E and F above. They do several things:
1 - Forces players to compare pitch between their second register and palm-key notes.
2 - Forces players to work on equalizing the tone and volume of the two respective octaves.
3 - Having to do these particular octave jumps slurred, forces players to use good palm-key hand position and to switch it smoothly (and snappily!) with regular hand position.
Allen Cole
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2007-06-01 16:38
A bit more in-depth, but this is what I use regularly:
Use the linked LH pinky keys in wide intervals (if fitted) - low Bb to Ab, low B to G#, low C#-G# played with removing the RH fingers only for the G#/Ab - Ted Heath's 'Hot Toddy' is a good exercise for this, as well as the forked F#, long Bb and using the rollers.
Do any sax players on here 'prepare' for interval jumps? ie. playing G slurred down to low C by holding the low C key closed while playing the G, then adding RH 1,2,3 for the low C. Similar with F-low B and F-low Bb.
Slurring over the break, open C# to D,Eb,E,F,F# is made easier by playing the open C# as 8ve, oox [and adding the required RH fingers needed for the upper note]. So you're only opening/closing LH fingers 1 and 2 instead of all fingers off for C# and all fingers on for the upper note.
Front high E, F and F# using the front F key (with 8ve key): E - Fxx|ooo, F - Fxo|ooo, F# - Fxo|o high F#o or Fxo|side Bb ooo (all save fumbling around for the side and palm keys), and particularly good on tenor and bari with a high F# key fitted is high G - 8ve xoo|o high F#o - that's played as high B but with the high F# key opened, and overblows to give high G.
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.
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Author: Bret Pimentel
Date: 2007-06-01 17:58
Perhaps more closely analogous to the lip slurs and buzzing mentioned in the original post, try some mouthpiece pitch exercises and/or overtone exercises. TONS of info on both of these is at your fingertips with a quick Google search (I checked). These are excellent exercises for improving tone, intonation, range, and just general control of the saxophone.
Best,
Bret
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