Your tone and your sound are your personality coming out of the saxophone.
The instrument is just a prop.
And it’s cool to be able to sound like other players, especially if you can sound like Stan Getz or Stanley Turrentine. But really you’re trying to develop your own sound.
You want to have control over your sound, so it’s exactly how you want it to sound.
Some of that is the mouthpiece, reed, and saxophone, but most of it is YOU.
Doing long tones and playing ballads can help with your control.
So can getting the overtones down.
The overtones can sound pretty gnarly at first, they’ll get better and they’ll help you not only get the altissimo register, but also help your sound overall.
Tip - Record yourself to hear how you sound. The sound you hear as you play is not the same as what the listener hears. Nor is the recording going to be completely accurate, but it gives you a good idea of how other people sound you. Don’t get too caught up on the recording equipment (especially if you’re not a professional) since you will still be able to learn from it.
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Mindset Lesson-:
Listening to recordings of yourself playing can be painful, but think of it as a tool that will make you get better.
Once you know your major scales, you’ll have some of the minor scales under your fingers already.
If you play a C major scale, but start on A then it becomes an A natural minor scale.
Minor scales are slightly more involved. There are three types- harmonic, natural, and melodic.
But you can relate the minor scales back to the major scales.
You’ll see minor chords in music all the time, so it’s useful to know the minor scales.
And it’s good to know the different kinds, since they each have a different feeling.
After you have mastered the minor scales, you might want to get into the different modes. What that means is that you take a major scale and get a different ‘mode’ by starting on each different note.
Tip - By knowing the major scales, you know a lot of how the minor scales work. And by hearing the sound of it, your ear will help you.
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Mindset Lesson-:
Practice scales part of the time, but don’t get caught up in them! Remember that you’re playing music.
Joe Henderson on tenor saxophone. On Double Rainbow, he plays Brazillian jazz from Jobim. The CD is interesting partly because he plays both with an American rhythm section including Herbie Hancock and a Brazillian rhythm section with players like Eliane Elias.
Saxophone Challenge
Day 10 – Saxophone Major Scales
Knowing your major scales will provide a foundation for playing a lot of music.
The scales are in a ‘key’ and the key gives the musician and listener a sense of direction. You might move from the ii chord to the V chord back to the I chord and you’ll [...]
Saxophone Challenge
Day 09 – Taking Breaks During Saxophone Practice
‘Bleeding Gums Murphy’ on the Simpsons played saxophone until his gums bled. And he never went to the dentist.
But I wouldn’t recommend it!
Playing too long without breaks can also cause blood….
Different sax players have different limits. You might be able to practice all day on a size [...]
@Paul_McK It could be an issue with the reed, or possibly a leak in the saxophone. If the low notes come out, it could be the leak. in reply to Paul_McK2 days ago
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