Thank you so much for this WONDERFUL video. You are the first teacher that made sense out of voicing I have witnessed. You took all the fugazy out of sax instruction and provided simple directions that were easy to understand and implement. I wish I saw this thirty years ago, but am happy to see it now, because it was immediately impactful for me. Thank you very much Sir! By the way, your introductory phrase on sax was what instantly struck me as being played by someone I needed to learn from. Thank you Sensei.
At 20:06, I meant to say use the "BACK of your TONGUE" I was trying to stress not starting the overtone with a tip of tongue "taah" articulation. I think you all know what I mean, but I'm clarifying it here just in case...
If you can locate it, the SaxFAQ explains this and the mouthpiece exercise in great detail. I was teaching people to do this on the internet in 1994 when some Brits approached me and asked if they could post it in the SaxFAQ. I consented and was persuaded to write it for them. I described using the mouthpiece alone to play a scale starting on about concert A and using voicing to play the notes downward an octave. You can use vowel sounds to remember the positions. Then apply the same movements to the overtone series. Same vowels to remember positions of the tongue. Many people call it the Shooshie Mouthpiece Exercise, but I got the basic idea from Joe Allard, who played a scale on his mouthpiece for the audience at the World Sax Congress in Evanston Illinois in 1979. It affects literally every aspect of playing from double tonguing, circular breathing, altissimo, intonation, timbre, phrasing, and everything else. Glad to see that it’s becoming more widespread now. When I learned it, the reception to it was pretty much to ignore it. Then I began helping people online. ‘After the posting of the SaxFAQ, I got letters from literally thousands of people (email, and a few on paper!) from all around the world, who each said that it was the key that opened up their playing even after years of lessons with teachers who had no concept of this. This is the singular most important technique you can learn on saxophone. All wind instruments use this to some degree, but it’s critical on saxophone, which can be like a kazoo in its flexibility. This controls that kazoo-like mess and turns it into a musical instrument. Thanks for sharing this! I feel vindicated! -- Shooshie www.bobrk.com/saxfaq/2.6.html
Thanks for sharing Shooshie! So much info in just one comment. I love it. I agree that these concepts are too often ignored. Nowadays, there are so many videos on youtube purporting things like "the three things you need to know to improve your tone" in a three minute video. Get real. This is a lifelong commitment and struggle, being good at sax, or anything I really. To be fair, there are many great educators online as well, who are thoughtful and insightful and not just trying for clicks. I'm standing on the shoulders of giants for sure. Joe Allard was a true master, and I take anything he had to say to heart. I use his "tone matching" overtone exercise every day. I'm gonna check out your link. Be well!
Great video thank you so much for putting this together. I'm still trying to figure out how to open/expand my throat as I see most of the pro players do it. I'm probably missing a step here. Thank you.
Hi Zack, thanks for the excellent video! It really pulled back the curtain on these concepts for me. I am going to screen capture and print the exercises you flash at the bottom of the screen. It would be nice if you had a full sheet as a reference.. Thanks again, looking forward to your next topic.
Hello, I'm discovering your channel and I've already become a fan. I'm Brazilian and I don't speak English. In your other videos, you enabled the RUclips translator, but unfortunately, in this video there is no translation of the subtitles in other languages. Was this intentional? Note: I translated my writing using Google Translate. Thank you!
Olá! Thank you for following the channel. No, this was not intentional. For some reason under "settings" for this video, youtube had automatically set it to "ineligible" for subtitles. I don't know why. However, I did some clicking around and I think now automatic subtitles should be available in English and Portuguese. Please check and let me know if it works for you.
@@zacksax Now it's perfect, thank you very much Zack! I'm going to learn to play the saxophone first, then maybe learn English😂. See you soon and thank you very much!🙏
wow, you might actually have changed my life with that bit about the same embouchure up the scale, with and without aaa-eee, and how it just didn't work without it. thing is I'm an ex-clarinettist so I've been squeezing the reed as I go higher through ingrained force of habit, and it's sending me way sharp. and I've watched TONS of videos that keep imploring me to "stop doing that, just relax your lower jaw/lip, and it'll sound better!", and to use voicing rather than lip pressure for tuning. but none of them seem to have clicked for me because if I don't squeeze, the note doesn't come out. so what I've ended up doing is (1) squeeze to get the note out, (2) it's wildly sharp (3) apply exaggerated 'aaa' shape voicing to try and flatten it back to where it should be. I got really good at blowing ugly sounding notes a semitone or two below what I was fingering, but actually settling into a high note that was both in-tune and 'nice' seemed impossible. finally you explain doing the correct voicing (ee shape) before you even start the note MAKES THE NOTE COME OUT EASIER IN THE FIRST PLACE so you don't need to squeeze, so actually with a 'sharp' voicing I'm now less sharp than I was before because I can finally relax my lip without the note vanishing or squeaking. halllujah. man I've spent the last 2 weeks vainly trying to find the right degree of 'aaa' to get those notes right and it was the complete opposite shape to what I should have been doing, thank god I watched this before I wasted more months ingraining bad habits. wish i could give a superthanks
Diggin' everything as I want to start incorporating altissimo. By the way what is on your walls? Are you using whatever you have on your walls to dampen the sound? I need that as much as learning from you in altissimo and voicing. 😂😂😂
Those are just some wedge foam acoustic panels and bass traps I used to treat the room for mixing and recording. I think I got them from ATS Acoustics. They do help kill some unwanted reverberations, yes.
lift the tongue a few CENTIMETERS??? My mouth isn't that big. Other than that, I think this is going to help me. I keep pushing for tighter embouchure, especially as I get tired. Concentrating on vowels might get me moving in the right direction.
Great post. Best guide to voicing on RUclips that I’ve encountered. Eagerly awaiting the next videos in the series!!!
Thanks so much!
So far this is the most straightforward video on voicing I've seen. Thank you!
Thank you so much for this WONDERFUL video. You are the first teacher that made sense out of voicing I have witnessed. You took all the fugazy out of sax instruction and provided simple directions that were easy to understand and implement. I wish I saw this thirty years ago, but am happy to see it now, because it was immediately impactful for me. Thank you very much Sir!
By the way, your introductory phrase on sax was what instantly struck me as being played by someone I needed to learn from. Thank you Sensei.
@@eriksax Wow, thanks! I’m very glad it’s helped you.
At 20:06, I meant to say use the "BACK of your TONGUE" I was trying to stress not starting the overtone with a tip of tongue "taah" articulation. I think you all know what I mean, but I'm clarifying it here just in case...
I didn’t, but now I do. Thanks.
Excellent presentation. Thank you for this in-depth lesson on voicing👏🏽
@@HayKay_ You are welcome. Thanks for watching!
Great lesson. Thanks
Excellent training. Can’t wait for the next video
Hey thanks!
If you can locate it, the SaxFAQ explains this and the mouthpiece exercise in great detail. I was teaching people to do this on the internet in 1994 when some Brits approached me and asked if they could post it in the SaxFAQ. I consented and was persuaded to write it for them. I described using the mouthpiece alone to play a scale starting on about concert A and using voicing to play the notes downward an octave. You can use vowel sounds to remember the positions. Then apply the same movements to the overtone series. Same vowels to remember positions of the tongue. Many people call it the Shooshie Mouthpiece Exercise, but I got the basic idea from Joe Allard, who played a scale on his mouthpiece for the audience at the World Sax Congress in Evanston Illinois in 1979. It affects literally every aspect of playing from double tonguing, circular breathing, altissimo, intonation, timbre, phrasing, and everything else. Glad to see that it’s becoming more widespread now. When I learned it, the reception to it was pretty much to ignore it. Then I began helping people online. ‘After the posting of the SaxFAQ, I got letters from literally thousands of people (email, and a few on paper!) from all around the world, who each said that it was the key that opened up their playing even after years of lessons with teachers who had no concept of this. This is the singular most important technique you can learn on saxophone. All wind instruments use this to some degree, but it’s critical on saxophone, which can be like a kazoo in its flexibility. This controls that kazoo-like mess and turns it into a musical instrument.
Thanks for sharing this! I feel vindicated!
-- Shooshie
www.bobrk.com/saxfaq/2.6.html
Thanks for sharing Shooshie! So much info in just one comment. I love it. I agree that these concepts are too often ignored. Nowadays, there are so many videos on youtube purporting things like "the three things you need to know to improve your tone" in a three minute video. Get real. This is a lifelong commitment and struggle, being good at sax, or anything I really. To be fair, there are many great educators online as well, who are thoughtful and insightful and not just trying for clicks. I'm standing on the shoulders of giants for sure. Joe Allard was a true master, and I take anything he had to say to heart. I use his "tone matching" overtone exercise every day. I'm gonna check out your link. Be well!
So thorough on the overtones. I will try it tomorrow!😊
Great video thank you so much for putting this together. I'm still trying to figure out how to open/expand my throat as I see most of the pro players do it. I'm probably missing a step here. Thank you.
Hi Zack, thanks for the excellent video! It really pulled back the curtain on these concepts for me. I am going to screen capture and print the exercises you flash at the bottom of the screen. It would be nice if you had a full sheet as a reference.. Thanks again, looking forward to your next topic.
Thanks very much. I'm glad it helps. I'm thinking of creating some pdf downloads in the future.
Best explanation so far. Cant wait for part 2. Hope you post it soon...
@@gasperzorman Thanks! I am currently editing the mouthpiece portion of the voicing series. It should be out soon. Stay tuned.
Mark Watkins has x-ray videos of the stuff Zack is talking about 👍
I've seen some of those. Gross but kinda cool to check out too. Thanks.
Good stuff. Thanks Zack! 🎷
You got it. Hope it helps!
Hello, I'm discovering your channel and I've already become a fan. I'm Brazilian and I don't speak English. In your other videos, you enabled the RUclips translator, but unfortunately, in this video there is no translation of the subtitles in other languages. Was this intentional? Note: I translated my writing using Google Translate. Thank you!
Olá! Thank you for following the channel. No, this was not intentional. For some reason under "settings" for this video, youtube had automatically set it to "ineligible" for subtitles. I don't know why. However, I did some clicking around and I think now automatic subtitles should be available in English and Portuguese. Please check and let me know if it works for you.
@@zacksax Now it's perfect, thank you very much Zack! I'm going to learn to play the saxophone first, then maybe learn English😂. See you soon and thank you very much!🙏
@@Eletro-Lata Não há de quê
Very good info! Thanks!
wow, you might actually have changed my life with that bit about the same embouchure up the scale, with and without aaa-eee, and how it just didn't work without it. thing is I'm an ex-clarinettist so I've been squeezing the reed as I go higher through ingrained force of habit, and it's sending me way sharp. and I've watched TONS of videos that keep imploring me to "stop doing that, just relax your lower jaw/lip, and it'll sound better!", and to use voicing rather than lip pressure for tuning. but none of them seem to have clicked for me because if I don't squeeze, the note doesn't come out. so what I've ended up doing is (1) squeeze to get the note out, (2) it's wildly sharp (3) apply exaggerated 'aaa' shape voicing to try and flatten it back to where it should be. I got really good at blowing ugly sounding notes a semitone or two below what I was fingering, but actually settling into a high note that was both in-tune and 'nice' seemed impossible. finally you explain doing the correct voicing (ee shape) before you even start the note MAKES THE NOTE COME OUT EASIER IN THE FIRST PLACE so you don't need to squeeze, so actually with a 'sharp' voicing I'm now less sharp than I was before because I can finally relax my lip without the note vanishing or squeaking. halllujah. man I've spent the last 2 weeks vainly trying to find the right degree of 'aaa' to get those notes right and it was the complete opposite shape to what I should have been doing, thank god I watched this before I wasted more months ingraining bad habits. wish i could give a superthanks
Great to hear this. I'm glad the video helps. Thank you!
Diggin' everything as I want to start incorporating altissimo. By the way what is on your walls? Are you using whatever you have on your walls to dampen the sound? I need that as much as learning from you in altissimo and voicing. 😂😂😂
Those are just some wedge foam acoustic panels and bass traps I used to treat the room for mixing and recording. I think I got them from ATS Acoustics. They do help kill some unwanted reverberations, yes.
Freakin' awesome!
Thanks!
thankyou
New to your channel. Thank you -- You gave a TON of useful information here.
Thanks Laura! I'm new to my channel as well. I mean new to making these kind of videos, haha. I plan to do a lot more.
lift the tongue a few CENTIMETERS??? My mouth isn't that big. Other than that, I think this is going to help me. I keep pushing for tighter embouchure, especially as I get tired. Concentrating on vowels might get me moving in the right direction.
Yes, a few centimeters. At least a couple. Maybe you were thinking of inches. Centimeters are very small.