I just moved into a semi-detached house and for the first time ever I can let my horn scream without the fear of bothering my neighbours. It made such a big difference.
3:00 Best thing my sax instructor ever had me do was start practicing with either earbuds or earplugs in. Being shy/overly considerate with ones volume destroys the sound more than anything. Take it from me, a guy who when playing trumpet was easily over powered by the saxes because of how timid I was playing
This is my problem, since i’m using the same piece as with clarinet (i’m using soprano, our band director don’t give me any sop piece), i’m trying my best to sound just like them and hold my breath to at least match their volume, and when are the background I always have a hard time playing it especially the lower notes since it needs a lot more air, so always ended up not playing it then my band director will be mad ‘cause he thinks i’m not practicing and then tell me to always practice my scale
Great tips - VERY much agree with these. Air and Rhythm, without these nothing works (on the saxophone). I'm such a metronome-fanatic, I'm actually working with a Sydney design house to develop my dream metronome (will it tick? or tock? time will tell). Good luck with the workshop, looks like fun! Happy Friday, Jay!
For me, the best thing to improve my rythm was to record myself playing and then listening back to it, it really makes a difference hearing yourself play without having to concentrate on actually playing.
I'm a saxophone teacher. And this is so helpful to use as a resource. Keep up the great work! You're not just helping beginners with this video. You're helping teachers like me! 👍
Well said jamie, i live in a small apartment in spain i hate annoying my nieghbors while practicing so i played low, but now i drive to the country side and play with full sound the difference is massive, great advise.
Hey Pete, I'm in Spain too, been playing since Nov 21 fortunately I'm not having noise issues with my neighbours. Where abouts in Spain are you? Anywhere near Torre Del Mar (Costa Del Sol)..
So true, so true: sound & rhythm. They are my daily struggle. 🙂. Long notes, play in-tune, like what you hear, metronome (beats 2 and 4), whenever possible and when not possible, play-a-long with backing tracks or exercises (niehaus books, for example); without forgetting your tips ;-) thank you Jay
THIS VIDEO WAS NEEDED!!!! Thanks for putting this on RUclips! As a college saxophone music major, I believe that every young musician should watch this video!
It's amazing how advices that seems simple, are so important and could defined our sound. Thanks again Jay, for your help, in loving this instrument that even gets to be a great companion. Keep up the good work.
This has got to be the most important things i have ever heard from a saxophone educator. Even me and i have been playing for years sometimes forget. My neighbors stopped complaining years ago so I must be singing ok lol. Love your vids, Jay
My first private lesson in college my instructor told me I had a great tone, but needed to play louder. Definitely playing louder now, though he still will remind me sometimes not to back away. It immediately made a huge difference in range, the low notes sing a lot easier and faster! And not just playing with a metronome, but writing down what tempos you're playing your scales, technique, and repertoire helps you see the improvement and push yourself more!
I play in a small sax choir. I was on tenor but the baritone player retired so I stepped in. Wow, I discovered I was rhythmically illiterate. I’d obviously been relying on the baritone & my tenor colleague for a handrail. Practice with a metronome and a simple drum machine has been the cure. I’m now really enjoying the baritone, driving the tunes reliably and my tenor playing has benefited. Just do what the man says🎉🎉
Great tips! I always tell my students that AIR is the basis of everything. I tell them to push air through the whole length of the saxophone (not just to the reed), and I tell them that if their siblings/parents/people in their house aren't being annoyed when they're not doing it right!
I try to think of the metronome as my drummer, my buddy, who's laying down a simple beat because he wants me to be able to lock into it. Thanks Jay -- I need both these reminders all the time!
I am sooo glad I found your channel on RUclips! This kind of teaching I was looking for for a long time!!! Thank you so much!!! Warm and musical greetings from a West Melanesian living in the Netherlands 🎷
The one thing that helped me develop a good sound was listening to and playing along with recordings. Picking out your favorite players and trying to cop their sound. Once you've gone through a dozen or so players you will finally sound like you. Playing exercises are important but you can't develop a good sound without open ears.
Thanks for another great video, Jay. Incidentally, I’ve been spending some of my music listening time focussing on the drums/rhythm section and dancing to the sounds to embody them more. Time feel and sound is definitely a work in progress…
Practicing with a metronome or click track is so important! I started playing drums when I was around 10 and never practiced with a metronome but when I started recording in the studio I suddenly had to use a click track and it was a nightmare. That's when I realised how important it is and since then I've practiced saxophone a lot with a click track too and I think it's really important, just like using a tuner to check tuning.
Killer tips Jay. I had a 1:1 recently with a fantastic old timer who plays with the Preservation Hall Jazz Band in New Orleans (gift from my wife). One of his first requests was to hear me play a soft low C and B with perfect articulation and steady sound. Many of my attempts did neither. The secret....LOTS OF AIR! You can't push the lower bell notes out ...loudly, or (and especially softly), without LOTS. OF. AIR.
Recently I felt much better using the rhythms and phrases I use playing congas to my horn playing. Intentionally tonguing and articulating and working patterns I already play on the congas to my fingers and tongue. Releasing myself from consciously thinking only of melodies and scales and waiting for ideas to pop in my head. It is so liberating.
I just started learning on tenor, but I also play drums and keyboard with at least okay, basic facility, as well as a little flute. I think you're spot on about many sax/horn players often not having that percussive sense of rhythm, and you're right that its because many players have to use so much brain for their embouchure (as well as the fact that you cant watch your hands closely like drums and keyboard); it's a matter of the players habits of perspective. To add a powerful solution to a logistical issue, learning and playing some piano or a keyboard with weighted keys, if you have one or can buy one, is probably the most useful tool you can get when it comes to learning on the sax. It helps shape your perspective on how you think of and feel time with your hands. Making music where the tension, suppleness, posture, and weighting of your hand is the absolute primary factor for sound production gives you the opportunity to really focus on the most pertinent information when it comes to rhythm and your hands: distance, velocity, and resistance, as well as the posture of your hands, arms, and shoulders as they relate to your capacity for movement. To be able to predictably execute actions in time on an instrument, you have to develop an intuitive, predictive knowledge of how long it takes you to make a sound, and to make sure that the distance your fingers have to travel is as uniform and as little as possible if you want to be efficient and relaxed. If you remove your embouchure from the equation and make sounds with just your hands on an instrument that resists your fingers more than a sax, it can help your hands get stronger and give you a more acute sense of the relationship between time, space, and your hands connection to your brain and instrument. Plus, you can learn scales and chords on the keyboard while you're getting your hands strong, which is a super powerful tool for visualizing chords, scales, melodies, etc. And if you get a keyboard with a headphone jack, you get another instrument you can play that won't piss your neighbors off as much! Getting a pair of drums sticks and a practice pad can also be super useful too, plus it's a cheaper solution than a keyboard. Firstly, it'll humble you on what a drummer really has to figure out to become good at drumming, and why being a good drummer is hard: you really gotta know how long it takes a very complicated striking mechanism, your hand interfacing with a stick to strike something, and you have to know it by memory. How do your remember something that you can't measure or qualify with words? Find the easiest, most predictable sensations to pay attention to in order to build muscle memory. The most dominant, consistent information that drummers have to become well acquainted with is the tension and posture of your hands, and how that correlates to how far away your stick is. Doing a pattern thousands of times gives you that intuitive sense of the relationship between the tension in your hand, the way you hold the stick, and how long it takes to produce a sound, as well as how you have to hold your hand in order to be able to do even strokes in quick succession. You sound like doodoo on drums no matter what until you figure that relationship out, and that necessity makes you learn if you really want a good sound. Same thing applies to the saxophone, its just that you have more excuses because you've gotta blow on an often finicky reed on a complicated looking instrument that you cant't directly look at while your play. To sum all this up: ultimately, if you wanna learn really good time, and if you wanna make music you wanna learn good time, then it really behooves you to learn good time and sound production on another instrument to the point where you can execute the basics consistently; it will make you stronger at thinking about and growing your physicality with your instrument. You stop trying to become a saxophone player and start trying to become someone that plays their body to make music, which I feel like is the first step on the journey to really having a musical voice. Thank you for the solid content! Your stuff has been real helpful for me figuring sax stuff out.
Oh yeah, I dedicate a good chunk of my daily practice, usually during or just after my basic warm up, where I just focus on sound. I really started focusing on sound and researching it when I saw Saxologic’s videos on how to get into all state. I wasn’t trying out for all state but I was gunning for all county, and he really emphasized the sound quality. And of course I never practice without a met. I usually spend awhile on a song polishing it with a met, then I do a few full runs on it with a professional recording and then repeat with the next piece in my set. Also, recording yourself. When you start doing it it’s almost scary how much worse you sound than you think you do. But it really opens up the gateway to improvement so much more. When I started self recording, I realized that my pitch in particular was all over the place, and a lot of other things like larger interval jumps were just uncomfortable messes. You can’t improve without some pain though, because you’re both the marble and the sculptor.
Thank you so much. I have been i to rhytm practices since a couple of months. Sometimes I wonder how annoting that must be for the neighbours. Now I know that I sjould keep it up. Let the neighbours go for a walk!
My high school band teacher has been trying to deal with the reprocussions of teaching middle school kids that they're playing too loud. Every day she's telling people to put air through their horns and to play loud but they usually only play a tiny bit louder each time. I've seen a lot of improvement from them over the past year. It seems like every generation of players has been playing quieter and quieter as time goes on. For right now, I'm putting a lot of thought into keeping my bottom lip soft so that I can get that classic sax sound that I want to have.
Yes! It sucks when you see players, specifically people who have been influenced by a previous teacher, play soft! I really got into sax the year that I stayed in an apartment, and it took a heavy toll. If people complain about the noise, then play on!
I've been playing for 3 days. I notice every now and then I hit that golden buttery tone that I've heard in my favorite tracks, and for those short moments I am in space, floating.
What I do with students when they begin is (sound wise) don't use the total sax, just begin with the mouthpiece and neck. It's best to get a regular airflow going, which is hard to do in the beginning. But when you do it this way, you don't have to think about anything else so there is focus. It helps in a certain way to get you're airflow going, without thinking about notes etc. It helps to improve the total breath control. Although most students don't like it, it is very effective to become better. I even do it on a regular basis myself, just for practice. Rhythm is very important, so always use a metronome. It is a pain in the ass, but it helps you progress quite quickly. My own experience is that if you use it frequent, you can learn that the rhythm section is not as solid as they should be and you can learn from each other. I wan't to add 1 extra topic on this video, which can help you a lot. I hated it when I was a student, but it's about scales. If you practice scales frequently, it will help you to "determine" which note you have to play. I didn't noticed it when I was a student, but when I was told to give lessons to progress it became clear. Nowadays it's for me a no brainer in what scale a musical chord is written in, same for solo's etc. It helps a lot so you don't make any (clearly) mistakes. If you make a mistake in a solo, no problem. Keep the tone if it was intentional. Most of the times it works out (not always). Just my thoughts on this video, which is (in my opinion) a good review on what's important, so my compliments!
Hi Jay, another great video... Today I practised 1.5 hour with metronome, no other way to learn my big band sheet of music at the right tempo.. I'd love to come to the UK for your clinic. We"ll see if I will be able to make it
Rhythm; I was in the car on a Saturday listening to a jazz program on NPR. I don’t recall the tune but, when it was Louis Armstrong’s turn to blow through the changes, he played one chorus of the blues on one pitch. His solo was swinging rhythm. I can still recall my reaction to hearing that amazing solo. One pitch, pure rhythm, Louis Armstrong.
Great points. Playing in-time may be just a part of the ‘weak on rhythm’ issue for woodwind players. How many years of our life have we spent practicing arpeggios? Countless pages of eighth or sixteenth notes which can be beautiful but are often not very rhythmically interesting. I have my kids learn them as written, then rewrite those arpeggios using varied rhythms (and changing the key, too). When they struggle with an odd tuplet on a chart or etude, they are encouraged to work that into their rewritten arpeggio studies as well. Improved rhythm, sight reading, composition, and notation skills are just some of the benefits of doing this.
In regards to #1, use your air like an opera singer. Even if you're playing at low dynamics, use your diaphragm to push the air through that horn. It's not the easiest, but the result is very rewarding.
Hey Jay. I just watched this, and I fully agree with you. I typically work on rhythm, but I have been struggling to keep a good sound while playing quietly on my tenor. I’ve been having this problem for a while and just can’t seem to find a fix. Do you have any tips for me?
Playing with enough air support solves many problems especially intonation and sound quality. I would add that when one buys the absolutely necessary metronome be sure to Get a a combo with built in tuner and use both. At first you will need to check your pitch against the tuner often but after a while ones ear becomes more discerning you can tell when the pitch is off by just a few cents just by hearing and not looking at the tuner. BUT it like all the skills music entails it needs regular practice to maintain.
Hey sir I just wanna thank you for making all these videos, I've always watched ur videos and it helped me a lot improving my saxophone skill. Though I'm still not as pro as you but I'm trying to be as good as you or even better! I've alao watched ur video about the cheapest saxophone on amazon, I'm interested in that and saving my money waiting to buy it hahaha, thank you!!
You know, when I first starting practicing with a metronome, it was really bad at keeping time, and I thought maybe I had received a defective one. Guess it just needed some breaking in, though, because these days it seems to be doing a much better job!
RE Urban Kids Playing Loudly (a.k.a., playing w/ a full airstream): I humbly suggest caution here. I’ve done volunteer instruction for beginning urban kids for decades and we always start with a ‘practice plan,’ part of which involves a parent surveying neighbors to ask about good and bad practice times, either in person or by a note. No 13-year-old boy who is home alone practicing after school should have to deal with ‘210 pounds of angry’ showing up at their apartment door. A parent contact phone # can also help when unforeseen issues arise with neighbors. Practicing at home at full volume may never be an option for some kids, but I urge them not to give up. They should make their instructor aware of this limitation and ask if they have any recommendations or strategies for addressing this. These outstanding RUclips uploads have attracted so many younger players that I think this subject might merit its own video. BTW: This ‘community process’ can help kids develop their social, problem-solving, and even confrontation de-escalation skills--important skills for urban kids.
Just like anything important, focus on the basics. I’d like to amend your advice about filling up the saxophone with air, you need to practice filling the room with your sound (some would say the back of the room.) This makes a player listen to themselves. It is also good to sometimes practice outside.
I tell my students to think of the tongue as the drummer's stick, or the guitarist's pick. As the tongue releases the reed to vibrate, with that full air supply waiting to flow, that is the "percussion" similarity to the striking of a drum, or the plucking of a string. Start by tonguing quarter notes, one for each click. You must hear the click, so you might need headphones / ear buds. Start with easy tempos / BPM, such as 70 to 80.
Earlier in my playing I would go down to Duke Ellington Bridge in DC and play against the wall of the arches. Bouncing that sound right to my face helped to shape my embouchure and sound I wanted to get.
I practice in my bedroom because I have thick, heavy carpet, drapes, my bed, an open closet full of clothes, etc. all helping to dampen the sound just enough that it doesn't sound harsh even when I'm actually trying to play loudly. That being said I live a block from an outdoor firing range so the neighbors are used to noise around here
My neighbors get mad when I practice to quietly haha. Also throughout high school I had to play quieter. Once I got into university I tried one day playing way louder than normal. My conductor was so impressed,
Good one Jay. However I have to disagree with your statement that the saxophone is not a percussive instrument. Fingertips on a drum. Tonguing is/can be percussive, and I think that by teaching that the sax IS actually percussive, this can help students with mastering rhythm.
I must be a lucky dove then! As the first tenor in a national band I have to go play with all the air I can produce (controlled of course) otherwise the public wouldn’t get the complete sense of the song being played. As I have always trained with a metronome and still do I’m quite strict when it comes to rhythm. New pieces and solos are trained with metronome first to get the notes neat and right, once these are memorized I add coloring or whatever the director asks. At least that’s my personal method 🤗
I honestly think that every sax player should get some experience in a NO style Brass band on baritone or bass sax. That is definite rhythm section experience and the Sousa player will set you straight if you stray from what he's laying down.
I find this interesting, my sound and rhythm are pretty good. My sound is by far the best part of my playing, my roadblock is more about how I can implement and develop my vocabulary. I feel like I'm making no progress on improv, and it's bugging me because everything else (technique, intonation, sound, etc) is getting better rapidly, and then I take a solo.
You're perfectly right, I've stopped studying because my father and brother where making fun of my sound laughing and doing the donkeys behind the door during my very firs year of practice.. Not easy to get rid of this blockage, but I'm trying now in my forties ..
Yep she is a hard task mistress, mistress metronome. But bow down and give up, and eventually you get around to her way of thinking. She is like the school teacher standing there with the cane ready to wack you fingers on every mistake or slow inhalations.
And the absolute best way to improve is to download a DAW software, buy an interface and a mediocre vocal or instrument mic and start recording yourself playing to karaoke tracks. I thought I was awesome until I listened back to my best playing. All of the times that you rushed, was late, was sharp or flat, didn't hold the note, or played the short note to long, or just plain didn't play with enough feeling, the recording will make it apparent. Listen to a great player's recording and try to live up to their artistry. If you have any idea what good playing sounds like, I guarantee that you will get better.
I agree Jay. A long time ago my horn teacher encouraged me to play a percussive instrument for this very reason. Getting lost in chord changes, theory etc can be just as bad as picking up the horn and only knowing or playing a rhythmic pattern without knowing how to get around the horn thru scales and arpeggios.
How do you play softly while still filling it with air? My band director always tells me to play softer but when I do it sounds like I am “holding back”
I would add objectively measuring one's tone (including intonation) and timing using Recording software such as Reaper. Otherwise it is too easy to be deluded. The sax sounds different to the player than the listener. Only recording allows the player to hear what the listener hears. Similarly the player may delude themselves they are keeping time with a metronome but Recording software can objectively measure timing (and intonation), easily identifying trouble areas to be addressed. Jay, where is your course on developing rhythm? More than just a metronome but a course that will take a beginner through to advanced jazz rhythms in incremental steps.
I knew a guitar teacher who would record the student's every lesson after the point when they could play half a song without stopping. The student would listen to themselves at home and make improvements. Some of his grew quickly, some did not. I like your software idea, for the visual inspection of their sense of time!
I guess it makes sense I'm just starting out and I won't put much air in as I'm too worried about what my nabours think and then I try not play loudly then I get frustrated with the sounds not coming out
What I hate the most in class is if im in time and the people around me start rushing it's very hard to play because well I can't hear the tempo and it naturally makes me rush with them and i hate the sound that someone is behind the band
May I request you to give a tutorial on "LOVE IN PORTOFIO" by Andrea Bocelli. I am a regular follower of your tutorials. I am a disabled war veteran and saxophone is my hobby. Hope you will entertain my request. Thanks
![Stromae, Pomme - “Ma Meilleure Ennemie” (from Arcane Season 2) [Official Visualizer]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/1F3OGIFnW1k/mqdefault.jpg)
I just moved into a semi-detached house and for the first time ever I can let my horn scream without the fear of bothering my neighbours. It made such a big difference.
Get double glazing and hang a duvet over the door. Really works.
Get a travel sax
3:00
Best thing my sax instructor ever had me do was start practicing with either earbuds or earplugs in. Being shy/overly considerate with ones volume destroys the sound more than anything. Take it from me, a guy who when playing trumpet was easily over powered by the saxes because of how timid I was playing
Yes! This helps build sound for sure.
This is my problem, since i’m using the same piece as with clarinet (i’m using soprano, our band director don’t give me any sop piece), i’m trying my best to sound just like them and hold my breath to at least match their volume, and when are the background I always have a hard time playing it especially the lower notes since it needs a lot more air, so always ended up not playing it then my band director will be mad ‘cause he thinks i’m not practicing and then tell me to always practice my scale
For rhythm just keep listening to Louis Armstrong.
Great tips - VERY much agree with these. Air and Rhythm, without these nothing works (on the saxophone). I'm such a metronome-fanatic, I'm actually working with a Sydney design house to develop my dream metronome (will it tick? or tock? time will tell). Good luck with the workshop, looks like fun! Happy Friday, Jay!
Thanks Wally
it better TOCK!!
For me, the best thing to improve my rythm was to record myself playing and then listening back to it, it really makes a difference hearing yourself play without having to concentrate on actually playing.
Definitely extremely helpful recording oneself.
I'm a saxophone teacher. And this is so helpful to use as a resource.
Keep up the great work! You're not just helping beginners with this video. You're helping teachers like me! 👍
Well said jamie, i live in a small apartment in spain i hate annoying my nieghbors while practicing so i played low, but now i drive to the country side and play with full sound the difference is massive, great advise.
Hey Pete, I'm in Spain too, been playing since Nov 21 fortunately I'm not having noise issues with my neighbours. Where abouts in Spain are you? Anywhere near Torre Del Mar (Costa Del Sol)..
@@dennisd2531hey, I’ve been learning for some time now too and I live Benalmádena, Málaga. It’s cool to see someone around here that lives so close
This couldn't be more spot-on.
That's great advice, I started using a metronome after this and the sound is a huge improvement.
glad to hear it
So true, so true: sound & rhythm. They are my daily struggle. 🙂. Long notes, play in-tune, like what you hear, metronome (beats 2 and 4), whenever possible and when not possible, play-a-long with backing tracks or exercises (niehaus books, for example); without forgetting your tips ;-) thank you Jay
THIS VIDEO WAS NEEDED!!!! Thanks for putting this on RUclips! As a college saxophone music major, I believe that every young musician should watch this video!
Thanks!
It's amazing how advices that seems simple, are so important and could defined our sound.
Thanks again Jay, for your help, in loving this instrument that even gets to be a great companion.
Keep up the good work.
This has got to be the most important things i have ever heard from a saxophone educator. Even me and i have been playing for years sometimes forget. My neighbors stopped complaining years ago so I must be singing ok lol. Love your vids, Jay
Wasn't expecting to see an Adam Neely clip make an appearance 🤣
My first private lesson in college my instructor told me I had a great tone, but needed to play louder. Definitely playing louder now, though he still will remind me sometimes not to back away. It immediately made a huge difference in range, the low notes sing a lot easier and faster!
And not just playing with a metronome, but writing down what tempos you're playing your scales, technique, and repertoire helps you see the improvement and push yourself more!
I play in a small sax choir. I was on tenor but the baritone player retired so I stepped in. Wow, I discovered I was rhythmically illiterate. I’d obviously been relying on the baritone & my tenor colleague for a handrail. Practice with a metronome and a simple drum machine has been the cure. I’m now really enjoying the baritone, driving the tunes reliably and my tenor playing has benefited.
Just do what the man says🎉🎉
Great tips! I always tell my students that AIR is the basis of everything. I tell them to push air through the whole length of the saxophone (not just to the reed), and I tell them that if their siblings/parents/people in their house aren't being annoyed when they're not doing it right!
I try to think of the metronome as my drummer, my buddy, who's laying down a simple beat because he wants me to be able to lock into it. Thanks Jay -- I need both these reminders all the time!
I am sooo glad I found your channel on RUclips! This kind of teaching I was looking for for a long time!!! Thank you so much!!!
Warm and musical greetings from a West Melanesian living in the Netherlands 🎷
Thank you!
The one thing that helped me develop a good sound was listening to and playing along with recordings. Picking out your favorite players and trying to cop their sound. Once you've gone through a dozen or so players you will finally sound like you. Playing exercises are important but you can't develop a good sound without open ears.
Thank you. Excellent advice. Too often I practice while overlooking these *essential* elements, especially "Air."
Thanks for another great video, Jay. Incidentally, I’ve been spending some of my music listening time focussing on the drums/rhythm section and dancing to the sounds to embody them more. Time feel and sound is definitely a work in progress…
Listening is key.Thanks Kirk.
Always good to watch some Jay Metcalf Better Sax videos to remind myself of the basics.
Thanks Jay!! I’ll keep on working on these things😊 Cheers
Practicing with a metronome or click track is so important! I started playing drums when I was around 10 and never practiced with a metronome but when I started recording in the studio I suddenly had to use a click track and it was a nightmare. That's when I realised how important it is and since then I've practiced saxophone a lot with a click track too and I think it's really important, just like using a tuner to check tuning.
Killer tips Jay. I had a 1:1 recently with a fantastic old timer who plays with the Preservation Hall Jazz Band in New Orleans (gift from my wife). One of his first requests was to hear me play a soft low C and B with perfect articulation and steady sound. Many of my attempts did neither. The secret....LOTS OF AIR! You can't push the lower bell notes out ...loudly, or (and especially softly), without LOTS. OF. AIR.
Recently I felt much better using the rhythms and phrases I use playing congas to my horn playing. Intentionally tonguing and articulating and working patterns I already play on the congas to my fingers and tongue. Releasing myself from consciously thinking only of melodies and scales and waiting for ideas to pop in my head. It is so liberating.
I just started learning on tenor, but I also play drums and keyboard with at least okay, basic facility, as well as a little flute. I think you're spot on about many sax/horn players often not having that percussive sense of rhythm, and you're right that its because many players have to use so much brain for their embouchure (as well as the fact that you cant watch your hands closely like drums and keyboard); it's a matter of the players habits of perspective.
To add a powerful solution to a logistical issue, learning and playing some piano or a keyboard with weighted keys, if you have one or can buy one, is probably the most useful tool you can get when it comes to learning on the sax. It helps shape your perspective on how you think of and feel time with your hands. Making music where the tension, suppleness, posture, and weighting of your hand is the absolute primary factor for sound production gives you the opportunity to really focus on the most pertinent information when it comes to rhythm and your hands: distance, velocity, and resistance, as well as the posture of your hands, arms, and shoulders as they relate to your capacity for movement.
To be able to predictably execute actions in time on an instrument, you have to develop an intuitive, predictive knowledge of how long it takes you to make a sound, and to make sure that the distance your fingers have to travel is as uniform and as little as possible if you want to be efficient and relaxed. If you remove your embouchure from the equation and make sounds with just your hands on an instrument that resists your fingers more than a sax, it can help your hands get stronger and give you a more acute sense of the relationship between time, space, and your hands connection to your brain and instrument. Plus, you can learn scales and chords on the keyboard while you're getting your hands strong, which is a super powerful tool for visualizing chords, scales, melodies, etc. And if you get a keyboard with a headphone jack, you get another instrument you can play that won't piss your neighbors off as much!
Getting a pair of drums sticks and a practice pad can also be super useful too, plus it's a cheaper solution than a keyboard. Firstly, it'll humble you on what a drummer really has to figure out to become good at drumming, and why being a good drummer is hard: you really gotta know how long it takes a very complicated striking mechanism, your hand interfacing with a stick to strike something, and you have to know it by memory. How do your remember something that you can't measure or qualify with words? Find the easiest, most predictable sensations to pay attention to in order to build muscle memory. The most dominant, consistent information that drummers have to become well acquainted with is the tension and posture of your hands, and how that correlates to how far away your stick is. Doing a pattern thousands of times gives you that intuitive sense of the relationship between the tension in your hand, the way you hold the stick, and how long it takes to produce a sound, as well as how you have to hold your hand in order to be able to do even strokes in quick succession. You sound like doodoo on drums no matter what until you figure that relationship out, and that necessity makes you learn if you really want a good sound. Same thing applies to the saxophone, its just that you have more excuses because you've gotta blow on an often finicky reed on a complicated looking instrument that you cant't directly look at while your play.
To sum all this up: ultimately, if you wanna learn really good time, and if you wanna make music you wanna learn good time, then it really behooves you to learn good time and sound production on another instrument to the point where you can execute the basics consistently; it will make you stronger at thinking about and growing your physicality with your instrument. You stop trying to become a saxophone player and start trying to become someone that plays their body to make music, which I feel like is the first step on the journey to really having a musical voice.
Thank you for the solid content! Your stuff has been real helpful for me figuring sax stuff out.
Great advice, this is the kind of things that my trumpet teacher drilled into me from day 1. What a great teacher he is
As a person who is going to lead alto chair in my Jazz Band I need this, so thanks!
Oh yeah, I dedicate a good chunk of my daily practice, usually during or just after my basic warm up, where I just focus on sound. I really started focusing on sound and researching it when I saw Saxologic’s videos on how to get into all state. I wasn’t trying out for all state but I was gunning for all county, and he really emphasized the sound quality. And of course I never practice without a met. I usually spend awhile on a song polishing it with a met, then I do a few full runs on it with a professional recording and then repeat with the next piece in my set. Also, recording yourself. When you start doing it it’s almost scary how much worse you sound than you think you do. But it really opens up the gateway to improvement so much more. When I started self recording, I realized that my pitch in particular was all over the place, and a lot of other things like larger interval jumps were just uncomfortable messes. You can’t improve without some pain though, because you’re both the marble and the sculptor.
Yes! Another great video! Sounding clean and in time will carry you very far.
Thank you so much. I have been i to rhytm practices since a couple of months. Sometimes I wonder how annoting that must be for the neighbours. Now I know that I sjould keep it up. Let the neighbours go for a walk!
My high school band teacher has been trying to deal with the reprocussions of teaching middle school kids that they're playing too loud. Every day she's telling people to put air through their horns and to play loud but they usually only play a tiny bit louder each time. I've seen a lot of improvement from them over the past year. It seems like every generation of players has been playing quieter and quieter as time goes on. For right now, I'm putting a lot of thought into keeping my bottom lip soft so that I can get that classic sax sound that I want to have.
Yes! It sucks when you see players, specifically people who have been influenced by a previous teacher, play soft! I really got into sax the year that I stayed in an apartment, and it took a heavy toll. If people complain about the noise, then play on!
I've been playing for 3 days. I notice every now and then I hit that golden buttery tone that I've heard in my favorite tracks, and for those short moments I am in space, floating.
Thanks jay.. for all great information. Your continuous smile enhances your video's
Thanks Darrel
Appreciate this tip, as I have now found myself teaching my kids how to play and I need to get back to basics myself. Thanks Jay, you are the best!
Thanks Jay, yes always held back but have just moved to a detached bungalow, look out wiffy. Cheers Jay
What I do with students when they begin is (sound wise) don't use the total sax, just begin with the mouthpiece and neck. It's best to get a regular airflow going, which is hard to do in the beginning. But when you do it this way, you don't have to think about anything else so there is focus. It helps in a certain way to get you're airflow going, without thinking about notes etc. It helps to improve the total breath control. Although most students don't like it, it is very effective to become better. I even do it on a regular basis myself, just for practice.
Rhythm is very important, so always use a metronome. It is a pain in the ass, but it helps you progress quite quickly. My own experience is that if you use it frequent, you can learn that the rhythm section is not as solid as they should be and you can learn from each other.
I wan't to add 1 extra topic on this video, which can help you a lot. I hated it when I was a student, but it's about scales. If you practice scales frequently, it will help you to "determine" which note you have to play. I didn't noticed it when I was a student, but when I was told to give lessons to progress it became clear. Nowadays it's for me a no brainer in what scale a musical chord is written in, same for solo's etc. It helps a lot so you don't make any (clearly) mistakes. If you make a mistake in a solo, no problem. Keep the tone if it was intentional. Most of the times it works out (not always).
Just my thoughts on this video, which is (in my opinion) a good review on what's important, so my compliments!
I live in Bournemouth and have literally just started learning tenor so when I watched this my jaw dropped ! See you there
Great!
Hi Jay, another great video...
Today I practised 1.5 hour with metronome, no other way to learn my big band sheet of music at the right tempo.. I'd love to come to the UK for your clinic. We"ll see if I will be able to make it
Hope to see you there.
I played clarinet before moving to sax and I've been trying to play it like a clarinet. Whcih little hint. It doesn't help. But the video helped much!
Hello. Yes you are true on both! Thx for reminders
Love your videos! This one had particularly fun editing. As a noob tenor player, I'll keep trying to practice Thing 1 and Thing 2!
Rhythm; I was in the car on a Saturday listening to a jazz program on NPR. I don’t recall the tune but, when it was Louis Armstrong’s turn to blow through the changes, he played one chorus of the blues on one pitch. His solo was swinging rhythm. I can still recall my reaction to hearing that amazing solo. One pitch, pure rhythm, Louis Armstrong.
Don you are absolutely right!! Pops had perfect rhythm!
Probably the most helpful vid ever thanks so much! 😊
I'VE BEEN TEACHING THRSE 2 PRINCIPALS MANY YEARS.GREAT VIDEO 📸.
Great points. Playing in-time may be just a part of the ‘weak on rhythm’ issue for woodwind players. How many years of our life have we spent practicing arpeggios? Countless pages of eighth or sixteenth notes which can be beautiful but are often not very rhythmically interesting. I have my kids learn them as written, then rewrite those arpeggios using varied rhythms (and changing the key, too). When they struggle with an odd tuplet on a chart or etude, they are encouraged to work that into their rewritten arpeggio studies as well. Improved rhythm, sight reading, composition, and notation skills are just some of the benefits of doing this.
Thanks a lot Jay. This really helps a lot!
Glad to hear it!
In regards to #1, use your air like an opera singer. Even if you're playing at low dynamics, use your diaphragm to push the air through that horn. It's not the easiest, but the result is very rewarding.
I’ve been teaching these 2 principals for many years. Great video.
Excellent video. Thanks Jay. Will share with students.
Thanks Luke!
Hey Jay. I just watched this, and I fully agree with you. I typically work on rhythm, but I have been struggling to keep a good sound while playing quietly on my tenor. I’ve been having this problem for a while and just can’t seem to find a fix. Do you have any tips for me?
Watch my short long tone exercise video
Thank you!
It would have been nice if I had band directors that taught basics like this, even when I was high school or college.
Playing with enough air support solves many problems especially intonation and sound quality. I would add that when one buys the absolutely necessary metronome be sure to Get a a combo with built in tuner and use both. At first you will need to check your pitch against the tuner often but after a while ones ear becomes more discerning you can tell when the pitch is off by just a few cents just by hearing and not looking at the tuner. BUT it like all the skills music entails it needs regular practice to maintain.
Hey sir I just wanna thank you for making all these videos, I've always watched ur videos and it helped me a lot improving my saxophone skill. Though I'm still not as pro as you but I'm trying to be as good as you or even better! I've alao watched ur video about the cheapest saxophone on amazon, I'm interested in that and saving my money waiting to buy it hahaha, thank you!!
5:23 That hurt me deep down because its so true. Tenor sax player for 8 years
Very helpful tutorial 👍
I agree with these tips but what I'm struggling with personally is switching from a classical sound to a jazz sax sound
You know, when I first starting practicing with a metronome, it was really bad at keeping time, and I thought maybe I had received a defective one. Guess it just needed some breaking in, though, because these days it seems to be doing a much better job!
LMAO :)
You are spot on with these two things
RE Urban Kids Playing Loudly (a.k.a., playing w/ a full airstream): I humbly suggest caution here. I’ve done volunteer instruction for beginning urban kids for decades and we always start with a ‘practice plan,’ part of which involves a parent surveying neighbors to ask about good and bad practice times, either in person or by a note. No 13-year-old boy who is home alone practicing after school should have to deal with ‘210 pounds of angry’ showing up at their apartment door. A parent contact phone # can also help when unforeseen issues arise with neighbors. Practicing at home at full volume may never be an option for some kids, but I urge them not to give up. They should make their instructor aware of this limitation and ask if they have any recommendations or strategies for addressing this. These outstanding RUclips uploads have attracted so many younger players that I think this subject might merit its own video. BTW: This ‘community process’ can help kids develop their social, problem-solving, and even confrontation de-escalation skills--important skills for urban kids.
Just like anything important, focus on the basics. I’d like to amend your advice about filling up the saxophone with air, you need to practice filling the room with your sound (some would say the back of the room.) This makes a player listen to themselves. It is also good to sometimes practice outside.
Absolutely agree. Thanks for your advices.
I tell my students to think of the tongue as the drummer's stick, or the guitarist's pick. As the tongue releases the reed to vibrate, with that full air supply waiting to flow, that is the "percussion" similarity to the striking of a drum, or the plucking of a string. Start by tonguing quarter notes, one for each click. You must hear the click, so you might need headphones / ear buds. Start with easy tempos / BPM, such as 70 to 80.
i've been playing sax, my dream instrument for a week and i've had help with some of these things because i'm already a drummer and a trumpet player
Earlier in my playing I would go down to Duke Ellington Bridge in DC and play against the wall of the arches. Bouncing that sound right to my face helped to shape my embouchure and sound I wanted to get.
I practice in my bedroom because I have thick, heavy carpet, drapes, my bed, an open closet full of clothes, etc. all helping to dampen the sound just enough that it doesn't sound harsh even when I'm actually trying to play loudly. That being said I live a block from an outdoor firing range so the neighbors are used to noise around here
David Sanborn said he would spend hours with a metronome, drumstick and cowbell. Source: Rico Reed interview.
My neighbors get mad when I practice to quietly haha.
Also throughout high school I had to play quieter. Once I got into university I tried one day playing way louder than normal. My conductor was so impressed,
The sax is too difficult. I am gladden by the waste side. Your perseverance is of supernatural power
Dude 😎 love the teaching and especially bigfoot playing the 🎷 love the humor,👍
That's not Bigfoot, it's the @saxsquatch
Duly noted sir 😊
the tips about the air really hit home
Good one Jay. However I have to disagree with your statement that the saxophone is not a percussive instrument. Fingertips on a drum. Tonguing is/can be percussive, and I think that by teaching that the sax IS actually percussive, this can help students with mastering rhythm.
That’s my point with the video.
Another fantastic video!!
Great advice!
Ok I will take note and do it.
The best site in the world on SAX
Great vid very helpful!
I must be a lucky dove then! As the first tenor in a national band I have to go play with all the air I can produce (controlled of course) otherwise the public wouldn’t get the complete sense of the song being played. As I have always trained with a metronome and still do I’m quite strict when it comes to rhythm. New pieces and solos are trained with metronome first to get the notes neat and right, once these are memorized I add coloring or whatever the director asks. At least that’s my personal method 🤗
I honestly think that every sax player should get some experience in a NO style Brass band on baritone or bass sax. That is definite rhythm section experience and the Sousa player will set you straight if you stray from what he's laying down.
I find this interesting, my sound and rhythm are pretty good. My sound is by far the best part of my playing, my roadblock is more about how I can implement and develop my vocabulary. I feel like I'm making no progress on improv, and it's bugging me because everything else (technique, intonation, sound, etc) is getting better rapidly, and then I take a solo.
you could write out your solos beforehand, play them and see what works and what doesn't
I can oh so well related, you are right, I’m still working through the those “traumas “
As a drummer, I'm hoping my background will give me an advantage in the timing and rhythm aspects of the sax!
That workshop is really tempting but can I afford driving from Bristol to Bournemouth!?
You're perfectly right, I've stopped studying because my father and brother where making fun of my sound laughing and doing the donkeys behind the door during my very firs year of practice.. Not easy to get rid of this blockage, but I'm trying now in my forties ..
Hi,
thanks for your usefull tips !
Will you ever have a training session in Paris, France ?
Yep she is a hard task mistress, mistress metronome. But bow down and give up, and eventually you get around to her way of thinking.
She is like the school teacher standing there with the cane ready to wack you fingers on every mistake or slow inhalations.
Great, info love your videos keep it up!
And the absolute best way to improve is to download a DAW software, buy an interface and a mediocre vocal or instrument mic and start recording yourself playing to karaoke tracks. I thought I was awesome until I listened back to my best playing. All of the times that you rushed, was late, was sharp or flat, didn't hold the note, or played the short note to long, or just plain didn't play with enough feeling, the recording will make it apparent. Listen to a great player's recording and try to live up to their artistry. If you have any idea what good playing sounds like, I guarantee that you will get better.
I agree Jay. A long time ago my horn teacher encouraged me to play a percussive instrument for this very reason. Getting lost in chord changes, theory etc can be just as bad as picking up the horn and only knowing or playing a rhythmic pattern without knowing how to get around the horn thru scales and arpeggios.
Totally agree!
How do you play softly while still filling it with air? My band director always tells me to play softer but when I do it sounds like I am “holding back”
I would add objectively measuring one's tone (including intonation) and timing using Recording software such as Reaper. Otherwise it is too easy to be deluded. The sax sounds different to the player than the listener. Only recording allows the player to hear what the listener hears. Similarly the player may delude themselves they are keeping time with a metronome but Recording software can objectively measure timing (and intonation), easily identifying trouble areas to be addressed.
Jay, where is your course on developing rhythm? More than just a metronome but a course that will take a beginner through to advanced jazz rhythms in incremental steps.
Definitely. I focus on rhythm in all of my courses.
I knew a guitar teacher who would record the student's every lesson after the point when they could play half a song without stopping. The student would listen to themselves at home and make improvements. Some of his grew quickly, some did not. I like your software idea, for the visual inspection of their sense of time!
Great vid 🎷 What’s the metronome app that you were displaying? Tks!
Tonal energy
I guess it makes sense I'm just starting out and I won't put much air in as I'm too worried about what my nabours think and then I try not play loudly then I get frustrated with the sounds not coming out
What I hate the most in class is if im in time and the people around me start rushing it's very hard to play because well I can't hear the tempo and it naturally makes me rush with them and i hate the sound that someone is behind the band
Very funny and helpful video. I solemnly swear to honk as hard and long as I can
LOL, the "not Kenny G" part cracked me up, that you put that sound over his video. hahahahaha
JAy, thanks, I have been saying these things to students for 36 years!
May I request you to give a tutorial on "LOVE IN PORTOFIO" by Andrea Bocelli. I am a regular follower of your tutorials. I am a disabled war veteran and saxophone is my hobby. Hope you will entertain my request. Thanks