@@TheSaxophoneOracle it worked out surprisingly well! It gave me time to hear my tone and learn to correct it with my embouchure. It also taught me where my sax tends go go sharp, and that my A scales of anysort need to be reigned in tightly. That is my most outlying scale ever, as in it deviated from a good tone quite markedly. 😌. But great excercise, loved it. Thanks again.👍😊🎈
thanks for the valuable lesson! I like your presentation, it's difficult to say why, but I feel that we have much in common (maybe just a similar look). Do you consider long tones part of your warm-up? I'm returning to play after 12 years break (I used to play in the city youth orchestra). So I focus now on fundamentals. My warmup is long tones chromatically on the full range of the horn, and then subdivision practice@ 60bpm (quaters, eights, triplets and 16h) along one scale that I work on. and finish with 5-10 min overtone (just trying to slowly nail the first level). All of this takes me about an hour. That might be Ok on a day like today when I can play for 3 hours but not so good when I can only play 1. Do you suggest focusing on scales @ 30ish bpm and working on technique like that? How much should the warmup take from your practice? The issue with my long warm up that I don't advance enough with my goals (like trying a new scale/trying another lesson of that online course I bought). Thanks again for all your content, Rami
As I think slowly, I can’t play speedily. Every time at Sax group practice sessions we’re expected to aim to get faster and faster…. But why is this? Why is fast playing better than slow? I love playing long tones, and creating different colours in the tones. It’s fun to practise this way. I also practise sight reading but usually 40-60bpm as it’s enjoyable. I’ve been learning for 2 years and I’m 64, with a neurological condition that affects my playing. I’m so tired/bored of the focus on speed…
Thanks for commenting. I really like what you have to say here and if it's alright with you, I'd like to make a video to address this question / topic. "Why is fast playing better than slow" brings a myriad of other related questions to mind that I'm sure I'll have to struggle with in order to create a coherent 10 minute video. For now, I'll answer simply. Fast is not better than slow. I think most people, especially less advanced players are drawn in by virtuosity. We are impressed by those who can execute difficult things with ease. Whether we're talking about sports, finance, or the arts virtuosity and showmanship are what tend to grab people's interest. But is it better? How does one even begin to measure that? What is the metric - record sales? youtube views? subscribers? emulators? Is the idea of better or worse even a question worth spending time on if our focus is on making art? I think this is a great topic. It brings me back to a conversation I once had with the late great pianist Paul Bley, maybe I'll share that story in the video as well.
@@TheSaxophoneOracle I think that the focus on speed is somewhat driven by the fact that so many of the jazz greats (Parker, Coltrane, Rollins, Stitt, Brecker, etc.) often did play very quickly. For example, a couple of days ago I was listening to "So What" by Miles Davis for the nth time and it was so noticeable that Miles is playing very slowly throughout the record but when Coltrane and Cannonball start to play, they rip through their notes, at least some of the time, at blazing speeds. When it comes to jazz in particular (as opposed to rock/pop for example), slow playing throughout a solo seems to be the exception. Given how long you've been playing and your deep knowledge of the genre, do you have thoughts about why jazz sax playing in particular is so focused on speed?
@@ilachow I made a video on this topic called "Is Playing Fast Better than Playing Slowly", so you might want to give that a look. I would say this - generally speaking the saxophone is a relatively easy instrument to play and has no trouble executing almost any type of passage so that's 1 contributing factor. Also, one of the prevalent philosophies in jazz is to always push the boundaries, which is also going to influence people to do more and more with their instruments. But, there are plenty of sax players who don't play fast at all - lester young, gene ammons, dexter gordon, lee konitz, paul desmond, hank mobley, and on and on. Thanks for commenting!
@@TheSaxophoneOracle Thanks so much for the reply. I will check out the video and the players your recommended. I'm somewhat familiar with several of them but need to spend more time listening to their music.
Will definitely give this a try. You are so right that as a beginner, it is super tempting to want to speed up as quickly as possible as a sign of "progress." I recently heard Bob Reynolds talk about playing slowly as well. His favorite setting is 60bpm which is a bit faster than you are suggesting but not by much. :) One question: would you recommend the same technique for practicing etudes and/or songs that I'm playing with my community band? For example, we are playing a couple of songs in cut time that are fairly brisk. I'm a bit scared of only practicing at 35bpm and then showing up to the rehearsal where we will play at 120-150 bpm or whatever it is. I feel confident when I can practice at home at that faster pace and then show and up play with my colleagues. Should I switch to slow practicing on those songs as well and trust in the approach? Thanks for your help!
I would say definitely practice those slowly and trust in the process, but as I say 80% or so of your practice time should be done slowly... you can do what you want for the rest. Certainly, if you'll have to play it at a certain speed on a given day you'll want to see if you are able too, but generally speaking if you practice it slowly for long enough you won't have any issue playing it at quicker tempos. Good luck!
hey thx, great video :) oh man I already thought I was practicing slow with my metronome set on 60 and then do mostly what you described. 40 is really really slow, but I guess it is also good for your timing :) one quick question: I do the improvisation like you mentioned, so get a melody in my head and then play it, but I use a backing chord or drone with it. is that ok?
Sure, backing tracks and drones are all good. The exercise I demonstrate without a track is quite advanced, but once you're able to outline chord changes clearly without a track I feel that there's an added benefit to using only the metronome because it exposes many other things about your playing, timing, voice leading etc. I found that when I got to a level of being able to play changes reasonably well I started to find playing with tracks less interesting. Great to hear from you!
It basically means using the chromatic scale. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chromaticism There's an old saying in jazz education that "You're always only a semitone away from a good note if you make a mistake" Perhaps I should make another video on that topic as well. You are a fountain of inspiration Bonnie. Thanks again for watching.
Thanks. I need to slow down . (One of the best sax lessons I've heard.)
Haha. I'm glad you found it helpful! Thank you for watching!
Thanks. Headed to practice room now. SLOWLY
Haha, glad to hear it!
the real saxophone oracle..!...👍
Thanks so much!
Amazing. I'll give it a go. Thankyou 😊.
You'll have to let us know how it worked out for you!
@@TheSaxophoneOracle it worked out surprisingly well! It gave me time to hear my tone and learn to correct it with my embouchure. It also taught me where my sax tends go go sharp, and that my A scales of anysort need to be reigned in tightly. That is my most outlying scale ever, as in it deviated from a good tone quite markedly. 😌. But great excercise, loved it. Thanks again.👍😊🎈
thanks for the valuable lesson! I like your presentation, it's difficult to say why, but I feel that we have much in common (maybe just a similar look).
Do you consider long tones part of your warm-up? I'm returning to play after 12 years break (I used to play in the city youth orchestra). So I focus now on fundamentals.
My warmup is long tones chromatically on the full range of the horn, and then subdivision practice@ 60bpm (quaters, eights, triplets and 16h) along one scale that I work on. and finish with 5-10 min overtone (just trying to slowly nail the first level). All of this takes me about an hour. That might be Ok on a day like today when I can play for 3 hours but not so good when I can only play 1.
Do you suggest focusing on scales @ 30ish bpm and working on technique like that? How much should the warmup take from your practice? The issue with my long warm up that I don't advance enough with my goals (like trying a new scale/trying another lesson of that online course I bought).
Thanks again for all your content,
Rami
As I think slowly, I can’t play speedily. Every time at Sax group practice sessions we’re expected to aim to get faster and faster…. But why is this? Why is fast playing better than slow? I love playing long tones, and creating different colours in the tones. It’s fun to practise this way. I also practise sight reading but usually 40-60bpm as it’s enjoyable. I’ve been learning for 2 years and I’m 64, with a neurological condition that affects my playing. I’m so tired/bored of the focus on speed…
Thanks for commenting. I really like what you have to say here and if it's alright with you, I'd like to make a video to address this question / topic. "Why is fast playing better than slow" brings a myriad of other related questions to mind that I'm sure I'll have to struggle with in order to create a coherent 10 minute video. For now, I'll answer simply. Fast is not better than slow. I think most people, especially less advanced players are drawn in by virtuosity. We are impressed by those who can execute difficult things with ease. Whether we're talking about sports, finance, or the arts virtuosity and showmanship are what tend to grab people's interest. But is it better? How does one even begin to measure that? What is the metric - record sales? youtube views? subscribers? emulators? Is the idea of better or worse even a question worth spending time on if our focus is on making art? I think this is a great topic. It brings me back to a conversation I once had with the late great pianist Paul Bley, maybe I'll share that story in the video as well.
@@TheSaxophoneOracle I think that the focus on speed is somewhat driven by the fact that so many of the jazz greats (Parker, Coltrane, Rollins, Stitt, Brecker, etc.) often did play very quickly. For example, a couple of days ago I was listening to "So What" by Miles Davis for the nth time and it was so noticeable that Miles is playing very slowly throughout the record but when Coltrane and Cannonball start to play, they rip through their notes, at least some of the time, at blazing speeds. When it comes to jazz in particular (as opposed to rock/pop for example), slow playing throughout a solo seems to be the exception. Given how long you've been playing and your deep knowledge of the genre, do you have thoughts about why jazz sax playing in particular is so focused on speed?
@@ilachow I made a video on this topic called "Is Playing Fast Better than Playing Slowly", so you might want to give that a look. I would say this - generally speaking the saxophone is a relatively easy instrument to play and has no trouble executing almost any type of passage so that's 1 contributing factor. Also, one of the prevalent philosophies in jazz is to always push the boundaries, which is also going to influence people to do more and more with their instruments. But, there are plenty of sax players who don't play fast at all - lester young, gene ammons, dexter gordon, lee konitz, paul desmond, hank mobley, and on and on. Thanks for commenting!
@@TheSaxophoneOracle Thanks so much for the reply. I will check out the video and the players your recommended. I'm somewhat familiar with several of them but need to spend more time listening to their music.
@@ilachow My pleasure. Enjoy the listening!
Hi, Sax buddy, will you be so kind as to give me some tip how to choose right reed ??.
Will definitely give this a try. You are so right that as a beginner, it is super tempting to want to speed up as quickly as possible as a sign of "progress." I recently heard Bob Reynolds talk about playing slowly as well. His favorite setting is 60bpm which is a bit faster than you are suggesting but not by much. :) One question: would you recommend the same technique for practicing etudes and/or songs that I'm playing with my community band? For example, we are playing a couple of songs in cut time that are fairly brisk. I'm a bit scared of only practicing at 35bpm and then showing up to the rehearsal where we will play at 120-150 bpm or whatever it is. I feel confident when I can practice at home at that faster pace and then show and up play with my colleagues. Should I switch to slow practicing on those songs as well and trust in the approach? Thanks for your help!
I would say definitely practice those slowly and trust in the process, but as I say 80% or so of your practice time should be done slowly... you can do what you want for the rest. Certainly, if you'll have to play it at a certain speed on a given day you'll want to see if you are able too, but generally speaking if you practice it slowly for long enough you won't have any issue playing it at quicker tempos. Good luck!
Hi. Thank you for this tip. I use sound corset which goes down to 15bpm. Surely that's too slow to practise with?
Yes, 15bpm is way too slow, unless you use the pulse to mark each bar rather than each beat. Thank you for watching!
hey thx, great video :) oh man I already thought I was practicing slow with my metronome set on 60 and then do mostly what you described. 40 is really really slow, but I guess it is also good for your timing :) one quick question: I do the improvisation like you mentioned, so get a melody in my head and then play it, but I use a backing chord or drone with it. is that ok?
Sure, backing tracks and drones are all good. The exercise I demonstrate without a track is quite advanced, but once you're able to outline chord changes clearly without a track I feel that there's an added benefit to using only the metronome because it exposes many other things about your playing, timing, voice leading etc. I found that when I got to a level of being able to play changes reasonably well I started to find playing with tracks less interesting. Great to hear from you!
What saxophone are you playing?
L.A. Sax
By the way what’s chromaticism?
It basically means using the chromatic scale. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chromaticism There's an old saying in jazz education that "You're always only a semitone away from a good note if you make a mistake" Perhaps I should make another video on that topic as well. You are a fountain of inspiration Bonnie. Thanks again for watching.
Not to mention, all that slow playing you're working on long tones too