Throat and tongue training exercises

[Anonymous]

I’ve noticed my ability to whistle tunes has improved since I began playing the Sax.
The sax tone generally is coming along nicely but I tend to warble a bit on middle G.
I was wondering if anyone knows of any throat and tongue training exercises
which one can perform without the sax to help improve control?

[Anonymous]

Hi Jeff

i started doing the following warm up exercises and in 2 weeks i jumped from playing Altissimo A up to Altissimo D#,
i’ve not bothered going higher than that as they aren’t very musical to me after Alissimo c (other members will disagree)
Also it helped in me getting those last upper overtones.

I play the chromatic scale starting from low Bb right up to altissimo D#.
But i repeat the chromatic scale for each of the following ways of playing
1 – tongue it & single tongue it (fast playing)
2 – slur it
3 – double tongue it (playing Kah sounds, then playing Kah Tah sounds, then playing proper double tongue sounds Tah Kah)
4 – tripple tongue it (playing Tah Kah Ta sounds)
5 – flutter tongue it (very easy – not bragging, just the way it is for)
6 – growl it (easy to do just hum)
7 – wah-wah it (dropping the lower lip on the 2bd wah)
8 – do-wah it (like those old rock & roll sounds do wah)
9 – play triplets all the way up (123 234 345 ..)
10 – play quadruplets all the way up (1234 2345 3456 …)
11 – a new one, slapping the tongue down on the mouthpiece/reed (sounds like honking)

for non sax exercises, i sing the G major scale (as that’s where my voice range is in)
i PLay a mid G on the Sax.
then for Mid G – i sing word “one”
A – sing “Two”
B – sing “Three”
C – sing “four”
D – sing “five”
E – sing “six”
F# – sing “seven”
upper G – sing “eight”

for each of the notes they have to be in the same key as the sax sound.
The idea behind this is if anyone calls out a random number between 1 & 8 ,
i should by memory be able to recall the exact pitch!
You also need to sing the exact pitch for number below mid G .

Once you can do that then you can hear the notes in your head before you play them,
if you can do that, then the world of improvisation is opened up, regardless of which
improvisation system you decide to learn (jazz, rock, classic etc).

also singing these will help in voicing the notes on the sax.

i can now sing some songs while playing the sax to get a different sound.

[Marc]

Hi, Jeff… I had the same “warble” problem with middle- and high-G.
I could overcome it after strenghtening my air support, playing one hour daily and doing some breathing exercises at least 3 times a week. Even today, if I unadvertedly -usually reaching the note long after having inhaled- play those G’s a little weak (especially the high one) they tend to warble.
I remember having read somewhere that those G’s are particularly “air-demanding” tones due to the geometry of the sax. So a strong air support is a must.

[Anonymous]

Thanks James, that’s quite a chromatic workout! This piece of music was written for you then? I get vertigo just looking at the sheet music!

Sun down Solo

Marc, I already practice between 2-3 hours a day. Today I played for 3.5 hours and my lower lip was still okay.
I agree about the air support, Johnny has mentioned this as well. But it’s almost like my mouth is unstable at this note as if there is something flexing without control. I really blew the sax today and was able to play quite a few notes with my lips just touching the ligature. This is the first time I was able to get clear notes played with the MP so deep in my mouth. I shall keep focussing on the diaphragm exercises then.

[Anonymous]

wow – thanks for the Sun down Solo Jeff – the only altissimo sheet music i have is from JF’s website (hardly have any use for the altissimo keys on the sax) , i bet Michael should be interested in having a go on this sheet as he’s heavily into altissimo playing!

[Anonymous]

Jeff just had a play on the Sun down Solo – managed to play all the notes on the sheet, but not in the correct rhythm as thats way beyond my grade 3 standard of playing – but at least i could play all the notes.

Really pleased with this sheet, i can incorporate it in my practice sessions – even though its written for a tenor.

cheers
sxpoet

[Anonymous]

Wow James, you really are making progress!

You may like to have a look at these other music sheets for Eb and Bb Sax.

Extra homework

[Anonymous]

thanks Jeff!
In my spare time i troll second hand book shops for alto sax material – it amazing some of the stuff i come across, quite often its stuff that sax players have outgrown, and can be stuff from any decades from the 1920’s up to present day. A lot of it is out of print material. like today i picked up a music book with 50 etudes by Guy Lacour printed in 1989 for 30pence (50 USA cents).

[Anonymous]

http://www.di-arezzo.co.uk/sheet+music/instrument+training/sheet+music-for-saxophone/Guy+Lacour/50+Etudes+faciles+et+progressives/GBILL02449.html

[Anonymous]

a lovely book for practicing those sheet notes!
For me i like trying out lots of different styles, your solo sheet opened up new doors to look behind, i can’t honestly stick to one style of music there’s a lot of fantastic material to be found in all styles of music!

[Author]

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