Us & Them – a question

[Anonymous]

the only thing i know about auditions
is to research what they are looking for.
Play along with their little games so to speak,
like all audiences give em what they want!

[Tim Smith]

Thanks for the audition tip, sxpoet…
Do you happen to have an answer to my questions about the tune, “Us & Them”?

[john]

Us and Them on alto? Most definately! I just tried playing it on alto after reading your question and it sounds great.
Since she’s not auditioning for a concert band but a marching band any piece should be acceptable because they just want to know she has a nice tone and proficient technique to cut the pieces for the marching band’s repertoire. Us and Them covers almost the entire range of the sax and if she can nail the solo part and play it convincingly it should be very impressive to any listener in my opinion.

cheers
Johnny

[Tim Smith]

Alright Johnny,

Thanks a lot for your response! Exactly what I was hoping to hear… We aren’t sure yet whether they’ll allow her to bring the backing track, but even if they don’t I think it could still be impressive enough.

I’m hoping to get my daughter on here to check out your site. She loves to play, that’s for sure – and is not opposed to putting the time in. So I know she could pick up some very good and helpful stuff to become a better player.

This solo just touches that sax sweet spot for me. It’s funny – I was actually searching for Al Stewart’s “Year of the Cat”. My disappointment immediately disappeared after finding “Us & Them”. I’m a child of the 70s, even a Pink Floyd fan, and had totally forgotten about it…

Thanks again,
Tim

[john]

I hear you! I would just bring the backing track along on a playable device with portable speaker, plug it in, crank it up and go for it. Unless they’re all a bunch of real squares they shouldn’t have a problem with it, after all, it’s for everyone’s benefit in that it will be a better sounding experience for every one involved.

[Tim Smith]

Agreed. The solo fits that organ harmonic line so well – if they’re real squares, we’ll find out!

[Tim Smith]

Quote:

Quote from saxjohnny on December 17, 2014, 11:38
Us and Them on alto? Most definately! I just tried playing it on alto after reading your question and it sounds great.

cheers
Johnny

Johnny,

Quick question regarding your comment above….
My daughter is really liking this tune and has made good progress on it. One problem, though, is the lowest note on the score – the A#. She’s having trouble hitting it on her alto – she even wonders if it’s out of range for her horn. Is there some special fingering maybe? Got any suggestions for her?

Thanks,
Tim

[john]

A# is the lowest note. Also commonly known as a Bb. How long has she been playing? She should know the full range of the horn in any case which is from low Bb (A#) to the highest note which is the top F. If she’s not 100% on the full range with fingerings etc I have a complete video lesson showing this (costs $7) and you can find it on the “premium lessons” link on the homepage.
cheers
Johnny

[Tim Smith]

Thanks, Johnny, I’m downloading that lesson as soon I finish typing here…

I wasn’t real clear on what she said about the low notes, except for one thing. She said she can’t get those low notes out on the alto with the tone/sound she desires. On the tenor – you know it’s much easier to get that kinda fat full sexy tone at a low volume. She said the only way she can get the notes is to blow them pretty loud – which in her mind forces her to sacrifice the sound she wants just so she can hit the right note. Does this make sense?

This may be a limitation with the alto that can only be overcome by someone at a higher skill level – such as yourself – I don’t know. If that’s the case, she may need to come up with an alternative melody line on those low measures.

I do know the rest of the tune is coming along nicely – I wondered whether she’d get it, you know, on the tone thing. But I think she IS getting it – I really do. To my ear, she is really trying to emote, and on the bigger parts of it she’s doing that very nicely already.

Appreciate your response, Johnny.
Tim

[john]

There’s always ways around it by jumping the octave at certain points BUT…
Those low notes on the alto are much easier than on tenor. This is because the alto requires less air.
If she is struggling on those low notes it’s because she is not putting enough air into her horn. She needs to practice really loud. It will sound a bit ugly at first but eventually playing them overly loud she will have to try to hold it back a bit to smooth them out. Does this make sense?
You gotta get ugly before you can sound pretty!
Tell her to practice them really loud until she can hit them every time. Then, the trick is to play them softer without losing control, this is done by maintaining the air pressure but holding back on the actual volume. This is tricky for beginners and can take some time.
She can work on this by playing her scales as softly as possible without breaking the notes.

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