Practice. A new look at CAMBRIDGE SAXOPHONE

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Virgil Chambers
5 years ago
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1 A new look at CAMBRIDGE SAXOPHONE

2 repetition of an activity in order to improve skill We would all like to practice better. Time is short and there are always hundreds of things we could be doing, and sometimes should be doing - but having made a commitment to lessons and having a clear desire to get better on the saxophone, I wanted to help you with your practice. I am aware that the practice routines I have given in the past can be VERY time consuming - that is no bad thing, practice takes hard work and those who have stuck to the schedule have been rewarded with the results. However, I am a realist and so I thought I would propose a buffet style practice regime. Simply choose a minimum of two exercises per topic and work through the given exercise WITH TOTAL FOCUS! You may also find it useful to record your practice. I suggest keeping it to mp3 size as audio files can be quite large. You might want to video a particular piece of music once every 3 months, both to document your progress and also to listen back and critique yourself. There are plenty of videos on Cambridge Saxophone.com to cover these topics. However, if you d like me to go into more detail in another video, just let me know. Let s get to practice! Make sure you register at Cambridge Saxophone.com in order to view the videos! Dan

Effective is far more about content than the amount of time or effort put in Long Tones - Mouthpiece only exercise - Chromatic Pivot (Overtones) - Eric Alexander nose breath - Vocalization of Octaves

3 Effective is far more about content than the amount of time or effort put in Long Tones - Mouthpiece only exercise - Chromatic Pivot (Overtones) - Eric Alexander nose breath - Vocalization of Octaves - Intervals (Ascending and Descending from a pivot note) - General overtone exercises (see Liebman or Rascher book) - Slow melodies such as Over the Rainbow - Descending legato octaves - Upper octave without thumb key / Lower octave with thumb on - Last Post and Bugle Call Articulation - Chromatic scale slurred, legato tongued, staccato tongued, slur 2 tongue 2, tongue 2, slur 2. Digital Patterns To be played in the following sequences; - Descending semitones - Descending tones - Descending Major 3rds - Descending Minor 3rds - Descending Perfect 4ths - Descending Augmented 4ths - Descending Minor 7ths - Ascending Semitones - Ascending Tones - Ascending Minor 3rds - Ascending Perfect 4ths - Ascending Augmented 4ths Over the following chord progressions - Autumn Leaves - Giant Steps - Have you met Miss Jones? - Confirmation 8! 4! 5! 3 1! 2! 3! 5 1! b2! 1! b7 5! 2! 4! 5 1! 3! 5! 7 1! #5! 3! 1 3! 1! 7! 5 8! b7! 6! 5 All slurred - Sub divide the time on one note (ie 4 quavers, 8 semiquavers, semibreve) - Finger warmups - Pete Thomas Warm-up Major keys - Pete Thomas warm-up Melodic Minor - Major scales to a 9th and modulating a semitone.

4 Be more Nike, than facebook Just do it, rather than liking / disliking Licks You should aim to learn one new lick per week - eventually in all 12 keys, but for now just in one is fine! - The Lick (all 2 keys) - Eric Alexander lick sheet - ii V7 - Minor 7th - Major 7th - Parallel Major to Minor licks - V7 (b9) Technical Studies - Bach cello suites - Anthropology - Concerto for Stan Getz - Tabasco - Oliver Nelson Patterns for Jazz - Any be-bop head by ear (or make a start at learning some) Neighboring Tones - Lower neighboring tones (all 12) - Upper neighboring tones (all 12) Hexatonics Major over major, whole step ( D / C ) Minor over major 1/2 step ( Bm / C ) Major over Major (B / C ) Major Major a tritone apart (F# / C ) Transcription If I haven t given you any try these for starters; All Blues - Miles Davis Airegin - Sonny Rollins All the things you are - Chris Potter Darn that Dream - Dexter Gordon Blue Train - John Coltrane Body & Soul - Coleman Hawkins Have you met Miss Jones? George Coleman Naima - John Coltrane My one and only love - John Coltrane You ve got a friend in me - Joshua Redman Tears in Heaven - Joshua Redman Repertoire If you re working towards a exam then this is where you work on your pieces. You should focus on - extracts - dynamics - shape and flow of the pieces - interpretation - piece together the sections ONLY when you can play every section with ease Etude Books Don t just play along without thinking. If you play along with the sax on the recording listen intently - make sure you copy their tone, articulation, phrasing EVERYTHING Bob Mintzer, Greg Fishman etc - Combinations (see worksheet) - 9ths, 11ths and 13th chords

5 Listening is critical You need an accent Soprano Players Branford Marsalis! Any of his quartet albums, but also his recordings with Sting are some of the best example of pop saxophone playing around. Sidney Bechet! Along with Louis Armstrong, one of the most important founding jazz artists. His vibrato is an acquired taste but any serious saxophone student should listen to him. Steve Lacy John Coltrane Alto Players Charlie Parker Phil Woods Maceo Parker Dave Sanborn Candy Dulfer Johnny Hodges Paul Desmond Cannonball Adderley Sonny Stitt Kenny Garrett Soweto Kinch Tenor Players Lester Young Dexter Gordon Sonny Stitt Sonny Rollins John Coltrane Ben Webster Coleman Hawkins Michael Brecker Wayne Shorter Branford Marsalis Joshua Redman Chris Potter Bob Reynolds Stan Getz Gregory Tardy Eric Alexander Other instrumentalists to listen to... Louis Armstrong Duke Ellington Miles Davis Bill Evans Billie Holliday Sarah Vaughan Ella Fitzgerald Frank Sinatra The Bad Plus Weather Report Yellow Jackets Amy Winehouse Art Tatum Average White Band The Beatles Brecker Brothers Bruce Springsteen Art Ensemble of Chicago Chick Corea Count Basie Dave Brubeck Dizzy Gillespie McCoy Tyner Herbie Hancock Plus make sure you have at least one album of works by J S Bach Mozart Haydn Purcell Beethoven Stravinsky Rachmaninov Messiaen There is enough hear for you to use YouTube in order to find material. If you enjoy it, then why not purchase it from the itunes store, or get one of those old CD things from a shop? Open your ears!

MILES DAVIS & JOHN COLTRANE. History of Jazz A m e r i c a s C l a s s i c a l Music. Miles Davis: Trumpet Style. Lecture Seven

MILES DAVIS & JOHN COLTRANE. History of Jazz A m e r i c a s C l a s s i c a l Music. Miles Davis: Trumpet Style. Lecture Seven History of Jazz A m e r i c a s C l a s s i c a l Music Miles Davis Changed his sound, and the sound of jazz, several times during his nearly 50 year career self-discovery and pioneering inspiration to