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Since many of my pieces have been selected by the various exam boards I have opened a YouTube Channel showing performances of these pieces.

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Andy's YouTube

Buying a new mouthpiece

A friend and co-bandmember is going to change her mouthpiece soon and I thought I would blog some thoughts about this as it is a tricky undertaking and something that can be got badly wrong.

Why change the mouthpiece?

Why indeed! and if you get it wrong you'll regret you ever tried and the money you wasted on the new one. The mouthpieces that come supplied with a new instrument are usually reasonably good and will get you through the starting few years. They are designed to be mid range, mid everything really so that the beginning player does not have to struggle with any extremes. These mouthpieces will allow you to do some vibrato, lip slur, waling and huskiness but at the same time cradle the beginner from too much harm!

When might you consider a change?

It is often the teacher who recommends a change when he/she senses that the existing mouthpiece is preventing the pupil from developing a better, more sophisticated sound. You might be looking for a different timbre (such as a darker sound, or louder, or thinner, or easier tuning , or easier at the top/bottom etc). What is clear about this stage is that it is important you go to shop with some idea about what sound you are looking for and then share that with the assistant.

Where would you go to buy a new mouthpiece?

There are not that many shops that carry a decent stock of mouthpieces and you really do need to try quite a few to find the right one for you. I have used Howarth's in Chiltern Street many times and I have heard good things about Sax.co.uk which has a base in Sussex. (I would be delighted to publicise other shops if they want to get in touch.)

So I'm in the shop - what now?

I hope you remembered to take your sax (!). Take some reeds as well though, hopefully the shop will talk to you about the sensitive relationship between the reed and the mouthpiece and let you try out some different ones. (Different reeds have very different characteristics and it is important to be open minded about this. Personally I spent many years hating and avoiding a particular brand/type only to find the current mouthpiece I use works best with that reed.)

Tell the assistant some details about your playing, like how long you have been learning, what sound you would like to make (name a famous player perhaps) what problems you are experiencing at the moment and what reeds you favour and why. If the assistant is just the 'Saturday boy/girl' then find someone who knows what they are talking about.

The shop will give you a space to go and blow the new mouthpieces to your hearts content and compare them. The mouthpieces they give you will all have a 'saver' pad stuck to the beak which, if you are not used to it, will make it feel quite different. If you haven't yet used a saver pad ( a soft piece of rubber that prevents your teeth from actually touching the beak) then this might the time to start using one. But bear in mind it will feel different and you won't be able to take it off until you have bought the mouthpiece.

Some tips

Take your time. A new mouthpiece will do several things to your playing. You need to check out how hard the reed now feels and possibly ask for a different strength. Play the very bottom notes - how easy are they now compared to your old mouthpiece? Same with the very high notes. Check your tuning; play an A in the upper register and see how much you can bend it up and down. Try to make the sound you think you are looking for, how does it respond?

Keep going back to the old mouthpiece and as you do so take time to reflect on the differences. You'll be learning all the time.

Technical stuff

I'm not going to launch into an analysis of the technical side of the various parameters that change which each different type and #number of mouthpiece. I would advise, however, to avoid mouthpieces that are at the extreme ends of the scale - the very open or very narrow - unless you really know what you are doing. I played a Lawton 8 (very wide) for a while and although it made a wonderful sound, it was very hard work and my lip would become weak after about 20 mins. I then changed to a Otto Link 6* which made almost a good as sound but with a quarter of the work. If you feel that you have a good knowledge of mouthpieces you would like to share with the readers of this blog then do comment.

Let me know how you get on.

Andy

Roaring

One of the most significant techniques that makes the good player sound sophisticated and professional is roaring. To listen to, roaring sounds like the saxophone's sound has been distorted - there is a gritty nastiness to the sound which makes it sound raw and passionate.

How you do it.

Roaring is kinda simple and yet hard. You make the roaring effect by singing into the instrument at the same time you play. You can sing any note as long as it is not the same note as you are playing. (If you do that there is no audible effect.) The best way to learn to roar is to sing a note - a comfortable one - and keep singing as you put the mouthpiece in and play. Persevere - you'll get there!

Other implications

Roaring is an important technique to acquire and perfect, particularly if you want to play Rock 'n' Roll or Pop but there are other spin offs. The ability to change your throat position so that you can use your voice simultaneously is an indication that you have learnt to do things with your throat in a controlled way which is the way forward towards ever greater control.

Improvisation - some tips

Improvisation is pretty darn hard actually; okay we can all stumble about and try to play the right notes most of the time, but to really make an improvisation convincing is trickeeae.

Get the scale right

Most players rely heavily on their ears to get them through - and so they should but you are always going to play some BIG bum notes if you don't have an intellectual understanding of what key you are in and the implications for the bank of allowable notes. So take some time to work out the chords - ask the keyboard player or guitarist, do the transpositions, work out the scales at home and work out what works and what doesn't. It's called 'preparation' people! It's about being 'professional'.

Use your ears

I reckon you should be improvising based half on using your ears to guide you where to go and half on your knowledge of the scale and key you're in. To train your ears to be better ears the best thing is to listen to the style you are trying to play. Nothing beats really immersing yourself in the music of the best practitioners of your chosen style.

Modal Scales

If you have grown up with a conventional music education - grade exams and all that - then you will have probably learnt to be pretty scared on modal scales and feel you're not entirely sure what they are. Well, let's change that straight away! Modal scales are really very easy to understand though they have some fancy ole names! If you play a white note scale (no sharps or flats) starting on C then you are playing C major (sure - der!). But you are also playing the Ionian mode. Then, if you play a white note scale from D to D then you are playing the dorian mode - E to E the phrygrian mode (beginning to get how simple this is?); Lydian - F to F; Mixolydian - G to G; Aeolian - A to A and finally, the devil's scale: Locrian - B to B. I reckon it is well worth spending a few minutes learning the fancy names because then you start to sound like a real muso and that gives you confidence and clout.

That's the 'C major' way of looking at it; D to D white notes is either called the dorian mode of C, or D dorian. Get it? E to E with an F# and a C# (i.e in the key of D major) would either be called the dorian mode of D or E dorian.

Modal scales are much more common, especially in Jazz, than you might think. Learn them, make them your friend.

Rock 'n' Roll

The big one to get your head around (and impress your friends) is the mixolydian scale - e.g. G to G white notes. This is the rock and roll scale. It is the same as an ordinary major scale but with a flattened 7th note.

Shape

As with all my blogs, I feel it is important to get in some basic theoretical grounding before moving on to the practical side of things. So it is with improvising. Here are some other tips.

It is sometimes great to create an overall shape with your solo. For instance, start gently and subtly, with some long, swelling notes and simple, direct phrases but then gradually getting faster, busier and louder before bowing out with a flourish.

If you are following another soloist it is a good idea to listen to what they have been playing and then start your solo with a dramatic contrast. So if someone before you has been showing off their Bebop credentials and flying around like a blue bottle then come in with a long, high roaring blast - YEAH! That's enough widdling!

Never be afraid to play tunes with your solos; it doesn't have to be about showing off (well not entirely) and some of the best solos simply create new tunes over the existing chord sequence.

Be rhythmic

One of the biggest stumbling blocks for the intermediate improviser is that they fail to play entirely in time. Their focus is often on getting the notes right and navigating the chord sequence and they forget about the groove. It is very difficult playing with someone doing this and school bands can actually fall apart because the soloist is playing fast and loose with the pulse. Nail your solo to the beat, feel the groove in your pants and stick with it like glue. Crucial stuff.

Licks

Eddie Harvey calls them your 'dynamic library', I call them licks. Licks are short musical phrases that you pick up along the way and help you to build a solo. You've heard a solo and copied it on your instrument and then you start to reproduce that whenever you're playing in that style - it's a lick! Very useful things, licks, and worth working on and collecting.

That's enough for now. Keep practising...

Throat Exercise

So here it is...the Throat Exercise. This exercise will genuinely transform your playing and can be attempted by players from about Grade 2 upwards (if not before). You need to persist with the exercise and make it part of your regular practice routine.

The Theory: we know that if you change the length of the pipe you are blowing into the pitch changes. We know that even tiny changes in the shape of the mouthpiece, crook or instrument will have a dramatic effect on the sound you make. But the sound from the reed does not only emanate with the air flow into the instrument but also back into the mouth, the throat and into the lungs. If you put a microphone at the back of your mouth you would hear a pretty loud sound! Changes in the shape of the mouth and throat will effect the sound in very particular ways and that is what the throat exercise is all about.

More Theory: before we go on we need to know more about the physics of sound and what we call 'Harmonics'. Sound can be thought as a wave, vibrating at a number of times a second. If we take, for sake of argument, a note vibrating a 100 times a second (a low note) then notes vibrating at 200, 300, 400, 600, 800 times a second are all 'related' to that note because of their mathematical root. In musical terms the vibration of a note doubles each octave you go up. Notes that have a mathematical relationship with each other form what we, as musicians, know as major chords and major scales (though the 7th note of the scale is flattened from what we know as the major scale.) 

Enough Theory: we needed to know that because what we are going to do in the throat exercise is blow a low note on the sax - say bottom C  - and by manipulating your throat shape get the sax to sound the 'harmonics' of C. The first harmonic is another C, one octave up. The second harmonic is a G above that, the third harmonic C, then E, G and finally Bb.

Throat shape: crudely speaking we can create three basic shapes with the throat. Open, normal and closed. To experience the open shape make the sound 'HAR' and expel all your breath in one quick push; imagine swallowing a gas pipe. The normal shape is experienced by make the sound 'ORR'.The closed shape is experienced by make the sound 'EEE' and imaging you are being throttled.

The exercise: finally! Play a bottom C; then put the thumb key on and play the same fingering but it should sound an octave higher. To achieve this just 'think' higher and squeeze the throat and embouchure slightly. Then, with the same fingering, squeeze a little tighter still (use the tongue as well) and you should be able to play a note that sounds at the pitch of G in the upper register. Then squeeze again to hear C above that, then E, then G and finally Bb. But start off just trying to get the first C above bottom C and the G above that. You can repeat all this with bottom Bb, B and C#. 

Refinement: once you have got the hang of sounding the first and second harmonic you should check the pitch against the genuine fingering. I.e. play the G which is the second harmonic of bottom C, then check that pitch against you sounding upper register G in the conventional way. They should be in tune with each other. 

Conclusion: this exercise will significantly help you get all the notes on the instrument to speak clearly and in tune as well as increasing your general control massively. But don't take my word for it...get blowing.

If you have got any questions about this exercise then feel free to leave a comment and I will get back to you.

L O N G N O T E S

OK, so we know about practicing and scales and fancy embouchure techniques, but there is one thing that actually sorts those who can really play from those who sound like they can: Long Notes. 

I visited London the other day and came across two busking sax players down the Tube. Both sounded good from a distance especially with the favourable acoustics; both were flying up and down the scales and arpeggios, with licks and riffs to grace any Jazz stage. But, in my opinion, they were both completely rubbish players! Why? Because, (and this sounds quite shocking - but it is so true of so many sax players - ) they were not playing in tune! Their internal intonation - i.e. their tuning relative to themselves - was simply all over the place. The top notes were flat, then sharp, the middle notes were mostly sharp, upper part of the lower register flat... and so on. Hideous - flashy, but hideous. 

My own theory about these players (and there is reason why they are playing down the Tube rather than on a stage) is that they have done a lot of practice, lots of scales, they know many of the Jazz Standards and they have a fair knowledge of Jazz Harmony. But they have left out one crucial exercise - yes, Long Notes.

Disciples of Saxophone Basics will note that I introduce Long Note practice at Stage 3 - in other words, as a teacher of saxophone I introduce my pupils to a life long study of Long Notes after just three weeks from starting. 

So what is the proper way of practising your Long Notes? At its absolute best the whole exercise takes about 30 mins. I suggest that if you are playing catch up with this exercise or if you are really looking to improve your intonation (tuning), bedding in a new mouthpiece or just looking to build a better sound then you should get stuck into this exercise and try to do it properly at least 5 times a week for 2 or 3 weeks. At that level of intensity you will start to notice a difference in your tone and control before too long. 

Start on open C# and play a note for as long as you can, starting very quietly, getting steadily louder to full volume and then die away to nothing. A C# should last about 25 to 35 seconds without too much trouble. The more extreme you make the dynamic contrasts the more 'good' you are doing your technique. As you play the note listen carefully to your own sound and try to make the sweetest and most even sound you possibly can. Don't use vibrato. Then move to C, then B, then Bb and so on down to bottom Bb. The low notes will be very short compared to the open C#. Pause between each note so that you can recover properly and give the next note your very best. Then start again from C# and work up, chromatically to top F#. Phew! As I say, that will take you a while but you will find you have a very different relationship with the instrument after doing the exercise. 

If time is limited - and let's face it, Long Notes are pretty boring, then miss some notes out but always start at C# and work down, then start again at C# and work up.

We have heard about the 10,000 hour rule to achieve mastery; here's another one: you will only ever be as good as the hours you spend on long notes, no matter how many hours you spend practising other techniques. The exercise is life long; you never reach a point where you don't have to play long notes any more. Don't try to judge your progress after only two or three repetitions of the exercise - it takes time to reap the rewards, but the rewards are there to be had. The Long Note exercise will give you the control and poise to make the very best sound - in tune, controlled and professional.

Pitch bend and vibrato

Two of the techniques that mark the advanced player from the beginner are pitch bend and vibrato. Like mustard with beef, these two techniques can really enhance your playing but can also swamp all subtlety if over used.
Pitch bend is essentially a wider and brasher version of vibrato so we might as well look at the two techniques as one. It is all about the manipulation of the reed by the bottom lip and how much you squeeze the reed up and down.
(Before we go on it is worth pointing out that vibrato on sax and clarinet is created by variations in pitch not volume; volume variation is the type of vibrato used by flute players and is achieved by variation in blowing pressure.)
The best place to start is the mouthpiece - on its own! The horrible duck quack noise you used amuse your friends with is the key to building your pitch bend and vibrato technique. Here goes:

1. Blow what feels like an 'ordinary' note on the mouthpiece
2. Then try to blow a higher note by squeezing up a little harder with the bottom lip. NOTE, if you squeeze too hard you will simply close the tip opening and no air will pass into the mouthpiece and you will get no sound. (Neighbours think: 'that's good - do that.')
3. Then go back to your first try and this time very gently and subtly let the squeeze from the bottom lip losen. Hear the pitch start to drop. Keep letting the squeeze losen and see how far down you can get the pitch to drop.
4. Try being more violent and wobble your jaw/bottom lip a lot and hear the sound vary in pitch quite wildly.

OK, so far so good. What many of you will have found is that you can get higher - a bit - but not much lower. When you let the squeeze from the bottom lip losen the sound just konks out. Well persist, because what you are trying to do is let that squeeze off bit by bit but keep the reed vibrating at ever lower pitches. In fact, once you have mastered this technique you will be able to play an octave range from the highest to the lowest pitch using just the mouthpiece. The good news is you can then amaze your friends by playing happy birthday on just the mouthpiece; 'Look Mummy, no hands' (Neighbours think: 'This just gets worse.')

Keep trying this exercise. You will find that you can't keep it up for long because playing the low pitches on the mouthpiece is not very pleasant and makes your brain vibrate. (Neighbours think: 'phew.') You won't get there straight away but keep coming back to it for a few minutes at a time and it will happen for you.

Once you have got the idea of how to bend the pitch on the mouthpiece you can start to apply pitch bend on the notes of your repertoire. You will find that the notes with fewer fingers down bend further and more easily.

Vibrato is just gentle pitch bend applied to longer notes. You can use vibrato to warm up your musical interpretations. It often best used on longer notes where you might start pure, then add a slower, small amount of vibrato which gradually gets faster and wider.

ADVANCED ADVANCED PLAYING
All of this does not take into account the role the throat has in controling pitch and tone quality. To develop a good throat technique you will need to read the next blog - coming soon!