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.