Glued to keys

[Wailin']

Many of the professional sax players I've seen keep their fingers attached to the keys when playing. Clips of Charlie Parker's playing attest to this fact. What exercises can I do to keep my fingers attached to the keys?

[Dr. Love]

I've heard of people taping their fingers to the keys, that may work. Don't know what that'll do to the pearls though.

[alsdiego]

Or, you could Krazy Glue your fingers to the keys :roll:

Here's another another alternative. Play a couple of scales slowly in front of a mirror. Check to see where your fingers involuntarily fly away from the keys. A very common problem is to lift the second and third fingers of your left hand as you're playing g, a, b up the scale. Now, play that sequence VERY slowly in front of the mirror, focusing on keeping your 2nd and 3rd fingers on the keys. Eventually, you'll be able to do that at speed, and it can make a huge difference in your technique. Also, while doing your normal scale/arpeggio practice, concentrate on keeping your fingers close to the keys.

Hope this helps,

Al

[Razzy]

Good points above. I second that. It worked for me. Scales, slowly, in front of a mirror. I just did chromatic, major, and harmonic minor very slowly. Incidentally, this is also when I was committing all of those scales to memory, so it was a double whammy effect to improve my technique and my playing.

[Wailin']

Who was that said before one can play something fast they must be able to play it slow?...not sure who but thanks for the timely advice:))

[alsdiego]

You will also find that as you practice this technique, you will begin to "feel" your fingers closer to the keys while you're playing. Kind of hard to describe, but it's somewhat like a computer keyboard. If you "stab" at the keys, you won't go nearly as fast as if your fingers stay very close to the keys as you're typing. If you've ever watched a speed typist (part of my misspent youth, I guess), it's amazing how economical their finger movements are. BTW, as I've practiced this technique on sax, my typing speed has increased. So now I can get home sooner to practice sax technique :P

Al

[SAdoublex]

Watta bout on palms keys...i find it very hard to keep my fingers attached to the keys while playin for instance high E or high F. it affects my technique. does anyone know a way i can keep my fingers on the pearls and hit the palm keys?

-Jay

[Subtone Sam]

It is not necessary to keep your fingers attached to the keys all the time,just keep your fingers CLOSE to the keys and you will be fine.If your hand position is correct,this should actually come naturally.The reason why it is recommended that you keep your fingers close to keys all the time is because that way you can access any note instantly and you will have faster technique.You don't have to keep your fingers on the pearls while you hit the palm keys,just keep them as close as possible for easy access.Let your fingers rest naturally on the keys and you'll be fine.

[Ben McNicoll]

I find a good way to raise awareness of when fingers do "fly out" is to loop about an inch of tape, sticky side out and attach fingers to keys.

This allows a small amount of natural movement away from the keys, but it's easy to unstick the fingers if you move them too far. When this happens, you are forcibly reminded to be mindful of your technique.

I spring this on my students once every few months.