Sax on the Web Forum banner

Db is the devil....

2K views 17 replies 12 participants last post by  NissanVintageSax 
#1 ·
I practice most stuff in all keys....the toughest has always been Db....I can play in Db, just not as fluid as I'd like...so I'm starting on the mostly Db practice sessions....Db scales, modes, arpeggios....anything in that key I can think of....any suggestions welcome....
 
#3 ·
I can't. B concert is a common key. Want to get used to it? Join a rock band.

Curiously, I find F# concert (Ab) awkward, and I spend nearly no time in Db concert (Eb). Can't even remember the last time I had to play something in Eb -- probably because guitar players don't know what that key is.
 
#4 ·
I'm with you on F#. I ain't crazy about B either but I started out in guitar bands and really have always been in them. I kind of like it when they call 'Old Time R&R' and say 'It's in E - you okay with that?' And I just nod and smile. You see, a horn player says 'Db' and band players say 'B'. Which, in a turn inspired by hell, is also G# on bari and alto. Just pure ugly all the way around.
Stan, you already know what to do - just do it. I have the habit of holding down the low C# key which of course also presets the G# key in some of the sharp keys.
My mind is funny on this stuff, being an ear player; I think in sharps on most keys, like concert B, which to me on tenor is C# rather than Db. But Ab is always Bb to me, never A#. And because I play Bb and Eb saxes on all gigs, I learned many years ago to think in concert; so A on an Eb sax is always C to me while D on the Bb is always C.
It's just so much easier for you readers - you just play what's on the paper. But on the other hand, I am 'seeing' the whole score, you might say, being more in touch with the keyboard, guitar and bass rather than just focused on my sheet of music. I know what chords they're playing and I call them the same names as they do.
 
#6 ·
Playing in rock bands gave me a chance to play in some interesting keys, the current exercise is a little more jazz oriented....trying to make certain jazz progressions a little more fluid....
 
#8 ·
Stardust. Db is the composer's key. Refuse to play it in the amateur's key of C. When you can play Stardust in Db on a tenor you can play anything.

Alternatively, switch to alto for Db…
 
#9 ·
This week is major scale stuff....2 octaves up and down, broken thirds, patterns starting on different scale steps....my brain hurts.... :)
 
#14 ·
I've worked extensively with a rock band that does that. We did a random casino gig and they called Movin' Out, which I'd never played with them before. That's one of those tunes where you gotta play the solo from the record cuz everybody knows it. That was a trip! I mostly nailed it, with maybe one shaky note, as I recall, but it was nerve wracking!
 
#18 ·
My trial by fire in sharps playing was Rocky Horror Show in 2003. Before that I didn't play sharps much (read or improvised, RHS had both). Now I've swung the other direction and find flats difficult! You should see my music for Spamalot! Some 6 flats sections where I have all the sharps written above to notes to read it!
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top