I have been learning sax for about a month. I played acoustic bass professionally in NYC years ago and have played clarinet, cello, etc. So I know music well. Reading notes is transferring pretty quickly to the sax as well as scales and some basic arpeggios. My practice regimen includes long tones, octaves, chromatic scales, scales in 4th, 5ths, articulation, vibrato practice, basic arpeggios and then I work for a bit on the prelude of the first Bach Cello Suite.
Basically, my mind is ahead of my muscle memory and especially embouchure when playing sax. My embouchure gets tired quickly and I feel like it is counterproductive to push it, so I am trying other methods of practice, like fingering pieces without actually playing.
I am just curious if anyone else does this kind of practice and has found it helpful? Are there other ways you practice without actually blowing into the horn?
I have in the past also done a ton of transcribing, trane, bird, miles, etc. and may add that to my daily regimen as well.
You're way ahead of me when it comes to musical experience. However, I practice the "air(less) saxophone." I think it helps coordination. I know it takes the "thinking" about emboucher, air column, support, etc. out of the equation. It helps me concentrate on fingering, especially in difficult passages. I also "hear" the music in my head.
I tried it once and found it impossible. Without sound i had no feedback to know if I was playing the right notes and playing them correctly both for time value and rhythm. It seemed senseless to me since music is about your sound, not the notes you play. aPracticing playing a mouthpiece, on the other hand, makes more sense to me, and I just ordered the mouthpiece silencer so I can improve my tonal control, altissimo and embouchure.
It depends on the day and what I am playing or practicing. All the rehearsals for the two groups I play in are 2 hours long and I usually have practiced for at least an hour and a half or two hours beforehand. Plus every week I have to spend some time trying mpc/reed combos, so in total that's around 4 hours at least on those days. Generally, the only thing likely to tire is my brain and my legs, not my chops.
On other days I usually practice around 2 hours at mid day and then another hour and a half to 2 before and after supper. Sometimes my lower lip gets red if I have been playing my SS Berg with a synthetic reed. If I push that too much it gets a bit swollen and sore, but I still can play. The only time my muscles give out is if I haven't played for a couple of weeks or more, like just now during summer vacation when a barely got to play at all. Takes me several days to get back up to speed.
Since I am no longer working and much of my time is my own, I have often played for five or six hours with just a couple of pit stops to empty the bilge water, to refuel and to change tires.
Anyway, most of the voicing and articulation should be done with the throat, mouth cavity, tongue and air support, not the lips. They really should only make a supporting pad for the reed and seal the mouthpiece. Sob if the lips get sore or tired it's usually due to squeezing them on the reed and often for the higher and lower notes. But its the air streanm direction and speed that should be controlling them. Also this is often due to not taking in enough mpc and because the upper notes sound thin we squeeze or bite. See Philll Barone's many posts about taking in more mpc. I have found this to be true abd am consciously working on it so that my tone is fuller all the way up and down and my mouth never tires.
What tires me most is my brain from concentrating when reading for long periods, and my lungs because I get winded.
Alice said Trane would come home after playing all nite and play in the garage for 2 hours. Then he'd come in the house and work on things "without blowing the horn."
I blow softly into the horn and lap scales, chords, and patterns while my family watches TV etc. Its not a replacement for my true practice but it helps me commit stuff to memory and is just more time with the horn under my fingers
1) consciously building your embouchure muscles over time so that they become less of an issue for you - you want to be able to play for as long as you choose (within reason). You can do this by just steadily increasing the amount of playing per day - like one week play 20 minutes per day, next week 25, next week 30, etc. and next thing you know you're at 2.5 hours, which is more than most people do. Long tones help with endurance too.
2) I'd actually take the opposite tack of several contributors above and HIGHLY encourage silent practice. I think there's a bunch of benefits to this. First (as you discovered) it means you can keep practicing beyond your normal physical limitations of the moment. I have a neurological disorder which can make extended practice difficult and this is essentially how I stay employed and keep improving.
Second, silent practice forces you to slow down and actually see what you know - like, when you play something simple like a given major scale, do you hear the pads for each note open and close simultaneously and cleanly? If not, your handwork isn't as even and efficient as it could be. The caveat here is that you'll want to have the ear training at your disposal to picture in your mind's ear the notes you're fingering on the horn. Otherwise it's not very useful. But yeah - try rehearsing some rep for like 30 minutes slow and silently (blowing air or no blowing at all) and then try rehearsing regularly after that and see how it goes.
You can even take a step further if you're looking to get familiar specifically with scale patterns and stuff and try practicing at a REALLY slow tempo (say, quarter note 40-50) entirely in your head without touching the horn. You can picture the feeling of depressing the keys needed for each note, or visualize a fingering chart with the corresponding note you're on in your head as you go. Then you can go back to the horn (silent or not) and check to see how powerful your ability to visualize your handwork was. If you have the ability to visualize the patterns away from the instrument with any kind of consistency, you're on your way to seriously beefing up your hand technique.
I'd love to hear how things go for you. Hope this helps!
Very good tips in this thread on practicing. I'll have to take time with the silent practice too (just makes sense to get as much practice time in as possible)! Every time I hear the term "Practice", I think of the Allen Iverson (basketball player) clip ("We talkin' bout practice, not the game")..........Hahaha!
I have practiced silently late in the evening but more to get as light a touch as I could and get fingers to stay close to the keys rather than particular passages. It worked very well in that scenario and I'm sure it would work well for other practice outcomes too. Might start doing it again now
Some great advice here! I listened to the Garzone stuff...very interesting.
I'm still doing it a lot. I really need to incorporate a metronome!
The big worry I have with silent blowing like this is that it might lead to a lazy/low tongue position because basically I am not directing the air the way I am when I'm actually producing tones in tune.
I use smart music it has a number of method books, jazz improve, blues, solos, sight reading, exersizes, scales etc all can be sped up slowed down, metronome, tuner
I can put on head phones watch the music on screen with or without click hear the sound of the notes, finger accordingly, keeping (improving) time.
you can import your own mp3s etc. I find it useful may be worth a look.
Ultimately i find that i am advancing on my tone (slowly manipulating it from the most subtle blow) but lacking on the fingering department. Late at night i try to do very slowly muscle-memory related exercises, like going on up un thirds or fifths, or just doing the chromatic scale at the best and most relaxed fingering possible,changing the key each day.... do you think this can actually improve my technique or do you know any other exercises that can do it?
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