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Wide trills - like C# to E...how to do them quickly?

2K views 12 replies 9 participants last post by  southfloridahorns 
#1 ·
I'm learning wide trills for improv, like middle C#/E...tough to do that one fast; any ideas?
(doing that for 'play that funky music' on tenor solo)

Doing a similar Bb/G one is easy, but C#/E is tough to do fast -- any good drills or exercises to help?

thanks...

another good technique I've seen are 4-note fast descending arpeggios, also tough to get fluid/fast with
 
#2 ·
I'd play the C# with the bottom hand E fingers held down (1st and 2nd fingers) and tremolo the top hand + octave key.
 
#5 ·
For all trills/tremolos from middle C# - hold down the octave key and LH 3 for the C#. You can add any combo of RH fingers to establish your destination pitch. Then, trill LH 1 & 2.

So, to tremolo from C# to E, finger the E, remove LH 1 & 2, and you have C#. It's quite easy to do, in tune and no fake/cheat notes.
 
#8 ·
another good technique I've seen are 4-note fast descending arpeggios, also tough to get fluid/fast with
That's worth working on - add syncopation, and you'll get a LOT of variations on the investment.

There's a "trick" to thinking about these, that, once you wire it in your head, may make it easier to conceptualize. Consider it as a continuous descending string of thirds that is "reset" after every four notes.

It's easier on the piano or horn or music staff, but here goes.

First the idea of a continuous descending string of thirds in the key of D:

D B G E C# A F# D B G E

Now play them as descending arpeggios in groups of four:

D3 B3 G2 E2 / C#3 A2 F#2 D2 / B3 G2 E2 C#2 / etc.

Notice that you are descending one diatonic tone for each arpeggio, and playing the same intervals within the key.

Iterate in each key.
 
#9 ·
thanks very much Merlin, and others; I'd never have figured that out on my own....trilling LH1+2 is a lot easier, will try that

re Originally Posted by Merlin View Post
For all trills/tremolos from middle C# - hold down the octave key and LH 3 for the C#. You can add any combo of RH fingers to establish your destination pitch. Then, trill LH 1 & 2.
So, to tremolo from C# to E, finger the E, remove LH 1 & 2, and you have C#. It's quite easy to do, in tune and no fake/cheat notes.
--

from mid c# to mid E (3 halftones above), it was slow going from nothing pressed to octave plus 5 keys (LH123+RH12) -- your approach is so much better

---
thx as always Dr G re 4-note arpeggios; good idea re
First the idea of a continuous descending string of thirds in the key of D:
D B G E C# A F# D B G E
Now play them as descending arpeggios in groups of four:
D3 B3 G2 E2 / C#3 A2 F#2 D2 / B3 G2 E2 C#2 / etc.

agree it has a lot of mileage; i like that idea; I'll do that for practice, excellent tip :)
 
#13 ·
When you close the right hand keys, the bis Bb goes down, on any saxophone. On alto, tenor, and larger saxes, the A key is responsible for actuating the C pad above the B key, meaning that the C pad won't go down with the bis key alone. On soprano, however, the bis key is going to actuate the C pad instead of the A key, which is why you can't produce a C# with the right hand keys down.

Why do they design sopranos this way? There just isn't a lot of room to do it the way it's done on the larger saxes...too much clutter in that area of the body...
 
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