"Must Knows" For:
an Intermediate/Advanced Saxophonist
by Shannon Kennedy
Things that you should have in your case:
What should you keep in your saxophone case? The same goes for you as
the beginning student, you need the same things in your case, and so you
don't have to go back and read that article again, I listed it here as well. Your saxophone (I know this sounds obvious, but I have known kids that forget
parts of their saxophone at home or brought the wrong saxophone case and
the sax was in the other case back at their house), your saxophone neck, a mouthpiece, a ligature, your ligature/mouthpiece cap, a neckstrap, and 2.5
or size 3 reeds (aka medium or medium soft). But sometimes, by this stage,
you have found that a harder reed has worked for you and you might want a
3 or 3.5 (medium hard) Make sure that you keep several GOOD reeds in your
case. It is extremely frustrating for a band director when you break a reed
and it was your only one.
I also recommend that you keep a cleaning cloth in your case, something to
store your reeds in, powder paper or a dollar bill to fix sticking pads, and
something to dry out the inside of your neck and mouthpiece after you are
done using them.
I also keep electric tape in my sax case for quick fixes and to put on the top
of my mouthpiece to make it more comfortable for my teeth instead of
buying the little plastic stickers.
Lastly, I recommend that you keep a small screwdriver in your case. At this
stage, you should be able to start doing small repairs on your sax when
screws and things begin coming loose. It might help to keep screwdrivers of
a couple different sizes - and they should be flathead screwdrivers.
Playing:
When you play, you should sit up straight and play with your sax between
your legs unless you play tenor or bari, then you should play with your sax
off to right of your legs for support.
You should know the circle of fourths or fifths. You should know your major,
minor, dominant or mixolydian, and dorian scales at the least.
As far as soloing, you should have a basic idea of what to play. You should
know how to read chord changes, and know your scales. You should
recognize blues in Concert F, Bb, and C (that is D, G, and A for Eb
instruments and G, C, and D for Bb instruments). You should recognize rhythm changes. Also, you should be able to recognize several jazz
standards and have a few standard melodies memorized. It also would help
to own a Fake Book or Real Book.
You should be able to read music, know basic and some more complex, syncopated rhythms, and how to tongue. Tonguing is a real issue with
young players because they either do not know how to tongue and attack
using just air, or tongue way too hard.
You should be able to recognize that your saxophone is in Eb if you play alto
or bari, and Bb if you play tenor or soprano. You should also begin being
able to transpose from concert pitch to the key of your instrument and vice
versa.
As far as listening, you should have begun to listen to more jazz, and be
able to recognize several musicians' names, especially those who play your
instrument. You should know names like Michael Brecker, John Coltrane, Charlie Parker, Wayne Shorter, Cannonball Adderly. As far as non sax
players, you should know names like Duke Ellington, Miles Davis, Louis
Armstrong, Ella Fitzgerald, etc. You should own a few if not several jazz
CDs, and have a jazz radio station that you listen to regularly. In addition,
you should have begun to start to try and play along with your recordings,
and to have transcribed some of your favorite solos.
Practice:
You should have a regular practice routine that includes scales, long tones
and tuning, and working with a metronome. It also helps to have both
classical and jazz etudes to help you with phrasing and technical ability.
Books that I recommend are "Patterns for Jazz", the Charlie Parker
Omnibook, and the Neihaus etude books.
I also think that you should study privately on a weekly basis and also follow
the instructions that your teacher gives you for practice.
Other:
The last, but most important thing I recommend is to go out and see live musicians play jazz. It helps you to see what it is like playing as a professional musician, and you also get to hear great music. Usually, there
are local venues and restaurants that have live jazz groups perform that you
can go see as opposed to spending a fortune to go to a jazz concert at a
theater. Both are great, but very different, so it is up to you to choose
which you want to attend. I recommend both, and would go to both if you
can.
