Tự học saxophone trong vòng 30 ngày

Giáo trình tự học saxophone trong vòng 30 ngày, dành cho những bạn yêu tiếng kèn Saxophone

C opyright © 1963 B irch Tree G roup Ltd.

P rinceton, N ew Jersey, U.S.A.

A ll rig h ts reserved P rin te d in U.S.A.

ISBN 0 -8 7 4 8 7 -0 5 7 -7

5 7 9 11 12 10 8 6 4

Summy-Birchard Music

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page

In tro d u ctio n 9 The In stru m en t 13 The Saxophone Family; Selection of the Instrument; Care of

the Instrument

The M outhpiece 17 The Material; The Design; M iscellany

The R e e d 21 Selection of the Reed; Reed Cane; Adjusting the Reed; Reed

Too Soft; Reed Too Stiff

Playing Position 31 The Breathing Technique 33 The Breathing Apparatus; Developing the Breathing P rocess;

The Intake; The R elease; Summary

The E m bouchure 37 The Facial Mask; The Teeth; The Supporting Muscles;

Muscle Development; Alignment of the Jaws; Mouthpiece

Placement; The Cheeks; The Tongue; Summary

Tone Q u a lity 45 The Nature of Wind Instrument Tone; The Tonal Concept;

The Body as Part of the Instrument; Tonal Terminology;

The Vocal Approach; The Physical Problem; Focusing the

Tone; Tonal Blend; The Saxophone Mute

The Vibrato 54 The Nature of Good Vibrato; The Variables of Vibrato;

Acquiring the Correct Concept; Types of Saxophone Vibrato;

The Prelim inary Steps; Transfer of the Motion; Practice

Patterns; Ten Salient Points

Intonation 61 Hearing the Pitch Correctly; Embouchure Tension; Holding

the Jaw Position; Mouthpiece Placement; Mouthpiece Suita­

bility; Correct Key Adjustment; Effect of Temperature

Changes; The Just Versus the Tempered Scale; Pitch

Adjustment by Special Fingerings

Developing the Technique 70 Rhythm and Technique; Increasing the Speed; Choice of

Fingering Position; The Alternate Fingerings; Fingering

Options; Summary

Attack and R e le a s e 79 Position of the Tongue; The R elease

S ta cc a to 82

Tonguing Syllables; Developing Speed; Double-Tonguing

A r tic u la tio n 87

Rhythm in Articulation; Legato; Marks of Articulation;

Adapting to the Ensemble

Phrasing and Interpretation 91

M usical Notation; Expression; The Tools of Phrasing;

Dynamics; Movement and Breathing; Tone Color; Articu­

lation; Vibrato

Doubling 95

Adaptation to the Various Saxophones; Saxophone and

The A ltissim o R e g iste r 98

Selected L iterature 102

Methods and Etudes; Solos; Duets; Quartets; Ensem bles;

Books and Pamphlets.

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

Page

The Saxophone F am ily 10

The Original Instrum ents of Adolph S a x 11

The Saxophone M outhpiece 18

Parts of the Saxophone R eed 22

Reed Adjustment C h a r t 28-29 The Playing P o s itio n s 30

Position of the Diaphragm, Abdomen and Lower Rib Cage During the Breathing P r o c e s s 32

M uscles Used in the Saxophone E m b ou ch u re 38-39 C onsiderations of Jaw and Tooth Alignm ent 40

The Embouchure “ W heel” 41

C orrect and Incorrect E m b o u ch u r es 42

Support of the Lower L ip 43

Mute P o sitio n s 53

Jaw Motion of the Saxophone V ib r a to 56

Intonation Tendencies of the Alto and Tenor S a x o p h o n e s 62

Fingerings for Pitch A lteration 66

Nom enclature of K e y s 67

Fingering C h a rt .68-69 Hand P o sitio n s 71

T rill C h a r t 77-78 Tonguing P o s itio n s 79

Comparison of Perform ance Techniques for the D o u b ler 97

A ltissim o R egister F in g e r in g s 100-101

I

IN T R O D U C T IO N

The saxophone has for many y e a r s been the vic­

tim of a popular m isconception that it is “ e a s y to p la y ”

This point of view m ight well be c o r r e c te d with the

addition of a single w o rd —“ ea sy to play b a d ly " The

fir s t production of a pseudom usical tone plus m a s te r y

of the technical p ro b le m s involved in playing sim ple

m elodies may be accom plished with l e s s effort than on

most o th e r wind in s tru m e n ts The in te re ste d a m a te u r,

a rm e d with a fingering c h a r t and an e le m e n ta r y in­

stru ctio n book, can in a re la tiv e ly s h o rt tim e make

what a p p e a rs to be rapid p r o g r e s s Advancement of

this type is deceptive, since it c r e a t e s the i m p r e s ­

sion that s e r io u s study is u n n e c e s s a ry and th at con­

ce n tra te d effort is not re q u ir e d A g r e a t deal of the

disdain held fo r the in stru m e n t, much of which is j u s ­

tified, can be d ir e c tly attrib u ted to the lack of e a r n e s t

effort on the p a r t of saxophone p la y e rs to t r e a t th e ir

instrum ents with the sa m e sc h o la rly approach n e c e s ­

sa r y for m a s t e r y of re la te d in s tru m e n ts

Although the s ta tu r e of the saxophone is con­

stantly being im proved, th e re is still plenty of room

for advancem ent before it will become a sta n d a r d m e m ­

b er of the in stru m e n ta l family C redit m ust be given

to the dedicated and gifted s o lo ists and p e r f o r m e r s

who, by devoting th e ir liv es to the exploitation of its

p o s s ib ilitie s , have convinced the inform ed public that,

when played a r t i s t i c a l l y , the saxophone has no need to

hang its head It is through the p e r fo rm a n c e s of these

a r ti s t s that many c o m p o s e r s have becom e in te re ste d

in w ritin g for the in s tru m e n t, and saxophone l i te r a t u r e ,

while not abundant, is i n c r e a s i n g a t an encouraging ra te

both in quality and quantity

' Students often inquire why the saxophone is not

included in the symphony o r c h e s t r a T h e r e a r e s e v ­

eral r e a s o n s : (1) When the l i te r a t u r e of the symphony

was f i r s t developed, the in stru m en t was not in e x is t­

ence (2) E a rly atte m p ts to include it often w e r e un­

sa tisfa c to ry because of the im m a tu r ity of the saxo­

phone tone and its inability to blend well with o ther

in stru m en ts (3) C o m p o se rs avoid the in stru m en t,

sin c e they r e a liz e that the esta b lish e d symphony o r ­

c h e s tr a has no r e g u la r saxophonist and h e s ita te to add

in s tru m e n ts that will re q u ir e e x tr a expe nse (4) The

s ta n d a rd of saxophone playing has not yet re a c h e d the point w here the c o m p o s e r o r conductor can always be

a s s u r e d of a com petent p e r fo rm a n c e on the symphonic level

This l a s t point is of u tm ost im portance and puts the re sp o n sib ility fo r this neglect d ir e c tly on the shoul­

d e r s of the saxophonists While encouraging s t r i d e s in the im p ro v em en t of p e r fo rm a n c e levels a r e evident, saxophone playing as an a r t is still in its infancy.The ideal le a rn in g situation, which the ART OF SAXOPHONE PLAYING cannot re p la c e , is study with

a com petent te a c h e r However, it is often im possible

fo r many young m u sic ia n s to have the advantage of

r e g u la r le s s o n s with a s p e c ia lis t on his p a r tic u la r in­

s tru m e n t o r fo r the m usic e d u c ato r to ac q u ire s p e ­cialized knowledge on every in stru m e n t he is re q u ired

to teach The object of this book is to make available

s o m e of the convictions I have ac q u ired through e x ­

p erie n c e in both p e rfo rm in g and teaching, especially

in b a sic p r o c e d u re s The adaptation of fundamental

p rin c ip le s to each individual may r e q u ir e m in o r a l t e r ­ation by the t e a c h e r o r student, s in c e we a r e in noway dealing in specific c a s e s

While the playing of a m u sic a l in s tru m e n t is c e r ­tainly an adventure in an a r t, the tr u ly a r t i s t i c p e r ­

fo rm a n ce m ust be supported by c ra fts m a n s h ip It is

to the developm ent of this c ra fts m a n s h ip , o r skill and

m a s t e r y of the in stru m e n t, that the tru e student m ust dedicate him self M usical e x p r e s s io n will get nowhere

u nless the p e r f o r m e r has the n e c e s s a r y facility to r e ­produce his ideas

The au th o r w ishes to dedicate this book to his students, whose i n te r e s t, in q u isitiv en e ss, and s e r i o u s ­

n e s s of purpose have been the force for continued ex­ploration into the “ a r t of saxophone play in g ”

L a r r y Teal

9

£

THE INSTR UM EN T

The saxophone is one of the few in s tru m e n ts

which was “ in v e n te d ” W h e rea s o th er m o d ern -d ay

instrum ents have had a long h is to ry of gradual evo­

lution and th e ir beginnings a r e difficult to tr a c e , h i s ­

torians a g r e e that Adolph Sax, a B r u s s e l s in stru m e n t

m aker, designed and built the saxophone in the e a r ly

1840’s This man, famous for the co n stru c tio n of b r a s s

as well a s woodwind in s tru m e n ts , decided t o c r o s s the

two fa m ilies by fitting a single re e d m outhpiece to a

b ra ss conical b o re body with the woodwind type of fin­

gering m e c h a n ism The basic design of this in s tru m e n t

has n ever been changed, although many im p ro v em en ts

have been m ade M in o rc h a n g e s in the b ore have since

given the saxophone m o r e flexibility and power, and

im provem ents in the key m ech a n ism have introduced

the automatic octave key, the a r tic u la te d G$, and o th e r

technical adva nta ges The n orm al r e g i s t e r of the s a x o ­

phone has been only slightly extended S ax 's i n s t r u ­

ments ranged from B below the sta ff to F fourth space

above The m o d ern in s tru m e n t expands this to low Bb

and high F, with added keys av a ila b le on so m e m akes

to high F# (on the alto) and low A (on the b a ritone )

Sax evidently c o n sid e re d his new invention c o m ­

pleted in 1846, fo r it was then that he went to P a r is

and obtained a patent for it Envisaged a s an i n s t r u ­

ment that would blend with both the woodwind and b r a s s

sections by producing a tone then d e s c rib e d as p o s ­

sessing p r o p e r t ie s of each, its f i r s t tria l in en se m b le

was undertaken by the F renc h m ilita r y bands The

acceptance must have been im m e d ia te , b ec au se the

y e a r a f te r the patent had been issued, a u th o ritie s

granted p e r m is s io n fo r its adoption in the sta n d a rd

{instrumentation of the m ilita r y band

Although ac cep tan c e of the saxophone has been

slow in the c o n c e r t o r c h e s t r a , its use in the c o n c e rt

band and a s a solo in s tru m e n t is now well esta b lish e d ,

and the horizon s e e m s to be c le a r in g for its use in all

forms of s o - c a lle d “ le g i t im a te ” e n s e m b le s The r e ­

cent trend toward including the saxophone in the c u r ­

riculum of many m u sic schools and c o n s e r v a t o r i e s is

a m ajor bre ak th ro u g h This provides the opportunity

for a formal and thorough study of the saxophone on

a level with o th e r in s tru m e n ts and e lim in a te s the

“ c a tc h - a s - c a t c h - c a n ” type of tra in in g that has f o r ­

m e rly been the lot of the s e r io u s student The s ta tu r e

of the saxophone will u ltim ate ly be d e te r m in e d on the

b a s is of its p e r fo rm a n c e s ta n d a r d s The in stru m e n t,

in the hands of a fine a r t i s t , has proven itself

THE SAXOPHONE FAMILYThe family of saxophones in use today c o n s is tsof:

Soprano in Bb Alto in Eb

T e n o r in Bb

B aritone in Eb

B ass in Bb

O ther “ c o u s i n s ” of the fam ily, not c o n sid e re d sta n d ­

a r d but which, from tim e to tim e , have achieved v a r ­ious d e g r e e s of popularity, include:

Sopranino in F and Eb Soprano in C

C o r the Bb so pra no This w r i t e r knows of no F s o ­pranino in ex iste n c e , but it is logical to a s s u m e that one was available at the tim e of R avel’s s c o r in g in 1928

All m e m b e r s of the saxophone family have the

s a m e fingering s y s t e m —the s t r u c t u r a l diffe re n c e is

m ainly one of s i z e No g r e a t a lte r a tio n of technique

is re q u ir e d to shift from one to any of the o th e rs Although the em bouchure r e q u ir e s m in o r adjustm ent, the basic concept of tone production r e m a in s the sa m e The t r a n s f e r is p rin c ip a lly a m a t t e r of o rie n ta tio n to

a d iffe ren t s iz e mouthpiece and re e d

.-It is com m on p r a c tic e to w rite all saxophone

m usic in the tr e b le c l e f , even for the barito n e and b a s s

in s tr u m e n ts Saxophones a r e tra n s p o s in g in s tru m e n ts ,i.e , the s c o r e is w ritte n in the key of the saxophone,

r a th e r than the “ c o n c e r t ” o r piano key To illu s tr a te this, middle C on the piano would be notated in the fol­lowing m an n er:

Bb Eb Bb Eb Bb

Range of Saxophones in C oncert Pitch:

SELECTION OF THE INSTRUMENT

The n e c e s s ity for an ex c ellen t in s tru m e n t, in a

good s ta te of r e p a i r and a djustm ent, cannot be e m p h a ­

sized too stro n g ly It is fa r c h e a p e r to obtain a fine

in s tru m e n t from the ou tset than to en d u re the f r u s t r a ­

tion of e ith e r le a rn in g on, o r liste ning to, an in fe r io r

saxophone The often h e a rd e x p r e s s io n “ good enough

to le a r n o n ” should be outlawed A student is entitled

to an in s tru m e n t that is ‘‘goodenough to play well o n ”

from the very f i r s t Often an ex p e rien ce d t e a c h e r is

confronted with an in s tr u m e n t in such poor condition

that even he cannot produce a s c a l e ! The student may

have been w re s tlin g with this situation fo r s e v e ra l

months o r m o re , and the effect on the em bouchure,

his e nthusiasm for playing, and the s u rro u n d in g popu­

lace is not difficult to im agine

If at all possible, g e t th e a d v ic e o f an ex p ert The

p u rc h a se of an in s tr u m e n t is in m o s t c a s e s a m a jo r e x ­

penditure, and should not be tr e a te d lightly The p r o ­

fe ssional m usician , p riv a te t e a c h e r o r public school

m usic t e a c h e r will be glad to consult with you in this

m a tte r E stab lish ed m akes (such as S elm o r, Leblanc,

Conn, M artin, B uescher, King, SML, Buffet, Bundy,

P a n -A m e ric a n , o r Vito) a r e m anufactured by re lia b le

fir m s who have a good reputation fo r standing back of

th e i r product

When pu rc h asin g an in s tru m e n t, so m e p ertin e n t

details to be d e te r m in e d a r e :

1 S tru c tu re o f the In stru m e n t

a The M etal Is the m etal of suffic ie nt thickness

and h a r d n e s s that it will not bend e a sily ? (Some of the “ o f f - m a k e ” in s tru m e n ts have been built with such soft m etal that one can actually dent the body with p r e s s u r e of the thumb.) Does the w o rkm a nship on the mech­anism look solid and w e ll- m a c h in e d ? Keys should not bend with o rd in a r y p r e s s u r e

b The Pad Job Do the pads look neat and well

installe d ? Are the c i r c u l a r im p r e s s io n s wherethe pad c o n tac ts the tone hole c e n te r e d ? If the,

i

pads have r e s o n a t o r s , do they fit tightly and

s m o o th ly ?

not

c N o ise Do you h e a r any click s of m etal against

m etal ? Any type of noise th a t does not seem

n o rm a l should be c o r r e c te d

d The A ction Does ea ch key have the sam e

s p rin g te n s io n ? Does this g e n e ra lly se e m too

s tr o n g o r too weak ? A re the keys in each

“ s t a c k ” the s a m e d istan ce above the h o le s ? Are they all too c lo s e o r too open ? The exact

m e a s u r e m e n t v a r ie s slightly ac c o rd in g to

m ake, but a good r e p a ir m a n can advise you on

th is The height of the pad o v e r the tone hole has a d i r e c t b ea rin g on both intonation and tone quality A stuffy, dead quality ind icates a close action, while a wild, open sound su g g e sts a high action

e Spring T ension Do som e keys tend to d r a g ?

This m ay be due to a weak s p r in g o r a bind in the hinge Do any notes “ bobble” when a key

is r e l e a s e d ? Pull the lin g e r off the side of the key to t e s t th is No key should bound as it

r e a c h e s the top of the s t r o k e Any bounding action m ay be due to a weak s p r in g o r an im­

p r o p e r b u m p e r If a s p r in g is weak, i n s i s t on

a re p la c e m e n t, r a t h e r th an bending for g r e a t e r tension, as bending is only a t e m p o r a r y r e m ­edy

f R o lle rs Do the r o l l e r s w ork e a s ily , with no

play in e i t h e r d ire c tio n ?

g The K ey Hinges Is th e r e any play between the

key post and the rod ? Check in both d ire c tio n s This is a v e r y im p o rta n t point, a s any play will p re v en t a uniform se a tin g of the pad If

Pad

C r e a s eResonator

F a s te n e r

14

there is longitudinal play, c a r e l e s s w o rk m a n ­

ship in the c o n stru c tio n of the in stru m e n t is

indicated This might be a b a s is for r e j e c ­

tion The following d ia g ra m is shown to s t r e s s

this point:

2 The P laying T e s t

a T e stin g f o r L ea ks, Does the sax respond e a s ­

ily on each note down to low Bb ? Hold down

the G $ key and play F - E - D - C in the low er

r e g i s t e r T h e r e should be no diffe ren c e in the

r e s p o n se of these notes T ry these te s t s play­

ing v ery softly T ry the 1-4 fingering for m id ­

dle r e g i s t e r Bb and c o m p a r e it with the o ne-

bis fingering T h e r e m a y b e a slight diffe renc e

in quality, but the r e s p o n se should be the sa m e

b Intonation It,is pointless to check a saxophone

fo r intonation if th e re a r e leaks of any kind

When you a r e convinced that the pads c o v e r

well, then p roceed with the following t e s t s :

Tune the in stru m e n t to A-440 c a re f u lly An

e lec tro n ic in s tru m e n t such a s a Stroboconn is

an invaluable aid F o r a d etailed d isc u s s io n of

intonation, r e f e r to the c h a p te r on that subject

in this book B e a r in mind that the horn may

not be com p letely at fault, and once m o re e n ­

lis t the s e r v ic e s of an o th e r saxophonist if p o s ­

sible Most of the “ n a m e ” brand saxophones

cautious about condemning the intonation until

it is a c c u r a te ly judged

c Voicing This again r e q u ir e s an e x p e rt opin­

ion Is the tone uniform in all r e g i s t e r s ?

T here is an unavoidable quality change b e ­

tween the th ird s p ac e Cfl and fourth line D, but

it is m o re pronounced on so m e in s tru m e n ts

than on o th e r s , and so should be c o n sid e re d

Proceed c h ro m a tic a lly from fourth space E

up to the high Cjf Without a lte r in g the e m ­

bouchure o r the a i r s t r e a m , listen c a refu lly

to each tone Is the quality uniform ? Have

another p lay er do the sa m e with his mouth­

piece Move a s h o r t distan ce away to judge

this, s in ce the t r u e sound of an in s tru m e n t is

b e t t e r d e te r m in e d in this m a n n e r S everal in ­form ed opinions should be so licite d on the question of intonation and voicing

d B alance o f Volum e Is the volume output uni­

fo rm , o r is one tone s tr o n g while an o th e r is

w e a k ? T e s t without hum oring o r forcing the

a i r s t r e a m T ry at all dynam ic le v e ls, but

e sp e c ia lly piano and p ia n is s im o L isten to this a ls o from a d ista n c e

e The Room T r y out in s tru m e n ts in the sam e

room , if po ssib le , since this has a g r e a t deal

to do with the sound A saxophone that sounds dead in one room may be v ery re s o n a n t in a

“ l i v e ” room

f Timing Tune all in s tr u m e n ts to the sam e

pitch, w hether o r not the check is for intona­tion When s e le c tin g a new saxophone, be r e ­minded that you a r e still influenced by the

p re v io u s one, and may have le a r n e d to favor

c e r ta in notes T hese tones have been " li p p e d ”

fo r so long that one may not r e a liz e he is

t r a n s f e r r i n g this a d ju stm en t to the new in­stru m e n t, com plicating the pilch fa ctor, T e st the in stru m e n t with the mouthpiece that has been built for it in addition to y o u r own The new one may be b e tte r fo r intonation and uni­form voicing

g Used o r R eb u ilt In s tr u m e n ts A good used in­

s tr u m e n t is often a b e t t e r buy than a new s e c ­ond o r third line m ake, but one m u s t be c a u ­tious in this selec tio n Here again, it is i m ­

p e r a tiv e that the counsel of an inform ed p erso n

be followed Do not buy a “ re co n d itio n e d ” saxophone oil name alone It m ay look new, but c lo se exam ination will re v e a l m echanical

w e a r beyond p e rm a n e n t a djustm ent

h The P e rfe c t Saxophone has not yet been built,

and th e r e a r e a c o u stic al r e a s o n s why it may

n ever be H ow ever, c a re fu l s e le c tio n and good

m u sical judgment will go a long way in o btain­ing the b e st po ssib le in s tru m e n t for you T h e re

a r e s e v e ra l fine m akes on the m a r k e t I n s t r u ­

m ents of the s a m e make and model vary only slightly, but tr y as many a s po ssib le before making the final decision A good in stru m e n t

should p a s s a ll of the t e s t s indicated h e r e

CARE OF THE INSTRUMENTThe saxophone r e q u ir e s no g r e a t amount of c a r e , but the cultivation of a few daily habits, aimed at p r o ­tecting it and keeping it c lea n , should be rig o ro u sly followed When not in use, the in s tru m e n t should be

kept in the c a s e The m outhpiece and neck should be

wrapped in s e p a r a t e sm a ll cloths of such s i z e that

they fit snugly into the a c c e s s o r i e s c o m p a r tm e n t of

the c a s e It should be u n n e c e s s a r y to add that th e in­

s tru m e n t m u st be handled with g r e a t c a r e , and that it

can be s e v e r e ly dam aged, even though it is in the c a se ,

if it is bumped o r dropped

Since m o s t saxophones a r e now la c q u e re d , t h e r e

is no p roblem of polishing Wiping with a slightly

damp cloth is all th a t is n e c e s s a r y Dusting under

the keys and ro d s can be done with an o r d in a r y fea­

t h e r o r a y a r n - ty p e c la r in e t swab Keeping the in­

s tru m e n t fr e e from d u s t will prolong the useful life of

the pads and will keep them sea tin g p r o p e rly F o r

cleaning the i n t e r i o r of the body and neck, a Sax-Swab

is recom m ended

A tr i p to the r e p a i r shop fo r inspection and ad­

ju stm e n t should be made once a y e a r , even though

t h e re a r e no a p p a ren t difficulties The r e p a i r s p e ­

c ia lis t will detec t any pad w e a r and make the re q u ire d

r e p la c e m e n ts b efo re they a r e w o rn through The s tu ­

dent should not a ttem p t to ad ju st o r r e p a i r his i n s t r u ­

ment, as this dem ands e x p e r t knowledge and sk ill

Often the “ d o - i t - y o u r s e l f e r ” ends up in the r e p a i r

shop with a h ig h e r bill than would have r e s u lte d had

the in s tru m e n t been taken t h e r e in the f i r s t place

S om etim es a pad will stic k bec au se of a c o m b i­

nation of m o is tu r e and d u st fo rm in g in the pad c r e a s e

When this happens, place one th ic k n e ss of a clean

h an d k e rch ief o r a thin cloth under the pad, close the key with gentle p r e s s u r e , and, while holding the key down, pull the cloth back and forth a few times A

sm a ll packet of Sight S av ers (e y eg lass cleaners) is also fine fo r this p u rpose All of the pads should be clea ned in this m a n n e r about once a month If a pad

p e r s i s t s in sticking, it should be re p la ced with a new one The Gjf key is the chief offender due to the fact that it is opened by s p rin g tension, and not by the

p r e s s u r e of the fin g e r Many p la y e r s m ake a habit of lifting the G$ p late b efo re playing, to make sure it has not se a le d

Some people have a g r e a t amount of acid in theiij

p e r s p ir a tio n , which will e a t away the la c q u e r on the

in s tru m e n t While this is annoying, it has no effect on the playing q u alitie s of the in s tru m e n t Wiping the keys and body of the in s tr u m e n t a f te r each playing will r e t a r d this action

A tiny d ro p of oil on a toothpick should be ap­plied to all the fric tio n points e v e ry six months The

e x c e s s m ust be wiped off im m e d ia te ly a f te r each point

is touched, since key oil s p r e a d s e a sily Extreme

c a r e m u s t be taken to p re v e n t any oil from touching the pads, s in ce it will ruin them

The saxophone is a finely bujlt p iece of precision

m achinery, and should be tr e a te d as such Common

s e n s e in the c a r e of y o u r in s tru m e n t will keep it in top playing condition, prolong its life, and contribute to

fu tu re playing p le a s u r e

16

THE MOUTHPIECE

The s e a r c h fo r an ideal m outhpiece will continue

as long as wind in s tr u m e n ts a r e used, and it should be

understood that no c u r e - a l l fo r y o u r p ro b le m s can be

found Our aim is to get s t a r t e d in the rig h t direc tio n

At one end of the pole we have the ‘ ‘m o u th p ie c e - itis ”

s u f f e r e r , who spends m o re tim e changing m outhpieces

than p ra cticin g ; at the opposite end, the p e r s o n who is

afraid to try anything new o r d iffe rent Somewhere

between th ese two viewpoints lie s the p r a c tic a l ap­

proach to this problem

J u s t a few of the fa c to r s which p re v en t the use

of an identical mouthpiece by all saxophonists a r e the

d iffe re n c e s in: (1) the shape and m u sc u la tu re of the

face, (2) the bony s t r u c t u r e , (3) the teeth, and (4) the

size and th ick n ess of the lips Add to th e se the v a r ie d

individual tonal concepts and the v a r io u s sty le s of

playing, plus dem ands of many d iffe ren t types of e n ­

gagements In sp ite of the a p p a re n t confusion, c e r ­

tain physical p rin c ip le s , which should be co n sid ered

in the s elec tio n of the c o r r e c t m outhpiece fo r each

individual, a r e involved in the c o n stru c tio n of all

saxophone m outhpieces

The mouthpiece that is supplied with a sta n d a rd

instru m en t should suffice for the beginner, until his

own individuality a s s e r t s itself T h e se m outhpieces

a r e usually of m edium facing and c h a m b e r, which is

d e s ira b le fo r the new student If t h e r e is any r e a s o n

for a change, the t e a c h e r o r an e x p e rien ce d s a x o ­

phonist will be able to d i s c o v e r this im m ediately

Young students should not run to the m usic s t o r e and

p urchase a new one u n less they have specific i n s t r u c ­

tions as to both make and facing Much money is

Wasted by the uninformed in selec tin g a mouthpiece

for its c olor, m a te r ia l, outside shape, the fancy w r a p ­

ping, o r so m e o th e r s a le s gim m ick Often this p u r ­

chase is exactly the w rong one fo r him, and will do

more h a r m than good Another t r a p to avoid is the

buying of a m outhpiece be c a u se som e well-known p e r ­

sonality u s e s “ facing X42D of the Shotgun S p e c ia l.”

It is ju st as logical to a s s u m e that e v e ry little leaguer

in the country should go out and buy a bat of the sa m e

weight that Babe Ruth u s e d ! The mouthpiece is one of

the most im p o rta n t e le m e n ts in the building of an e m ­

bouchure, and should not be tr e a te d c a su ally It is not

a gift that y o u r aunt should buy you fo r C h r is tm a s , un­

less she has obtained the ex a ct spec ific atio n s fro m an

e x p e rt who is acquainted with the m u sical s ta tu s of the

p ro sp e c tiv e u s e r

THE MATERIAL

Saxophone m outhpieces a r e m ade of h ard rod

r u b b e r (ebonite), g la s s , m etal, and p la stic Each of

th e s e has slightly diffe ren t p r o p e r t ie s re la te d to

m anufacture and r e s u l t s A p r e f e r e n c e as to m a ­

t e r i a l used is up to the individual, and the advantages

of each a r e a m a t t e r of c o n tro v e rs y Mouthpieces of

v a r io u s m a t e r ia ls which have exactly the s a m e d im e n ­sions, including the c h a m b e r and outside m e a s u r e ­

m ents as well as the facing, play v e r y n e a r ly the

s a m e The feel of the v a r io u s m a t e r ia ls undoubtedly has a psychological effect on the p la y e r, but it is difficult fo r the l i s te n e r to d iffe re n tia te between them

if the dim en sio n s a r e the sa m e The g la s s m outhpiece for saxophone is m o re o r

l e s s a r a r i t y at p r e s e n t, although it has many a d h e r ­ents among c l a r i n e t is t s It is quite fra g ile , and a slight bump on the tip may c a u se it to chip Its chief

s t r u c t u r a l advantage is the p e r m a n e n c e of the facing.Metal m outhpieces have the advantage of r u g ­ged n e ss and can be tooled to fine to le ra n c e s The outside d im ensions can be made s m a l l e r , since metal need not be v e r y thick to have the n e c e s s a r y stren g th This is an advantage to te n o r and b arito n e p la y e r s who have a s m a ll mouth and p r e f e r the feel of a s m a l l e r mouthpiece

P la s t ic has proved to be a good m a te r ia l and is

in wide use The quality has been improved, and it no longer has a tendency to c r a c k P la s tic has a high d e ­

g r e e of p e r m a n e n c e and stre n g th , and is p o p u lar in student m outhpieces, w h e re rugge dness and p r e c is io n

be washed in soap and lukew arm w a t e r —n e v e r hot

Table

C ha m be r Baf

water—at r e g u la r in te rv a ls R e g u la r washing is i m ­

portant not only be c a u se of the obvious fact that an

unclean mouthpiece is an e xc ellent breeding ground

for germs but a lso b ecause a calcified sed im en t, which

is almost im po ssib le to rem ove, c o lle c ts in the inside

chamber and changes the in n er dim en sio n s

THE DESIGN

Mouthpiece design is a m a tte r fo r s e r io u s con­

sideration, since its d im ensions and shape have a

definite effect on tone quality, pitch, volum e, equality

of re g iste rs, flexibility, and e a s e of playing A knowl­

edge of the f a c to r s that control th e s e a s p e c ts of tone

production is helpful in the s elec tio n of a s a tis fa c to ry

mouthpiece Tone quality has it s b irth in the inner

chamber of the mouthpiece, with the r e e d and mouth­

piece acting as the g e n e ra tin g m ech a n ism This m e c h ­

anism sets up the re la tio n sh ip of the fundamental tone

to its various p a r ti a ls , which affects the n a tu r e of the

tonal quality

It might be well to c la rify “ m edium fa c in g ” b e ­

fore proceeding The accepted usage of th is t e r m d e ­

fines the m e a s u r e m e n ts with which m o st saxophonists

can get the best r e s u lt s This has been d e te rm in e d by

trial and e r r o r , which does not imply that it is the

perfect design, but only a s ta r tin g point fro m which

the d iscrim inating m u sician can p ro c eed With this

in mind, we will d is c u s s the fa c to r s which control the

performance of a mouthpiece

1 T he Facing The shape of the c u r v e which

leaves the flat table of the mouthpiece Its extent

controls the distan ce between the tip of the re e d and

the tip of the mouthpiece, known as the tip opening

The distance fro m the tip to the beginning of the c u rv e

is known as the length of the facing The long fa c in g

induces biting, as m o re p r e s s u r e is needed to close

the reed to the point w h e re it will v ib ra te It r e q u ir e s

a s h o rte r bite and a soft re ed , which weakens the high

notes The sh o rt fa c in g re d u c e s em bouchure control

and flexibility The tone is thin and the low tones a r e

inclined to b re ak It is c o m p a ra tiv e ly ea sy on the

embouchure, but lacks dynamic range The w ide tip

opening makes soft playing difficult, the tone c o a r s e ,

and gives a fa lse s e n s e of volum e A soft re e d is r e ­

quired unless the em bouchure m u sc le s a r e powerful

The narrow tip opening r e q u ir e s the u se of a h a r d e r

reed, produces a thin tone, and the high r e g i s t e r is apt

to be sharp The g e n e ra l c o n se n su s s e e m s to be that

the curve of the facing should be the a r c of a p e r fe c t

circle This view is supported by s cien tific findings,

discussed in the c h a p te r on re e d s , which indicate that

the reed actually c lo s e s the tip opening The following

diagram, shown to illu s tr a te this p rin cip le, e m p h a ­

sizes the point that an infinite n u m b e r of facings can

be produced by moving the axis of the a r c

Short

/I

/ I

2 The B a ffle The portion of the mouthpiece

d ir e c tly back of the tip which r e c e iv e s the f i r s t shock

of the v ib ra tio n s as they leave the r e e d A high baffle

leaves little s p ac e at this point between the re e d and mouthpiece, and r e in f o r c e s the u p p er p a r ti a ls , giving

an edge o r buzz to the sound It is likely to be the

c a u se of squea ks Tone pro jec tio n is good, but quite

rough The low baffle p ro d u c e s a d a r k , dead sound

that lack s c a r r y i n g power It c r e a t e s r e s is t a n c e too

c lo s e to the tip of the re e d and is h ard to blow

3 T he T ip R ail The bro a d ra il might be d e ­

s c r ib e d as a defensive device It is e xc ellent fo r soft playing but incapable of p ro jec tio n , e m its a pu re sound with an a b se n ce of h ig h e r p a r tia ls and no edgy quality,

but has v ery little flexibility The n a rrow ra il is a

d ange rous one, and is probably the main cause of

c h irp s o r squea ks The re e d m u s t fit p e rfe c tly since

the n a rro w r a il o ff e rs so little r e s is t a n c e that it is

difficult to control Fine fo r a buzzy type of p r o j e c ­

tion, and so m e tim e s used by th o se who a r e willing to

ris k an occasional squeak to produce this type of

sound It should be used only by an ex pe rience d

player

4, The C ham ber This is the p r i m a r y re so n a n c e

ch a m b e r of the tone While the facing is of g r e a t i m ­

portance, it is axiom atic that a w ell-d e sig n e d c h a m b e r

will produce good r e s u l t s with any r e a s o n a b le facing

A sm a ll c h a m b e r leading d ir e c tly into the mouthpipe

will give m o re volume and m o re edge to the sound

than a larg e ch a m b e r Straight side w alls allow fo r

m ore of the h ig h e r p a r tia ls ; cu rv ed side w a lls produce

a m o re mellow tone T h e re a r e so many sh ap e s of the

inner ch a m b e r that it is im p o ssib le to m ake valid gen ­

e r a liz a tio n s

The s elec tio n of the ideal m outhpiece f o r you is

a difficult and lengthy p r o c e s s It is b e s t to s t a r t

with the s o -c a lle d m edium o r s ta n d a rd type mouth­

piece As your ability on the in s tru m e n t im proves,

your style and t a s t e will take definite paths M o d e ra ­

tion and caution is urged so th a t you do not have to

r e t r a c e th ese paths Bad habits o r conditions re su ltin g

from im p ro p e r p ro c e d u re can be long and costly in

th e ir c o r re c tio n A m outhpiece that is too ra d ic a l can

set your playing back m o r e than you im agine Con­

s i d e r the c a s e of a young p e r s o n who, in his e a rly

stag es of playing, p u r c h a s e s a long, open facing The

only way he can get the u p p er notes is by biting, and

he has to drop his jaw c o n sid erab ly to produce the

low tones Soon this bec om e s a habit which may take

y e a r s to c o r r e c t, even though he has changed to a

m o re m o d e ra te type of mouthpiece This type of

situation is not unusual, as any e x p e rien ce d te a c h e r

will b e a r out The s e lf-ta u g h t student is p ro n e to bad

habits, but som e of them can be e lim ina ted through

the use of a m o d e ra te o r “ m e d iu m ” type mouthpiece

MISCELLANY

Refacing a m outhpiece will not change its tone

quality to any m a rk e d d e g r e e It may make playing

e a s ie r and thus have a psychological advantage f o r

the u s e r The tone quality depends la rg e ly on the mouthpiece c h a m b e r and the baffle A good refacing job will also include the tip r a il and the baffle

***

Use of a ru b b e r pad on the top of the mouth­

p iece e a s e s the v ib ra tio n through the teeth, which is annoying to som e p la y e r s It also opens the mouth

m o re and m akes the tone m o re mellow

***

If the m outhpiece is too high, it can be cut down

c a refu lly with a fine file and re p o lish e d C a re must be *

e x e rc is e d so that you do not go all the way through

It is best to have a r e p a ir m a n do this f o r you

***

It has been the hope of most saxophonists that

m outhpiece m a n u fa c tu re r s would s ta n d a r d iz e the sys­tem of m ark in g the facings, so that they would have

so m e sem b la n c e of meaning to the uninitiated This, even if approxim a te , would e lim in a te som e of the con­fusion At p r e s e n t it is im p o ssib le to s o r t out the meaning of so m e of the h ieroglyphics pertaining to facings and tip openings

***

If you a r e c o m p arin g m outhpieces, be sure to

longer than o th e rs , and r e q u ir e a d iffe rent place­ment on the cork

***

The b a s ic p rin c ip le of m outhpiece construction

is the sa m e for the e n t i r e saxophone family How­

e v e r, b e c a u se of the d iffe re n c e s in mouthpiece size, you need not always use the s a m e facing and make of

m outhpiece if you a r e doubling

***

R em em b er, any m outhpiece will do only so much

fo r you It will not c o m p en sa te fo r a poor embouchure

o r insufficient a i r support

20

THE REED

The p rin c ip a l task of the r e e d is its function as

an a i r valve which opens and c lo s e s on the mouthpiece

at v a r io u s sp ee d s The r a t e of speed, o r fr e q u e n c y ,

of this op eratio n c o n tro ls the pitch of the tone and is

governed by the s iz e and shape of the body of a i r it

must s e t in v ib ratio n A la r g e a i r c h a m b e r will v i ­

b r a te s lo w e r than a s m a ll one, since it c r e a t e s a

g r e a t e r work load on the re e d The steady p r e s s u r e

of the a i r column in front of the r e e d is co nve rted in­

to a s e r i e s of s h o r t s p u r t s of a i r as it p a s s e s through

the mouthpiece tip, som ew hat in the following m anner:

— £ £

Considering the form idable ta sk which confronts this

sm all piece of cane, it is not s u r p r i s i n g that so much

effort m ust be expended in re e d s elec tio n and a d ju s t­

ment, s in ce the re e d is the only moving p a r t of the

generating a p p a ra tu s fo r saxophone tone production

The re e d changes its r a t e of v ib ration with e v e ry

new pitch and v ib r a te s at the sa m e frequency as the

pitch of the tone; i.e , if A-440 is played fo r one s e c ­

ond, the re e d goes through that n u m b er of com plete

cycles, give o r take one p e rc e n t, ac cording to r e ­

se a rc h on this subject In addition, the re ed m ust be

so v e r s a t il e as to a l t e r speed quickly and efficiently

on each new tone, v a r y amplitude on e v e ry change of

volume, s t a r t and stop with each a r tic u la tio n , p lu s

having the c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s n e c e s s a r y to p roduc e the

best p o ssib le sound It would be in te re stin g , with the

aid of an e le c tro n ic c om puter, to calc u late the n u m b er

of motions a single re e d goes through during a 90-

second rendition of “ The Flight of the Bumble B e e !”

In April, 1941, the J o u rn a l o f th e A c o u stic a l S o ­

ciety o f A m e ric a published an a r t i c l e by two p h y sic ists,

C S McGinnis and C G allagher, who had succeeded

in photographing the tim e and motion of a single reed

while in the p r o c e s s of tone production The r e s u lt s

of this e x p e rim e n t showed the re e d functioning as a valve which e m its “ p u ff s” of a i r into the in stru m en t,

and also fo r m s an a ir tight se a l during h a lf o f th e tim e

o f ea ch vib ra tin g c y c le To quote fro m th is a r tic le :

“ The motion of the re e d d u rin g the com plete c y ­cle is of in t e r e s t C o n sid e r the chink is ju s t on the point of closing With the a p e r t u r e closed, the

re e d a p p e a rs m otionless to the eye fo r about half

of the tim e of the com plete cycle It then leaves the mouthpiece with r e la tiv e ly high velocity and

r e a c h e s its position of m axim um d is p la c e m e n t in

a s e r i e s of s h o r t s p u r ts The tim e spent m otion­

This s c ie n tific evidence of the r e e d ’s action is a

m a jo r contribution to both o u r g e n e ra l knowledge and

to the methods of p ro c e d u re in fitting and shaping the

re e d to the mouthpiece The im p o rta n c e of th e se find­ings lie s in the fa c t that the re e d m ust clo se along

the fa c in g as well as the tip of the mouthpiece, and

that both sides m u st s e a l sim ultaneously This ex­plains the need f o r “ b a la n c in g ” the re e d along the

c u r v e of the facing, so th at the re e d will c u r l around the facing with a se a lin g effect

P r a c ti c a l ly all saxophone r e e d s a r e made fro m cane While o th e r m a t e r ia ls have been tr ie d and m a r ­keted, the lone s u r v iv o r at p r e s e n t is the p la s tic reed, which is in lim ited use The main value of the p lastic

re e d is its du ra b ility , but it has n e ith e r the tone q

ual-*Used by p e r m is s io n of the A coustical Society of

A m erica

Stock S ho ulder V a mp Heel (or Butt)

PARTS OF THE SAXOPHONE REED

ity n or the flexibility of a good cane re e d Continued

experim entation may one day p roduc e a m a te r ia l which

will have both the m u sic a l p o s s ib ilitie s of a cane re e d

and p e rm a n en cy This indeed will be a h is to r ic event

for all single and double re ed i n s t r u m e n t a l i s t s ! Until

this pot of gold lie s at o u r feet, we m u st c o m m it o u r ­

selves to coping with the re ed p ro b le m in the b e st

manner p o ssib le

The fin est cane c o m e s fro m an a r e a known as

the “ V a r ” region, which lies along the M ed ite rra n e a n

coast in s o u th e rn F ra n c e Attempts to grow re e d cane

in Spain, Italy, Mexico and C alifo rn ia have been d i s ­

couraging—ju s t why has not been s a tis f a c to r ily e x ­

plained Fifteen to twenty y e a r s a r e r e q u ir e d from

the planting of the cane to its peak of m atu rity P la nts

transplanted fro m F r a n c e to o th e r a r e a s do not have

the s a m e quality, so m o st effo rts in this d irec tio n

have been abandoned Cane, like wine, has its good

and bad y e a r s , depending on the w e a th e r, and th e re

is no a s s u r a n c e of uniform ity

SELECTION O F THE REED

reeds While a few p la y e r s a r e com m endably making

their own, the p r a c t i c e is not w id esp read F o r those

interested in p u rsuing this subject, I highly r e c o m ­

mend the Handbook f o r M aking and A d ju stin g Single

Reeds by Kalmen O pperm an (New York: Chappell and

Company)

C o m m e rc ia l r e e d s a r e o rd in a r ily packaged in

boxes of 12 o r 25, with the re e d s tre n g th m a rk e d on

the box Once the d e s ir e d s tre n g th and make is d e ­

termined, it is p r e f e r a b le to buy them by the box

rather than s e le c tin g a few at a tim e , fo r the open

package may have been picked o v e r and the b e st look­

ing ones rem oved Many d e a le r s re fu s e to allow r e e d s

to be examined by the young student, but will m e re ly

hand him one o r two from the top of the box Since

reeds a r e unpre d ic tab le, this is often a disappointing

situation Students and p a r e n ts should r e a liz e that a

percentage of r e e d s bought sim p ly do not work, w h e r e ­

as others that s e e m to play well at f i r s t have a s h o r t

life A few suggestions may im p ro v e y o u r batting

average in choosing playable re e d s :

1 P u rc h a s e only sta n d a rd make r e e d s such as

Vandoren, La Voz, Roy M aier, V ib ra to r , S elm er,

or Ciccone

2 Select a m edium o r m edium soft s tre n g th until

you d e te r m in e what is b e st fo ry o u G ra d e m a r k ­

ings a r e not uniform fo r all b ra n d s, s o see k ad­

vice in this m a tte r

3 A reed that is slightly h a r d will usually weaken

afte r a s h o r t period of playing, so be w ary of the

reed that blows e a s ily at f irs t

4 If you have the p riv ile g e of s e le c tin g r e e d s from the box, look fo r a fin e - g ra in e d re e d with stra ig h t

f ib r e s that run all the way to the tip B ew a re of

d a r k s t r e a k s in the g ra in of the cut p a r t T hese can be see n by holding the re e d up to light

5 D ark flecks in the smooth bark of the re e d a r e

no indication that the re e d is poor T h ese spots

a r e n o rm a l in the b ark of the cane, and this co n ­dition is p r e f e r r e d by many re e d p la y e r s How­

e v e r, if th e r e a r e d a r k p its in the vam p o r table,

Look fo r an even t a p e r on both sid e s , with

g r e a t e r th ick n ess in the c e n te r , the d a r k shadow blending into light in the fo rm of an in verte d U The sho u ld er of the r e e d should b re a k away from the stock uniform ly on both s id e s A cut that is

o ff -c e n te r indicates wrong s i z e o r ou t-o f-ro u n d cane that should have been re je c te d by the m anu­

f a c tu re r

10 Exam ine the shape of the a r c on the butt of the

re ed This in d icates the s iz e of the sta lk fro m which the re e d w as cut N e ith e r a high n o r a flat

a r c will produce s a tis f a c to r y r e s u lt s

Medium a r c —

c o r r e c t

High a r c — cane too sm all

23

REED CANE

Reed cane is composed of a s e r i e s of sm a ll h o l­

low tubes known as f ib re s which run lengthwise and

a r e held tog eth er by a s o fte r pithy sub stan ce that a b ­

s o r b s m o istu r e and f o r m s the bed on which the fib re s

v ib ra te Reeds will la s t longer and play b e t t e r if

given p r o p e r c a r e The c h e m ic als in human saliva

re a c t on the soft i n te r - f ib r e s t r u c t u r e and u p set the

p r o p e r re la tio n sh ip between the hard and soft m a­

te r i a ls This ultim ately r e s u lts in the re ed wearing

out This d e te r io ra tio n can be postponed if the open

ends of the tubes a r e sealed by polishing the vamp of

the reed, form ing a h ard s u r f a c e th at p ro te c ts the soft

pithy m a te r ia l fro m e x c e s s iv e m o istu re M assaging

this a r e a with an im p rovised tool (such as the back of

a teaspoon o r the handle of an autom atic pen o r p en ­

cil) until the vamp feels h ard and smooth is an effec­

tive method of producing this s e a l Some saxophonists

use the thumb and fo re fin g e r to s tro k e the vamp of the

re e d toward the tip

N ever handle the re ed by the tip This is the

m ost common cause of re e d injury, and often o c c u rs

during the place m en t of the re e d on the mouthpiece

The lig atu re should be loosely put on the mouthpiece

f i r s t , then the re e d slipped under the ligature and ad­

justed on the mouthpiece

Hold the mouthpiece and lig atu re in the left hand

Slide the re e d in position with the right thumb

The re e d should be well ce n te re d on the mouth­

p iece table and facing with the tip adjusted so that,

when in closed position, it r e a c h e s the point w here

the mouthpiece b re a k s to the facing

Reed should touch h ere when closed

The ligature should be tightened only enough to

hold the re ed in place p ro p e rly Too much tension

tends to stifle the vibration When rem oving the reed,

loosen the lig a tu re f i r s t and slip the re ed fro m under

it, in the d irec tio n of the tip

Sometim es a re ed will wave o r c u r l at the tip when it is re m o iste n e d , but will stra ig h te n out again

in two o r th r e e minutes This is caused by the soft

m a te r ia l between the fib re s absorbing m o istu re at varying r a te s , and has nothing to do with the re e d ’s quality It is a good plan to have th re e o r four play­able re e d s on hand and a lte r n a te the use of them, sin c e this p re v e n ts th e ir becoming w ater soaked The flat side of the re e d should be placed against a flat s u rfa c e when it is not in use T h e re a r e several good reed holders on the m ark e t, such as the Maier

“ Reed G u a r d ,” which a r e v ery s a tisfa c to ry Do-it-

y o u r s e lf e r s can easily make one out of a piece of,

g la ss and a wide r u b b e r band The g la s s should be ground on the edges fo r safety

D e te rio ratin g r e e d s may be r e s to r e d somewhat

by soaking them overnight in a 3% solution of hydro­gen peroxide, which is available at any drugstore The reed should then be rin s e d with w a te r and left to

d ry before using A v e ry light s c ra p in g with a knife

o r r a z o r blade will re m o v e much of the su rfa ce sedi­ment that may collect on the vamp but must be done with caution to prevent changing the balance

The mouthpiece cap should always be kept on when not playing even though the in stru m en t is going

to be used again soon This habit should be developed fro m the f i r s t day of saxophone study

ADJUSTING THE REED

It is u s e le s s to spend tim e adjusting a reed if the cane has not been p ro p e rly m atured, and the fol­lowing sim p le te s ts can save c o n sid e ra b le effort in this re sp e c t:

P r e s s the thumb nail into the stock of the reed

If it r e s i s t s altogether, the cane is old and o ver­cured If it feels soft and m a rk s easily, it is still

g re en A light m a r k that has a sprin g y feeling indi­

c a te s p ro p e rly aged cane

Another excellent t e s t involves recognition of the “ m a tu rity a r c h ”

Maturity a r c h

P r o p e r ly cured cane will develop a d ark s tr e a k just below the stock when the butt end is im m e r s e d in about an inch of w a te r fo r a few minutes This streak should be b ro w n ish -o ran g e in c olor If it has a green

o r yellow ca ste , o r if th e r e is no s tr e a k at all, the cane is not ready fo r adjustm ent, and should be put away fo r a y e a r o r m o re b e fo re re te stin g It is wasteful to throw these re e d s away, as they may

24

turn out to be y o u r “ p e t s ” when p r o p e r ly aged and

adjusted

If, a f te r wetting the butt of the re e d as d e ­

sc r ib e d above, you blow on the butt end, s m a ll bubbles

will a p p e a r along the vam p of the re ed T hese bub­

bles should not be la rg e o r pro fu se , as th is indicates

a re e d that is too po ro u s One m ust be rem inded,

however, that the la rg e re e d will have b ig g e r tubes

than the s m a ll re e d It is a good idea to s e l e c t a re ed

that r e s i s t s the p a s s a g e of a i r through its tubes, but

does not com pletely c lo se it off A little e x p e r im e n ta ­

tion a s to the p r o p e r amount will prove helpful T hese

tests work with new cane only A m inim um lis t of

tools n e c e s s a r y for saxophone re ed ad ju stm en t in­

cludes:

1 A p ie c e o f p la te g la s s about four by six inches

The edges should be ground sm ooth to p re v en t

cutting the hands

2 A r e e d tr im m e r This should be s e le c te d with

c a r e , fo r in the long run it is m o re economical

to p u rc h a s e the b e s t obtainable The shape of the

cut m ust match y o u r m outhpiece tip If th e r e is

any indication of a ra g g ed edge in the cut, the

t r i m m e r should be r e je c te d It is a good idea to

take so m e old r e e d s and y o u r own m outhpiece to

the s t o r e to d e te r m in e a m atching shape of cut

3 A scra p in g or “b u r r in g ” kn ife This can be ob­

tained at a je w e lry supply s t o r e , and is a t h r e e -

sided piece of smooth, te m p e r e d s te e l, tooled

with sh a r p edges fo r s c ra p in g The shape of the

edge p re v e n ts gouging the cane A s a tis f a c to r y

su b stitu te can be made at hom e by p u rc h asin g a

s m a l l t h r e e - c o r n e r e d file with a wood handle The sid e s a r e then ground sm ooth and finished

by hand on a stone

4 Dutch R ush, for finishing and se n s itiv e a l t e r a ­

m a r s h y lands in c e r t a i n p a r t s of the country

It is quite inexpensive, and uniform quality is

a s s u r e d if it is p u rc h a se d fro m a wind i n s t r u ­

m ent supply house

5 N u m b e r 8 -0 Sandpaper A few sh e e ts will la s t a

be difficult to c o r r e c t l a te r The suggested p ro c e d u re

is to use the r e e d only a s h o r t tim e at its f i r s t play ­ing, then s e t it a sid e fo r a day T ry playing fo r a little longer on the second day and on s u c c e s s iv e days until you feel that the cane has stab iliz ed its c h a r a c ­

te r Usually the re e d will be s o f t e r a f te r the f i r s t few playings, but this does not always follow (Sometimes

it will becom e stiffer!) It is pre su m p tu o u s to a ssu m e

th at specific d ire c tio n s can be given fo r solving the

re e d pro b lem , s in ce it is a m a t t e r of t r i a l and e r r o r for each individual, which may s e e m m ostly e r r o r at

f i r s t Much can be learn ed o v e r a long period of tim e , however, and if one c o n s id e r s h is f i r s t efforts

as p a r t of his schooling, he will be re w ard e d

MINIMUM TOOLS FOR REED ADJUSTMENT

Sandpaper

FIGURE 1 FIGURE 2

A p r e lim in a r y t e s t fo r flexibility and balance

may be made by p r e s s i n g the re e d lightly against the

thumb nail and sliding the nail o v e r the tip portion,

as shown in Fig 1, above Then check the balance of

the two sid e s with the fo refin g er, as indicated in

Fig 2

REED TOO SOFT

The f i r s t thing to do is clip the re e d , taking off

a v ery little at a tim e and te stin g a f te r each cut

Moisten the re e d thoroughly before clipping, and

make s u r e that it is ce n te re d p ro p e rly Most c lip ­

p e r s have a spring which holds the re ed , but in som e

the re e d m ust be held by hand If the la t t e r is tru e ,

be s u r e that the g rip is f ir m as you p r e s s the cutting

lev er Haste in this p ro c e d u re often ruins the reed;

it is easy to take a little m o re off the tip of a reed,

but im p o ssib le to add One should also b e a r in mind

that each clip s h o rte n s the vam p of the re e d , so th e re

is a point at which f u r th e r clipping is u s e le s s Usu­

ally about one-six tee n th of an inch is the lim it that a

re ed can be trim m e d su cc essfu lly

A fter the re e d has been clipped, the c o m e r s

should be rounded and the c u rv e adjusted to the

mouthpiece F o r this, use the e m e r y board, stroking

v ery lightly toward the c e n te r portion of the reed

P r o p e r shaping in this a r e a will im prove the chance

of p e rfe c t balancing If the re e d is strong enough so

th at no tr im m in g of the tip is indicated, it is still de­

s i r a b l e to m atch the tip to the m outhpiece before the balancing adjustm ent is s ta rte d

After a r e e d has been in use fo r a long tim e and

s t a r t s to become soggy, it may be im proved te m p o r­

a r il y by trim m in g , but usually the cane has lo st much

of its re s ilie n c y and any rejuvenation will be short lived The p u rc h a s e of a p r o p e r stren g th re e d will elim in a te the n e c e s s ity of ra d ic a l a djustm ent, and

sa v e much tim e

REED TOO STIFF

A re e d that s e e m s too stiff may be s tr o n g e r on one side than the o th e r, so it is possib le to have a

re e d with the d e s ir e d stre n g th on one side only This type of re ed will feel h ard to blow and should be b a l­anced It can be checked by turning the mouthpiece in the em bouchure so that only one side of the re e d will

v ib ra te , then a lte r n a te to the o th er side When both sid e s a r e n e a r ly the sa m e , but too stiff, then a gen­

e r a l adju stm en t should begin If one side of the reed blows h a r d e r , this should be balanced before c a rry in g the adjustm ent fu r th e r A look at the tip in front of a stro n g light will indicate ju s t w h e re the thinning should begin Dutch Rush is best fo r balancing the tip and sid e s of the re e d B efore using, soak the end portion of the ru sh in w a te r until it is pliable; then pinch one end to g eth er and cut it off with s c i s s o r s or

26

a r a z o r blade Use the flattened end of the r u s h o ver

the fo refin g er, making s u r e that the fib re s run at a

right angle to the re ed , as in the following p ictu re

Always s tr o k e in the d ire c tio n of the tip, but leave the thinning of the e x tr e m e end of the tip until last

In balancing, the portion of the r e e d to thin is from

ap p ro x im a te ly fiv e -e ig h ts of an inch to o ne-eighth of

an inch fro m the tip Shade the cut fro m th e c e n te r

to the sid e s so that the h e a r t of the re e d is not d i s ­

tu rb ed The h e a r t is the s t a r t of the r e s is t a n c e a r e a

and should r a r e l y be touched The reed should always

be balanced c o r r e c t l y b efo re this a r e a is considered.

If the re e d is s till too stiff after balancing,

s c r a p e lightly with the b u r r in g knife along the sid e s

of the vamp If th is does not ac c o m p lish the purpose,

take a little off the e n t i r e vam p of the re ed , but v e ry

lig h tly o v e r the h e a rt It m ust be g ra d u ated evenly

fro m the c e n te r to the sid e s of the vam p tow ard the tip If a light spot a p p e a r s in the h e a r t of the re e d , the best thing to do is throw the re e d aw ay—its “ h e a r t

t r o u b l e ” was fatal

28

Fault A rea Tool R e m a rk s

Dull sound when

Balance; take m o re off both sid e s if still too h a r d

Lower r e g i s t e r

Tip too thick

a f te r clipping

Under side of tip

Sandpaper

Lay san d p a p er on g la s s and stro k e lightly with g ra in on the flat table side

of re e d to about 3/8 inch back from tip

High tones hard

L acks projection in

Move 3 back from the tip (This may

sh o rte n the life of the r e e d )Lack of re so n a n c e in

REED ADJUSTMENT CHART

PLAYING POSITION

P o s tu r e and in stru m e n t position, often ignored

a sp e c ts of wind in stru m e n t study, play im p o rtan t

ro le s The saxophone m ust be co n sid ered as a p a r t of

the p e r f o r m e r , and an intim ate and c o m fo rta b le p h y si­

cal asso c ia tio n c r e a t e s a m o re unified feeling fo r the

m usical p e r fo rm a n c e When the body a s s u m e s a tense

attitude during a lengthy r e h e a r s a l o r p r a c tic e period,

the r e s u lta n t d isc o m fo rt r e t a r d s both the mental and

physical a s p e c ts of m u sical p r o g r e s s A re la x ed and

efficient playing position leav e s the p e r f o r m e r fr e e to

c o n c en trate on the a r ti s t i c and technical p ro b le m s in­

volved

Weight and balance d ic ta te the m an n er of holding

the instru m en t, which is d e te r m in e d by: ( l j the s iz e

of the instrum ent; and (2) the s iz e of the player In

considering the v a rio u s types of saxophones, the

soprano is always held in front, out fro m the middle

of the body {in much the s a m e m an n er as the c la r in e t

or the oboe), except that the bell of the in s tru m e n t is

fa rth e r away from the body This is dictated by the

more horizontal position of the saxophone mouthpiece,

which is at an ap proxim a te angle of 45 d e g r e e s as

com pared with 30 d e g r e e s for the c la r in e t The ten o r

saxophone is best held ag a in st the body at the right

side In the c a s e of a sm a ll p lay er, the rig h t hand may

be as fa r back as the hip, but as he grow s and his

a r m s lengthen, the in stru m e n t should be pushed f o r ­

ward gradually This situation also r e q u ir e s an a l t e r ­

ation of the head position in o r d e r to m aintain the

same angle of the mouthpiece The b aritone, while

som etim es held with the neck s tr a p , is m o re c o m ­

f o r t a b l e when supported by a sax stand, which c a r r i e s

the e n tire weight and also positions the horn at the

c o rre c t angle The b a ss saxophone m ust be played

from the sax stand, as it is much too heavy and cu m ­

bersom e fo r a p e r f o r m e r to hold The alio s e e m s to

be the wrong s i z e for g e n e ra liz a tio n , and the holding

position m ust be governed by the s iz e of the individual

An adult usually holds the in stru m e n t in front, w h e re a s

a s m a lle r p erso n must use the side position The

length of the a r m s is a d e te rm in in g f a c to r when one

decides on his p a r ti c u la r place m ent If the a r m s a r e

co m fo rta b le and the m outhpiece angle is c o r r e c t th e re

is no p a r ti c u la r re a s o n for concern

Good p o s tu re , both sittin g and standing, should not be neglected The head should be e r e c t and the back s tra ig h t, but avoid a stiff, m ilita r y ap pearance Keep both feet flat on the floor when sitting When standing, d is trib u te the weight of the body equally b e ­tween both feet, which should be s p r e a d slightly for

s tab ility and balance The neck s t r a p should be ad­justed to support the e n tir e weight of the instru m en t, elim inating any p o ssibility of s t r e s s on the hands and

a r m s The hands m ust steady the saxophone but should not su p p o rt it

The angle of the head in re la tio n to the music

ra c k should be co n sid e re d A g r e a t n u m b e r of students

fo rm the habit of looking at the m usic out of one eye, owing to crowded r e h e a r s a l conditions that prevent placing the m usic stand d ire c tly in front of the p layer When two (or s o m e tim e s th ree ) people a r e forced to use the s a m e m usic r a c k and at the s a m e tim e watch the conductor, in addition to sitting in c h a ir s that must

be kept in a s tra ig h t line, it is not s u r p r i s i n g that in­

c o r r e c t position and poor p o s tu re re s u lt

Points to b e a r in mind in the e sta b lis h m e n t of

a good playing position a r e :

1 Stand o r s i t e r e c t , but re la x ed

2 Keep both feet flat on the floor

3 P la c e the m u sic r a c k so that when looking

s tr a ig h t ahead the m usic can be re a d c le a rly with e ith e r eye

4 Adjust the neck s t r a p so that it su p p o rts the weight of the in stru m en t

5 Hold the saxophone at the side o r in front, d e ­pending on the s iz e of the in s tru m e n t and its r e ­lation to y o u r body and a r m s

Tone quality, intonation, technique, and i n t e r p r e ­tation a r e affected if the playing position c a u s e s d i s ­com fort While j u s t “ getting c o m f o r ta b le ” will not solve all the p ro b le m s, it will s e t up a condition which

e n c o u ra g e s a l e r t n e s s , and a physical clim ate condu­cive to im provem ent

iaphragm

THE BREATHING TECHNIQUE

B reathing is such a n a tu ra l function that it is apt

to be taken for g ra n te d Under o r d in a r y c i r c u m s t a n ­

ces the r e s p i r a t o r y o rg a n s adjust t h e i r activity to the

needs of the human body in an efficient and u n a s s u m ­

ing m anner Conscious use of the bre ath in g a p p a ra tu s

is a n o n -n o rm a l situation If we c o n s id e r the y e a r - o ld

child who atte m p ts to blow out the candle on his f i r s t

birthday cake, we will note that t h e r e is no concept of

blowing, and that he has to be taught this sk ill, ju s t as

he has to be taught to walk and talk Any use of the

r e s p i r a t o r y a p p a ra tu s fo r a c tiv itie s which a r e beyond

the scope of supplying the blood s t r e a m with the c o r ­

re c t amount of oxygen r e q u ir e s a conscious effort,

and this is a m ost im p o rtan t e lem e n t in the field of

wind in s tru m e n t playing

The n a tu re of a m u sical sound involves uniform ly

vibrating waves in the a i r which e x e r t p r e s s u r e on the

human e a r C re a tin g th e s e waves r e q u ir e s the use of

a device which will in so m e m a n n e r s t a r t the a i r in

motion at the d e s i r e d r a te of speed In the c a se of the

piano, the vib ratin g m e d iu m —the s t r i n g —is stru c k

with a felt h a m m e r Stringed in stru m e n ts a r e e ith e r

plucked o r bowed The u s e of the bow allows the tone

to be sustain ed , sin c e it keeps the s tr i n g v ib ra tin g at

a uniform am plitude, w h e re a s a s tr i n g that is s tru c k

or plucked will have its g r e a t e s t volum e on the initial

impact, followed by a gradual diminuendo B r a s s

players s e t up a lip v ib ra tio n by forcing an a i r s t r e a m

through a sm a ll opening in the lips Reed in stru m e n ts

a re divided into two c a te g o rie s The double re e d s ,

such as oboe and bassoon, have two s m a ll p ie c e s of

cane vibrating ag a in st each o th e r The single re e d s ,

saxophone and c la r in e t, have one re e d vibrating

r against a solid s u r f a c e , i.e , the mouthpiece The

a ir s t r e a m which s e ts this re e d in motion is as c r i t i ­

cal to its c o r r e c t p e r fo rm a n c e a s is the c a r b u r e to r

in an automobile to a sm oo th ly -ru n n in g m otor

Anyone who has o b se rv e d the p r a c tic e methods

of student v io lin ists is well acquainted with the e m ­

phasis and tim e spent in the developm ent of p r o p e r

bowing p ro c e d u r e s The im p o rta n c e of th is phase of

violin playing continues throughout the life of the

serious violinist A fine p e r f o r m e r d ra w s the bow

slowly with p r o p e r tension and p ro d u c es a beautiful

tone, w h e reas the novice u s e s much m o re bow length

with a scratch y , unm usical r e s u lt The p re c e d in g a p ­

plies d ire c tly to the saxophone, as the a i r s t r e a m is

the saxophonist’s “ b o w ” Too often, young m usician s

will atte m p t to play fo r s e v e r a l y e a r s without giving

s e r io u s thought to the method and co n tro l of the a i r

s t r e a m , and this void in th e i r tra in in g can be the cause

of many m u sic a l f r u s tr a tio n s The p la y e r b lam es the mouthpiece, the re e d , and (m ost of all) the e m ­bouchure All of these a r e v e r y im portant, but they all depend d ir e c tly on the a i r s t r e a m for th e ir s u c ­

c e ssfu l operation They will in no c a s e function p ro p ­

e r ly if the b r e a th is unable to ac tiv a te the vibrating medium in a c o n trolled m anner

It is questionable w h e th e r the C r e a to r had in mind the blowing of a saxophone when he invented that

in tr ic a te m achine known as man Fortunately, he left

an e x c e s s of ca pacity so that a human being can tra in the v a rio u s p a r ts of the body to o p e r a te in a t r e m e n ­dously v e r s a t i l e m anner F ro m the standpoint of the wind in s tru m e n t p la y e r , bre ath in g cannot be viewed as

a n o rm a l function Strenuous e x e r c i s e c a ll s for f a s te r and d e e p e r breathing, but this s till a d h e re s to the

o rig in a l p u rp o se of supplying oxygen to the blood

s t r e a m P e r f o r m a n c e on a wind in stru m e n t r e q u ir e s

a slo w e r, but not u n ifo r m , r e s p ir a t i o n r a te , d e e p e r

b re ath in g and in c re a s e d p r e s s u r e of th e c h e s t cavity,

in addition to m aintenance of the c o r r e c t oxygen-blood

s t r e a m re la tio n sh ip If an e x c e s s of oxygen e n t e r s the blood we will bec om e light-headed and dizzy This can be sim p ly d e m o n s tra te d by standing p e rfe c tly s till and taking fa st, deep b r e a th s continuously Two o r

t h r e e m inutes of this will convince m o st of us, but it

is not su ggested as a p a s tim e !

THE BREATHING APPARATUS

The thorax, o r c h e st cavity, contains the h e a rt, lungs, esophagus, and t r a c h e a (windpipe) It is s u r ­rounded by the bony s t r u c t u r e co n sistin g of the spine,

b re astb o n e, and the r i b s (costals) Between the rib s

th e r e a r e many s m a ll m u s c le s known as the in te r -

c o s ta ls , which function to expand and c o n tra c t the rib s The floor of the c h e s t cavity is a m u s c u la r,

m em b ra n o u s p artitio n known as the diap h ra g m , that

o p e r a te s involuntarily and is c o n trolled by the action

of the s u rro u n d in g m u s c le s The diap h ra g m c o m ­

p letely shuts off the c h e s t cavity fro m the abdomen

It is in the sh ap e of a dome, which tends to flatten out

on inhalation, but is d isposed to r e tu r n to its n o rm a l

s ta te Once it has assu m e d this flat position through inhalation, it will fo r c e a i r out m e re ly by relaxing

The in te rc o sta l m u s c le s function differently, as they

a r e voluntary and d ir e c tly control the expansion and

contraction of the rib s The t r a c h e a is a ca rtila g in o u s,

m em branous pipe through which the a i r p a s s e s in and

out of the lungs At its upper e x tre m ity is the larynx,

containing the o rg a n s which control the p a s s a g e of the

a i r through the windpipe The u p p e rm o st of th e s e o r ­

gans is the epiglottis, a valve which d i r e c t s food into

the stom ach and a i r into the lungs The t r a c h e a d i­

vides into two b ra n c h e s, going to the left and right

lungs The esophagus is located behind the t r a c h e a

and p a s s e s d ir e c tly through the c h e st cavity into the

stomach

Although the u s e of the c h e s t and in te rc o sta l

m u sc le s is app a ren t, so m e additional d isc u s s io n of

the diap h ra g m and its pu rp o se might be in o r d e r The

m ost n a tu ra l way to move the diap h ra g m is by pushing

the abdomen forw ard This is the action that takes

place when we b r e a th e n a tu ra lly Anyone who watches

a sleeping p e r s o n will o b se r v e that the stom ach moves

r a t h e r than the c h e s t The a v e ra g e p e rso n , however,

when asked to take a deep b re a th , will do ju s t the op­

posite He will expand his c h e st as he inhales and push

out the stom ach during exhalation This am ounts to the

sa m e action as squeezing a tube of toothpaste in the

middle; the back end of the tube will bulge out, and,

even though so m e of the p a s te is ejec ted , about half

of the en e rg y is used on the dead end of the tube

Our f i r s t task is to get the m axim um amount of

a i r into the lungs It is a fundamental physical law that

a i r will flow only fro m a g r e a t e r to a l e s s e r p r e s s u r e

a r e a When the c h e st cavity is en larg ed , the p r e s s u r e

is lowered, and the o utside a i r r u s h e s in When blow­

ing out, we r a i s e the p r e s s u r e on the in sid e of the

cavity, thus r e v e r s in g the p ro c e s s This is the sa m e

p rin c ip le on which an old-fashioned bellows o r a t i r e

pump o p e r a te s P o s tu r e plays an im p o rta n t p a r t in an

efficient b re athing action A slum ped position will not

allow the c h e s t cavity to expand to its full capacity

This can be d e m o n s tra te d if one pushes his s h o u ld e rs

back He will im m e d ia tely feel that the c h e st is l a r g ­

e r , even though he has not taken in any a ir The f i r s t

c o n sid eratio n should be to develop the habit of s ta n d ­

ing o r sitting e r e c t The c h e st should be held high

Then s t a r t the m u s c u la r action from the floor of the

c h e s t cavity by expanding the m u s c le s which s u rro u n d

this a r e a Pushing the w alls of the abdominal cavity

forw ard and out to the s id e s is a m ost n a tu ra l way to

a c com plish th is The back m u s c le s can be brought

into play also, so that an im aginary c i r c l e is expanded

all around the w a istlin e Such expansion has but one

p urpose: to flatten down the d o m e-sh a p ed diap h ra g m

This is done sim u ltane ously with expansion of the

lower ch e st in the quick intake of a full b re ath

DEVELOPING THE BREATHING PROCESS

Changing o n e 's b re athing habits is usually a slow

p ro c e s s , and may r e q u ir e patience and continued at­tention In its developm ental stage, bre ath in g should

be p ra c tic e d away fro m the in s tru m e n t until the action

is well under control One of the methods fo r estab­lishing the movement of the p r o p e r m u sc le s requires lying flat on the back in a re la x ed m an n e r Inhale, hold the b re a th fo r a few seconds, then exhale It should be a p p a ren t that the a r e a around the stomach

is moving, not the ch e st A heavy weight on the stom­ach, such as a la r g e dictionary, will em phasiz e this action If an o th er p e r s o n will push down on the book' while the inhalation is taking place, this will demon­

s t r a t e the trem e n d o u s s tre n g th of th ese muscles When this motion is in control, g ra dually s t a r t filling the low er and u p p er chest, in that o r d e r The entire

p ro c e d u re w orks b e t t e r at f i r s t while in a supine posi­tion, and points up the fact that the full b re a th is an action which involves the e n t i r e to r s o r a t h e r than just the upper c h e st a r e a

When one is adept at the p r o c e s s of breathing outlined above, then he should p r a c tic e while standing

e r e c t, f i r s t with a light b re ath and g ra dually working into a full b re a th intake A s h o r t tim e lapse between inhalations is suggested, so that the blood is not over­loaded with oxygen If any d iz z in e s s is felt, it is time

to take a s h o r t r e s t Another helpful e x e r c is e for gaining co n tro l is alte rn a tin g the a r e a of the intake Put the hands on the abdomen and inhale in the upper

p a r t of the c h e st only, keeping the abdomen stationary Then t r y the r e v e r s e , with the hands on the upper che st Also, expand the low er c h e s t without moving the upper c h e st o r abdom en—a m o re difficult feat, but excellent p ra c tic e This points up the d esira b ility of

c om plete control of all the f a c t o r s which m ake up the

c o r r e c t bre ath in g p r o c e s s

It has been the a u t h o r ’s ob serv atio n that many fine p e r f o r m e r s like to walk This is a healthful way

to r e la x and p r a c tic e bre ath in g at the s a m e tim e

1 Walk slowly, keeping the body loose Do not carry anything heavy

2 Stand e r e c t , b u t com fortably Shoulders and arms should be re laxed Swing the a r m s while walking

3 Take in a full b r e a th quickly, on one step

4 Hold this b re a th f o r two ste p s

5 Exhale through the mouth slowly fo r eight to ten ste p s

6 Take two m o re s te p s before the next inhalation.You will notice that, in the above e x e r c i s e , the in­halation is fa st and the r e m a i n d e r of the cy c le is much slo w er This e m u la te s the b re a th in g p r o c e s s as used

in in s tru m e n ta l playing, with one im p o rtan t

excep-34

tio n —in wind in stru m e n t p e r fo rm a n c e , you do not have

the opportunity to b r e a th e at r e g u la r in te rv a ls Main­

taining the balance between the needs of the body and

the r e q u ir e m e n ts of the m usic im p o se s quite a c o m ­

plicated ta sk on the r e s p i r a t o r y s y s te m

The d ia g ra m below is included to c o m p a r e the

timing of the n o rm a l r e s p i r a t o r y p r o c e s s with that

used in wind in s tru m e n t playing It should be noted

that, in n o rm a l b re athing, a g r e a t e r portion of the tim e

is used on the intake, with much l e s s o n the exhalation

The exact opposite is t r u e when playing a wind i n s t r u ­

ment O ther f a c to rs to c o n s id e r a r e :

1 N orm al bre ath in g is rhythm ic, at a r a te of 15 to

17 tim e s a minute The in stru m e n ta l breathing

r a te is not rhy th m ic, but is governed by the length

of the m u sic a l p h ra s e

2 The r a te of r e s p ir a t i o n may be reduced c o n s i d e r ­

ably by the d em an d s of the m usic, so that we m ust

One of the p ro b le m s in the use of the b re ath as

a motive power is that we a r e working in a m edium of

d e c re a sin g p r e s s u r e , s i m i l a r to letting the a i r out of

a toy balloon o r an automobile t i r e When the a i r is

fir s t re le a s e d , th e r e is a high concen tratio n of p r e s ­

s u re , velocity and volume, which d e c r e a s e s rapidly

until the a i r p r e s s u r e is the s a m e on both the inside

and the outside But the balloon o r t i r e Still has som e

a ir, known as re sid u a l a i r , re m a in in g This re sid u a l

a ir is n e c e s s a r y fo r the next inflation, as it keeps the

\ walls of the c o n ta in e r in a re c e p tiv e shape to take in

a ir again The s a m e p a tte rn is followed in the c a s e of

the lungs When they deflate beyond a c e r ta in point, it

is difficult to inhale due to lo ss of r e s id u a l a ir This

is what happens when an athlete “ gets his wind knocked

o u t,’’ and he has g r e a t difficulty in catching his b re ath

The wind in stru m e n t p la y e r who has to use the la s t bit

of breath to com plete a p h r a s e will find h im s e lf in a

s im ila r p re d ic am en t T h ere will be difficulty in s t a r t ­

ing the next inhalation in addition to fatigue and loss of

breath control Most of this is pre v en tab le if the play­

e r will ac quire the habit of pla yin g on a f u l l breath In

other words, keep the lungs as well inflated as p o s s i ­

ble, so that the n a tu ra l e la s tic ity of the c h e st m u scles

will work for you Once the point of equilib riu m is

re ach e d , it is n e c e s s a r y to s t a r t pushing in and up

with the abdominal m u s c le s in o r d e r to m aintain a ir

p r e s s u r e

An exam ination of the above d ia g ra m should

d e m o n s tr a te that at the point of initial r e le a s e we have

a g r e a t e r velocity of a i r s t r e a m than is needed, so the

p ro b lem at f i r s t is to hold back the p r e s s u r e at a un i­

fo rm ly reducing r a t e until the point of eq uilibrium is

re a c h e d After this, additional s u p p o rt m u st be f u r ­nished by the diap h ra g m and c h e s t m u sc le s It is seldom n e c e s s a r y , if one a c q u ir e s p r o p e r breathing habits, to use the re sid u a l a ir

THE INTAKEThe position of the mouth and th ro at during in­halation is a m a tte r fo r c o n sid eratio n A la r g e amount

of a i r m ust e n te r the c h e st cavity quickly and n o is e ­

l e ssly , without distu rb in g the em bouchure We have all been annoyed at one tim e o r an o th er by a p e r f o r m ­ance in which th e r e was so much noise when the

s o lo ist inhaled that the m u sic a l value of the co m p o si­tion was forgotten This is usually the r e s u lt of a t ­tempting to pull a lot of a i r through a sm a ll sp ac e, due

to a tight th ro a t o r an im p r o p e r r e l e a s e of the e m ­bouchure To i n s u r e the p a s s a g e of a la rg e amount of

a i r into the lungs quickly, both the lips and the th ro at must have a good sized a p e r tu r e B reathing through the c o r n e r s of the mouth r e s t r i c t s the s iz e of this opening and also tends to c o n s tr ic t the th ro at This type of inhalation is usually accom panied by c o n sid ­

e r a b le noise, and too much tim e is re q u ire d to obtain

a full b re a th If one sim p ly d ro p s the low er jaw, still keeping the u p p er teeth anchored, the th ro a t should

a s s u m e the full opening s i m i l a r to its position while yawning This can be done so that the em bouchure r e ­

tu r n s to playing position re ta in in g its orig in al shape

Use of the back muscles can do much to help the

diaphragm flatten out The control of these m uscles

just below the ribs should be developed T ry to push

the sides and back muscles away from the body as you

push the abdomen forward In other words, expand the

waistline in all directions To sum up the full inhala­

tion procedure, one should:

1 Sit o r stand e r e c t and keep the chest high

2 Open the mouth by dropping the jaw

3 Keep the throat in the shape assumed when yawn­

ing

4 Expand the e n tire waistline simultaneously

The foregoing is a composite action, and should

be practiced so that it is accomplished in the sh o rte st

time possible It should be done both with and without

the instrument Much can be gained, as with the

other m uscular e x e rc is e s , by spending odd moments

throughout the day practicing this procedure

THE RELEASE

The re le a s e of the a ir s tre a m can be easily ex­

amined by blowing on the back of the hand with the lips

pursed, noting t h e p r e s s u r e of the a i r s tre a m To keep

this s tr e a m equalized, an increasing support from the

diaphragm is n e c e ssa ry , and re g u la r drill in this p r o ­

ce s s is valuable The timing of the r e le a s e is helpful,

with the effort directed toward extending the duration

of the exhalation while maintaining a steady p r e s s u r e

Uniform p r e s s u r e p e rm its the playing of longer p h r a s ­

es which contribute to g r e a t e r beauty and m ore con­

trol of the tone

Breathing e x e rc is e s should be practiced in both

standing and sitting positions If the posture is c o r ­

rect, no g re a t difference in re su lt will be noted How­

ever, a slouched sitting position reduces the chest

capacity and inhibits the action of the abdominal m u s­

cles People who always p ra ctice while standing must

re alize that the m uscular arran g e m e n t is slightly dif­

fe rent when sitting As most perform ing takes place

while seated, it is logical that this position should also

be used when practicing One must learn to breathe

efficiently in eith er position

It is beneficial to learn to stop and s t a r t the a ir

without taking a new b reath This p rocedure is very

common in actual p erform ance, and the physical a c ­

tion which takes place is worth examination There

are two ways by which the a i r re le a s e may be con­

trolled One is by the alteration of the size of the

throat; the other is a change in the p r e s s u r e on the

chest cavity The m a ste ry of both methods is d e s i r ­

able, as each has its place in the a r t of musical p h r a s ­

ing A rudim entary e x e rc ise for the development of

these skills may easily be invented by the student, and

the sam e e x e rc ise can be used for both methods This

also should be practiced without the instrument at first:

Blow- — Hold - Blow -Hold—

1 Keep the lips open and try stopping the air

s tre a m by freezing the muscles of the chest and ab­domen Train these muscles to r e s ta r t the stream with the sam e p re s s u r e The throat should remain open at all times

2 Do ju st the opposite of the above The air

p r e s s u r e stays constant, but the s tre a m is cut off

by closing the throat The lips should remain open

3 Alternation of these two methods should be practiced in the sam e exe rcise until one is adept at both

A fine demonstration which points up the use of the a i r s tre a m consists of placing the hands on the sides of the abdomen and starting to count to ten, be­ginning with a whisper and ending with a shout You will discover that most of the air will be used on the whisper, as there is no re sistan c e from the vocal chords Doubters should try counting as many num­

b ers as possible in a norm al tone of voice, then r e ­peat the sam e thing in a whisper

A few re m in d e rs may point up these thoughts:

1 Play on a full breath as much as possible

2 Get the feel of the rhythm of the breathing p ro ­cedure

3 The inhalation should be a quick, composite, and complete action

4 The upper chest should be kept high, but r e la ­tively motionless

5 The muscles involved should be flexible and r e ­laxed, but always controlled

6 Shoulders must rem ain stationary, not raised on the intake Think of breathing as a horizontal motion, not vertical

7 Use s p a re moments to practice the breathing techniques

8 Invent procedures of your own Any exe rcise which em phasizes control is valuable

9 Keep the body relaxed to conserve a ir and reduce fatigue

10 Use the natural elasticity of the muscles as much

as possible to avoid forcing

36

THE EMBOUCHURE

The word em bouchure, which has been adopted

by o u r language from the French, has the lite r a l

meaning “ opening in t o ” This gives only a slight

clue to the usage of the w ord as it r e la t e s to wind

in stru m e n t playing F or o u r purpose, the em bouchure

may be defined as the fo rm a tion of the lips around the

mouthpiece to g e th e r with the su rro u n d in g physical

fa c to rs which affect tone production These include

the m u sc le s of the lips and chin, the tongue, and the

bony s t r u c t u r e of the face

The m ost obvious duty of the em bouchure is to

s e r v e as an a irtig h t connection so that the p r e s s u r e

of the a i r column is m aintained and t r a n s f e r s its

energy efficiently to the mouthpiece and re ed How­

ev e r, this is only the beginning, s in ce this s m a ll a r e a

is also the “ control c e n t e r ” of the tone The lip and

jaw form ation must supply the c o r r e c t s t r e s s to bend

the reed slightly so that it v ib r a te s on the mouthpiece

facing p ro p e rly , acting a s a cushion for this vibration

This cushion must be so s e n s itiv e as to make ad ju st­

ments for each new re e d , and m ust furnish the n e c e s ­

s a ry foundation fo r control of the volume, pitch, and

tone

THE FACIAL MASK

A c o n sid e ra tio n of facial anatom y is e s s e n tia l

to the u n d ersta nding and fo rm a tion of an em bouchure

The bone s t r u c t u r e of the face is the fr a m e w o rk on

which the m u s c le s of the em bouchure o p e r a te , and

the shape of this fra m e w o rk v a r ie s with each indi-

’ vidual The condition and alignm ent of the teeth is

also a c o n sid eratio n F acial s t r u c t u r e is e spe cially

important with young people, since it is p o ssib le that

the fundamental fra m e w o rk may be of the wrong shape

to support the saxophone em bouchure While a n o rm al

or av erage jaw should p r e s e n t no pro b lem in ad a p ta­

tion, c e rta in deviations which should be consid ered

are:

1 The Square Jaw This type has an advantage

in playing the l a r g e r saxophones such as the tenor,

baritone, and b a ss, s in ce l a r g e r mouthpieces a r e

better accommodated by a broad lip and jaw line

2 The P ointed Jaw Careful c o n sid eratio n of

this shape is in o r d e r when choosing an in stru m en t

While it may be p o ssib le to adapt to the soprano o r alto saxophone, p e r s o n s with a pointed jaw should avoid the l a r g e r m outhpiece in s tru m e n ts The curve

of the lips is too ra d ic a l for a p r o p e r adaptation to the wide re e d

3 The O verbite Most people have a slight o v e r ­

bite, which a d ju sts to the em bouchure ea sily If the

o v e r b ite is e x tre m e , however, it will becom e a definite handicap, as the m outhpiece will have to be in se rte d too fa r in o r d e r to brin g the lower lip to the p r o p e r position The em bouchure place m en t fo r saxophone

c a lls fo r the upper and low er teeth to be in alignment

If this cannot be done in com fort, it is questionable

w h e th e r the individual should attem p t s e r io u s sax o ­phone study

4 The U nderbite The “ la n te r n j a w ” shape is

an advantage up to a point, e sp e c ia lly for the la rg e

in s tru m e n ts , as it allows the low er lip to a s s u m e the

p r o p e r position without a wide opening of the mouth

An e x tr e m e u n derbite condition r e q u ir e s v e r y little

in se rtio n of the u p p e r lip to c o m p en sa te fo r the c o r ­

r e c t low er lip place m ent, which might c a u se difficulty when attem pting to adjust to a sm a ll mouthpiece.Judgm ent of the foregoing should be made on the

b a s is of the s e v e r ity of the m alfo rm a tio n While on occasion one will m eet a fine p e r f o r m e r who has o v e r ­com e e x tr e m e conditions, it is a w ise policy to e x ­

am ine the facial contour when advising a student as to the selec tio n of the p r o p e r in stru m en t

MUSCLES USED IN THE SAXOPHONE EMROUCHURE

F ront view

MUSCLES USED IN THE SAXOPHONE EMBOUCHURE

Side view

U n de rbite O ve r bi te Normal

N o r m a l Position

CONSIDERATIONS OF JAW AND TOOTH ALIGNMENT

THE TEETH

N orm al teeth should pose no p ro b lem if the m u s ­

c u la r su p p o rt of the em bouchure is sufficient If these

m u scles fail to m aintain the c o r r e c t position, the lower

lip co lla p se s on the teeth, which bite into the flesh

This condition is a s e r io u s one and p e r m a n e n t dam age

to the fin ely -te x tu red m u sc le s and n e r v e s may re s u lt

if it continues o v e r a long period One who has a

chronic s o r e lip should im m e d ia tely take step s to

e lim in a te the c a u se The d isc o m fo rt alone is s u f­

ficient to inhibit the m u sical p e r fo rm a n c e

People with i r r e g u l a r lower teeth a r e m o re s u s ­

ceptible to a s o r e lip, owing to the exposed c o r n e r s ,

which a r e often quite sh arp A few saxophonists have

had th e ir d e n tists make re m o v a b le sh ie ld s out of m etal

o r p la stic to provide a sm ooth contact with the flesh

T e m p o ra ry r e li e f may be obtained by folding a sm a ll

p iece of p a p e r o r cellophane o v e r the teeth, but this is

somewhat like taking a headache re m e d y ; it may r e ­lieve the pain but will not c u r e the malady

A well-developed em bouchure should provide the sup p o rt re q u ir e d without r e s o r t in g to the above m eth­ods for pro tec tio n of the lip The m u s c le s should r e ­main flexible a s well as strong, fo r p r e s s i n g against the hard s u r f a c e of the teeth will reduce the sensitivity

of the lower lip cushion so n e c e s s a r y in a r ti s t i c p e r ­form ance

I r r e g u l a r upper teeth often c a u se a poor mouth­piece position, such as angling the mouthpiece to one side A single upper tooth which is long o r protruding may make it difficult to an c h o r the upper teeth p ro p ­

e r ly , a type of condition which can be improved by fastening a s m a ll s q u a r e of soft ru b b e r o v e r the point

on the mouthpiece w h e re the teeth a r e placed Com­

m e r c ia l pads a r e obtainable at m ost m usic s to r e s for

ju s t this p u rpose A piece of t i r e patch cut about V2

by 3/ 4 inches will also s e r v e this purpose

40

THE EMBOUCHURE "WHEEL"

THE SUPPORTING MUSCLES

The m u s c le s s u rro u n d in g the mouth may be c o m ­

pared with the spokes of a wheel, which fan out from

the hub E xam ination of the m u s c le s that sup p o rt and

control the saxophone em bouchure, as shown in the

diagram above, will illu s tra te this point The effec­

tiveness of this em bouchure is dependent upon m uscle

development in which the low er lip s u p p o rts its e lf in­

dependently of the lower jaw The lips should c ir c le

the mouthpiece with an equal p r e s s u r e tow ard the

center, much the sa m e as an e la s tic band The chin

muscles s e r v e to hold the low er lip in this position

so as to re lie v e the p r e s s u r e on the low er teeth, while

the lip and cheek m u s c le s c o n tra c t to furnish the r e ­

q u i r e d tension around the r e m a in d e r of the c ir c le

The upper teeth r e s t on the point of the mouth­

piece about Vj inch fro m the tip This anchor point

should be firm enough so that th e r e is no p ro b lem of

the teeth slipping on the mouthpiece The weight of

the head should r e s t h e r e The mouth c o r n e r s should

be pushed in, the low er lip up, and the low er teeth and

jaw down If we can v isu a liz e a wheel, with all the

spokes p re s s in g toward the hub, we can ea sily il lu s ­

trate this type of action, with the hub of the wheel

being an im aginary point in the c e n te r of the m outh­

piece The re a so n fo r dropping the low'er jaw is that

it should not be a p a r t of the m uscle support It m ust

be f r e e f o r u se in vib rato , and dropped out of the way

so that the mouth cavity can accom m odate the mouth­

piece The lower lip should be above the teeth, in a

ro lled position, but supported e n tire ly by the chin

m u s c le s and aided by the com pac t position of the mouth c o r n e r s , which, when draw n in, fu rn ish a

f i r m e r cushion fo r co n tro l of the r e e d ’s vibration

MUSCLE DEVELOPMENT

As the a b o v e -d e s c rib e d em bouchure r e l i e s solely

on the m u s c u la tu re of the face fo r sup p o rt and e n d u r­ance, c e r ta in e x e r c i s e s fo r the developm ent of the

m u s c le s can be pro fitab le A few m inutes each day,

if continued fo r m onths, will stre n g th e n this a r e a so that the em bouchure can be held in the p r o p e r position indefinitely

1 The mouth c o m e r s Whistle Notice that the

mouth c o r n e r s autom atically move tow ard the ce n te r Now produce y o u r b ro a d e s t s m ile , bringing the c o r ­

n e r s back as f a r a s po ssib le You should feel tension

in the c o r n e r s at this point A lternate the w histle position and the s m ile , slowly at f ir s t, but in a re g u ­

l a r rhythm After about 50 tim e s , th e s e m u s c le s will probably feel tir e d , evidence that they a r e weak and need this s o r t of e x e r c i s e Repeat this p r o c e s s th re e tim e s daily and soon you will feel the m u scles g row ­ing s tr o n g e r This e x e r c i s e can be used indefinitely

f o r continued developm ent and keeping up the m uscle tone (Note: It is not n e c e s s a r y that you actually w h is­tle; the position of the lips is the im p ortant factor.)

2 The chin m u sc le s, (a) Push the low er lip

tightly ag a in st the upper Keep the line of the lips

s tr a ig h t, with no p r o tr u s io n of the low er lip, but p r e s s

as hard as po ssib le You will notice that the chin m u s ­cles bunch up—a n o rm a l condition fo r th is e x e r c is e

A m i r r o r is helpful fo r th is d r i l l so that you will be able to o b s e r v e this position Hold for about 10 s e c ­onds, then r e p e a t 25 tim e s

(b) Retaining the above position, drop the ja w

w hile s t i ll ke e p in g th e lip s p r e s s e d to g eth er Now open

the mouth about half an inch, but m aintain the sam e

re la tio n sh ip between the jaw and the lower lip P la ce the fo re fin g e r against the low er lip and p r e s s down­ward with f i r m n e s s The low er lip should r e s i s t the

p r e s s u r e of the finger, supporting its e lf without any help from the low er jaw If you can feel the lower teeth beneath the lip, the chin m u s c le s a r e not yet

should also be p r a c tic e d re g u la rly , and a r e tim e -

s a v e r s in e m bouchure developm ent when faithfully employed

C o r r e c t — firm but re la x ed

CORRECT AND INCORRECT EMBOUCHURES

Correct

M u scles support Lower lip

Incorrect

T ee t h bite into lower Lip

SUPPORT OF THE LOWER LIP

ALIGNMENT OF THE JAWS

The a v e ra g e facial s t r u c t u r e has a slight o v e r ­

bite, while the d e s ire d em bouchure position re q u ir e s

the lips to be in alignm ent This n e c e s s ita te s a slight

adjustment in the jaw alignm ent A s im p le check can

be made by bringing the front teeth together and noting

the change, if any Another easy method to bring the

lower jaw fo rw a rd into p r o p e r position is to blow a

small s t r e a m of a i r at the tip of the nose This jaw

position must, of c o u r s e b e t r a n s f e r r e d to the mouth­

piece when playing

MOUTHPIECE PLACEMENT

The exact amount of m outhpiece in se rtio n d e ­

pends on the m outhpiece facing, the s tre n g th of the

reed, the contour and s iz e of the mouthpiece, and any

physical p e c u lia ritie s in the facial s tr u c tu r e The b a s ­

ic embouchure re m a in s the s a m e fo r all saxophones,

with a d ju stm en ts depending on the s iz e of the mouth­piece T r i a l and e r r o r will soon make the c o r r e c t com pensation if the m u scles have been developed

p ro p e rly

An im p o rtan t a s p e c t of m outhpiece place m ent is the p ro b le m of c e n te rin g If the mouthpiece is not in the c e n te r of the em bouchure c i r c l e , it is difficult to obtain an equal tension on both s id e s of the reed While tooth s t r u c t u r e may encourage the student to play slightly “ o f f - c e n t e r , ” concen tratio n can do a lot

to c o r r e c t this W orse than this fault is the habit of playing with the m outhpiece at an angle, which re s u lts

in a different am ount of playing s u r f a c e on the two

s id e s of the re e d This can be c o r r e c te d v e r y sim ply

by adjusting the body position, the saxophone neck, o r the angle of the m outhpiece on the neck The feel of the

c e n te re d em bouchure can be studied with the mouth­

p iece and neck only, lining up the position fo r o b s e r ­vation in front of a m i r r o r , so that the balance is

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e stablished before the mind is occupied with p e r ­

f o rm a n ce No r e e d will respond at its b e st if it has

unequal se g m e n ts v ib ratin g on opposite sid e s

THE CHEEKS

The side w alls of the mouth cavity, which fo rm

a p a r t of the tonal c h a m b e r, should re m a in in a n o r ­

mal position Some p la y e r s a r e prone to cheek puff­

ing due to insufficient m u s c u la r s tre n g th to maintain

the n o rm a l position when a i r p r e s s u r e builds up in the

o ra l cavity This pro d u c es a lo o se n e ss in the m u s c u ­

la tu re of the face and in t e r f e r e s with effective control

P la y e r s who puff out t h e i r cheeks in varia bly have dif­

ficulty producing a c e n te re d tone, due to the effect of

the a lte r a tio n of the inner r e s o n a n c e c h a m b e r Dy­

nam ic changes becom e tro u b le so m e , and a clean a t­

tack is alm o st im p o ssib le Once e s ta b lish e d , this

condition is difficult to c o r r e c t , but the effort is

worthwhile Trying to play while making the opposite

e r r o r —i.e , pulling the cheeks in so f a r that they

p r e s s against the back te e th —often helps With young

students, the situation can u su ally be c o r r e c te d with a

s im p le re m in d e r , but it should be given im m e dia te

Control and relaxation a r e in s e p a r a b le p a r t ­

n e r s , but re la xation does not mean collapse The

em bouchure m ust be re la x ed and cushioned, but sup­ported The form ation and organization of th ese e l e ­

m ents should be p u rsu e d with the aim that, eventually, the m u s c u la tu re will have the n e c e s s a r y development

so that all the m u sc le s affecting the em bouchure be­com e the s e r v a n ts of the p la y e r Attainment of a fine

e m bouchure r e q u ir e s patienc e combined with in te lli­gent s e lf- s u p e rv is io n

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TONE QUALITY

Beauty in any a r t is much e a s i e r to recognize

than to d e s c r ib e , and this is doubly tr u e of a m u s i ­

cal tone W e b ste r defines a m u sic a l tone as “ a sound

of such re g u la r ity of v ibration as to im p r e s s the e a r

with its individual c h a r a c t e r , e sp e c ia lly as r e g a r d s

pitch, and to e n te r into h arm onic r e l a t i o n s ” While

this definition m ay satisfy the scien tific and l ite r a l

a sp e c ts of m u sical sound, it om its mention of tone

quality, which is the fe a tu re con c ern in g m o st s e r io u s

m u s ic ia n s In o r d e r to c r e a t e and im prove a b e a u ti­

ful tone, an u n d e rsta nding of the physical fa c to rs

which influence tone quality is e s s e n tia l

THE NATURE OF WIND INSTRUMENT TONE

A v ib rating a i r column in a wind in s tru m e n t not

only v ib ra te s at the full length of the in s tru m e n t

c h a m b e r, but a lso divides into s e g m e n ts of 2, 3, 4, 5,

etc The sound produced by the long vibration is

known as the fundamental, o r f i r s t p a r tia l, and the

sounds produced by the s h o r t e r s e g m e n ts a r e called

o vertones, o r upper p a r ti a ls The varying s tre n g th of

overtones fu rn is h e s the m ix tu r e which allows us to

distinguish between the tones of d iffe ren t in s tru m e n ts ,

and also the v a ria n c e in tone quality on the sa m e in­

stru m e n t A ru d im e n ta ry knowledge of this phenom e­

non is e s s e n tia l for an understanding of the n atu re of

the saxophone tone

- 1 st p a r t i a l ( f u n d a m e n t a l )

- 2nd p a r t i a l

3 r d p a r t i a l

The above is not to be c o n sid e re d a p ic tu re of

the tone itself, but m e r e ly a d ia g ra m to i l lu s tr a te the

energy m ovem ents of the tone wave The solid line

re p re se n ts the fundamental vibration p a tte rn which is

dominant when the saxophone is played in the lower

r e g iste r

If the capability of the a i r colum n to v ib ra te at

the fundamental frequency is d e stro y e d , the second

p a r tia l b ec o m e s the m o s t p rom inent This r e s u lts in

a pitch an octave h ig h er This can be done by opening

a vent (octave key) a t o r n e a r the m iddle of the wave length, which “ b r e a k s the b a c k ” of the fundamental,

o r by pinching the r e e d with the lips so that it cannot

go through its n o rm a l c y c le The ideal place m en t for

- 2nd p a r t i a l - 3 r d p a r t i a l

an octave key opening is at the halfway point of the

f i r s t p a r tia l, which would re q u ir e a s e p a r a te vent for each note in the c h r o m a tic s c a le It is obvious that twelve octave keys would be m echa n ically im p r a c ti ­

c a l The saxophone is c o n s tru c te d with but two r e g i s ­

t e r keys, which au tom atically shift a s the s c a le goes from C$ to D and from c l to A in the upper r e g i s t e r This is by no m ean s an ideal solution, and is the r e a ­son why som e in te r v a ls a r e m o r e difficult than o th e rs from the standpoint of em bouchure co n tro l The s a x o ­phone in its n o rm a l ra n g e u se s only the f i r s t and second p a r ti a ls , while the o th e r woodwind in stru m e n ts use m any m o r e B r a s s in s tru m e n ts r a r e l y play in the fundamental ra n g e, as th e ir m o re n o rm a l r e g i s t e r lie s within the o v e rto n e s

R e s e a r c h e r s in the sc ie n c e of ac o u stic s have done e x ten siv e work in analyzing the m usical tone, and th e i r findings have been of g r e a t value in the ad­

v ancem ent of wind in s tru m e n t p e r f o r m a n c e The c o m ­plex itie s in the re la tio n sh ip of the o v ertone s of dif­

fe r e n t in s tr u m e n ts have been m e a s u r e d and re c o rd e d

A gre em ent has been r e a c h e d th at the re la tiv e p r o m i­nence of p a r ti a ls of the fundamental tone is a m a jo r

fa c to r in d e te r m in in g the c h a r a c t e r i s t i c sound of each

in s tru m e n t Saxophonists in te r e s te d in p u rsu in g the study of the a c o u stic a l as p e c ts of wind in s tru m e n ts will

find H orns, S trin g s, and H arm ony, a book by A rthur

Benade {New York: Doubleday and Co.), a valuable

s o u rc e of inform ation in n o n -te c h n ic a l t e r m s

V en t ( o c t a v e key )

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