[bluesaxgirl]

Hey, folks! I'm playing in a virtual sax quartet concert in six weeks. With COVID, I'm out of practice because our community band hasn't met in 7 months. I'm so rusty that I can't play 10 minutes straight without feeling like my embouchure is jelly.

I'm prepared to practice every day up until the concert to get the chops back, and I am in desperate need of some advice. Any tips to get back to a stronger embouchure through practicing? Should I consider a softer reed to get myself through the concert? Thanks in advance, y'all are always the best.

 

[Dr G]

Just start playing. Try to stop short of exhaustion, and find how long you can practice. Like any other set of muscles, you’ll have to rebuild. Can you practice brief sessions several times a day?

Without knowing your previous setup or how long you played it, I wouldn’t tell you to go to a softer reed. Play whatever gives you a good tone.

 

[GaSax]

What's your warm up and cool down routine?

 

[Saxophone Strange]

I once played 4 gigs in one day after work. Work started at 6 am. The gigs started at 6 pm and the last one was over around 4am the next morning. Coffee... nothing bready.... water when my lip felt like it was going to go.

 

[bluesaxgirl]

What's your warm up and cool down routine?

I start with long tones in all octaves. I probably do that for five minutes. I don't have a cool-down routine. Should I implement one?

 

[bluesaxgirl]

I once played 4 gigs in one day after work. Work started at 6 am. The gigs started at 6 pm and the last one was over around 4am the next morning. Coffee... nothing bready.... water when my lip felt like it was going to go.

I have noticed that water seems to help! It might be the temporary change in jaw/mouth/lip position for me.

 

[bluesaxgirl]

Just start playing. Try to stop short of exhaustion, and find how long you can practice. Like any other set of muscles, you'll have to rebuild. Can you practice brief sessions several times a day?

Without knowing your previous setup or how long you played it, I wouldn't tell you to go to a softer reed. Play whatever gives you a good tone.

Thanks, Dr. G! Good to hear from you. Typically, I could possibly play twice a day--before and after work. On the days I work from home, I could possibly play three times a day.

 

[bandmommy]

Hey Lil' Sis!!!
You already know how to build those chops back up. No shortcuts.
Play a while, take a break, play a while longer, rinse and repeat. Add a few minutes to each session.
Big Sis says you've got this!

 

[GaSax]

I start with long tones in all octaves. I probably do that for five minutes. I don't have a cool-down routine. Should I implement one?

Won't hurt anything and should help over time.

 

[jthole]

Cool down? I am not sure what that would be. Warm up, with some scales and long tones, I understand ... but how would a cool down differ from just stopping, and putting the sax on its stand? And what would be the benefits?

 

[Saxophone Strange]

So, another thing... is it just your embouchure or air as well? If it is air as well, make sure to add some other aerobic exercise. That will help with the breathing. Especially if you focus on the way you breathe while exercising. The water thing is a singer trick to make things constrict and give you a little while longer. It’s not a permanent fix. That’s all ‘shed. If you’ve been playing for a hot minute, it shouldn’t take long.

 

[Pete Kelly]

Busk as much as you can. I think 2 hours of busking has to be close to 4 hours in the practice room. Another benefit comes if you do only 2-4 choruses of each tune, you'll get through a lot of tunes and keep them fresh in your memory. I am working to have 100 songs memorised by my birthday.

 

[saxoclese]

One exercise to strengthen the embouchure muscles without the saxophone is to smile, then whistle 50 times, rest and repeat. A tip I learned from Don Sinta is to hold a straw in your lips parallel to the floor as long as you can. Good advice I got from one of my teachers was "the more work you do with the air, the less work you have to do with the embouchure".

 

[Dr G]

Smile/

One exercise to strengthen the embouchure muscles without the saxophone is to smile, then whistle 50 times, rest and repeat. A tip I learned from Don Sinta is to hold a straw in your lips parallel to the floor as long as you can. Good advice I got from one of my teachers was "the more work you do with the air, the less work you have to do with the embouchure".

Yes, I used to do the smile/pout exercise while commuting in my car. No need to go to an arbitrary number or exhaustion. You just need to use those muscles. Similarly, long tones may wear you out before you can practice your repertoire for the concert. Just practice - always listening, always musical.

Welcome back, BlueSaxGirl!

 

[TigerChicago]

Smile/

Yes, I used to do the smile/pout exercise while commuting in my car. No need to go to an arbitrary number or exhaustion. You just need to use those muscles. Similarly, long tones may wear you out before you can practice your repertoire for the concert. Just practice - always listening, always musical.

Welcome back, BlueSaxGirl!

Larry Teal's book gives specifics on those exercises. One is to smile wide horizontal then whistle, back and forth until your face muscles tire. The other is pressing your lips together and holding some pressure until you can't, rest and repeat. I do these when driving to build endurance and lower lip support. Dr G - always enjoy your posts - keep it up.

 

[GaSax]

Cool down? I am not sure what that would be. Warm up, with some scales and long tones, I understand ... but how would a cool down differ from just stopping, and putting the sax on its stand? And what would be the benefits?

Guess it's not taught every where.

Basically due the reverse of the warm up. Though for me, I don't usually spend as much time on the cool down as I do on the warm up. I tend to start on the highest note and do a chromatic scale, at a somewhat slow tempo, down to the lowest note on the sax. I'll relax the embouchure some (without puffing the cheeks) and do some long tones on the lowest notes.

Same concept as when you work out.

 

[bluesaxgirl]

Hey Lil' Sis!!!
You already know how to build those chops back up. No shortcuts.
Play a while, take a break, play a while longer, rinse and repeat. Add a few minutes to each session.
Big Sis says you've got this!

Hi big sis! So good to hear from you. Thank you!

 

[bluesaxgirl]

So, another thing... is it just your embouchure or air as well? If it is air as well, make sure to add some other aerobic exercise. That will help with the breathing. Especially if you focus on the way you breathe while exercising. The water thing is a singer trick to make things constrict and give you a little while longer. It's not a permanent fix. That's all 'shed. If you've been playing for a hot minute, it shouldn't take long.

It's really just embouchure. My air seems to be okay, but I didn't even think about working on that. It could definitely help!

 

[bluesaxgirl]

One exercise to strengthen the embouchure muscles without the saxophone is to smile, then whistle 50 times, rest and repeat. A tip I learned from Don Sinta is to hold a straw in your lips parallel to the floor as long as you can. Good advice I got from one of my teachers was "the more work you do with the air, the less work you have to do with the embouchure".

I'm definitely doing this! The bonus is that I can do these during my incessant hours-long Zoom meetings. With my video turned off, anyway.

 

[bluesaxgirl]

Welcome back, BlueSaxGirl!

Feels good to be back!