I never just played the mouthpiece ever. I had some great teachers, and no texts that I refered to ever mentioned that as a core part of tone production and intonation. Overtones and long notes for me all the way. The Rasher book, or Saxophone Altissimo: High Note Development for the Contemporary Player by Robert Luckey were two great books for me.
Overtones or Mouthpiece exercise?
First of all, I am very thankful to all for the very useful information I've gotten on SOTW. It's like an online college of music.
Now that I'm retired, I have time to practice and re-learn what I used to know. It's a bit of a struggle at 62 years old but it's also very rewarding. I wanted to know some opinions on practicing overtones vs. playing just the mouthpiece to improve intonation and voicing, especially the higher notes. At this point I'm not looking to go too far with notes above F#, I just want to sound better over the full normal range of the horn. Maybe I need to work on both but I'm just trying to make the best use of my practice time.
Thanks for your help and opinions.
Carmen
Now that I'm retired, I have time to practice and re-learn what I used to know. It's a bit of a struggle at 62 years old but it's also very rewarding. I wanted to know some opinions on practicing overtones vs. playing just the mouthpiece to improve intonation and voicing, especially the higher notes. At this point I'm not looking to go too far with notes above F#, I just want to sound better over the full normal range of the horn. Maybe I need to work on both but I'm just trying to make the best use of my practice time.
Thanks for your help and opinions.
Carmen
1 - 2 of 10 Posts
No problem. Its the most important, and perhaps most mundane part of a practice routine. You know I tell my students this week in week out at their lessons and I can hear that they still do not DO these exercises. One of my students, who is a very good young player, sat for her classical exam, and received honours. The comments by the examiner were that she still needed to work on her "sound" and "intonation". I hope this brings it home.Thanks Evan. That's basically what I've been doing -- long tones and struggling with overtones. I notice that when I neglect those areas of practice, my tone and intonation suffer.
I'll keep plugging along.
1 - 2 of 10 Posts
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