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Tone and Intonation

5K views 32 replies 22 participants last post by  ajmiller 
There is an old saying that goes: "saxophones don't play out of tune---people do". All a good instrument and set-up can do is to facilitate playing with good intonation. It is up to the musician to "hear" the pitch in his/her mind and produce that pitch by lipping or "humoring" each note as required. Hours spent playing scales and adjusting notes based upon watching a tuner is wasted effort IMO. You may remember for a short period of time what it felt like to play a high A in tune, but that will be soon forgotten. What will last is hearing in your mind the pitch of that note in relation to the chord and/or the interval between itself and adjacent notes. In essence, to play with good intonation we just need to do what (good) singers do---hear the pitch. Matching pitch and tuning intervals with a fixed pitch device using your ears is invaluable because it involves listening. One of the finest band directors in the state of Utah by the name of Greg Hansen whose award winning band's intonation was always flawless would have his students deliberately make their instrument out of tune by moving the mouthpiece, headjoint, or tuning slide in or out. Then they would practice playing chorales in tune by adjusting or "humoring" each note.

One of the things I have learned to watch out for when I spend a lot of time practicing alone is that over time out of tune notes and registers can start to sound "normal". This is why it is a good idea to play in ensembles, with backing tracks, and practice listening to "drones" from time to time so this "intonation creep" doesn't start to take place.
 
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