[jimfreebody]

After some good advice from other sax players on this site I purhased KLOSE 25 DAILY EXERCISES.
I have been playing for approx 5 years (beginner) and was hoping to get some advise on the best way to practice the different scales and rythumes.
For example, i have been told to start slow to get fast, so do i start slow on the first page of excercises and stay on that page and slowly increase speed until i can play that page quickly before moving on to the next page or do i start from page one play slow and work though book at that speed then go though entire book again at quicker tempos.(keep in mind the scales in this book get progressively harder).

 

[Dave Dolson]

Jim: I'd say whatever way you want to do it would be fine.

But, I think you'd even be better off if you learned to play scales by ear. Start on ANY note and run up and down the horn playing a standard scale, a minor scale, and a chromatic scale.

It is very simple when you think about it - and you'll do yourself a world of good by teaching yourself to hear what you are playing. DAVE

 

[vanhodges]

Scales

Hello Jim,

Another good way to practice scales is to start on the tonic or root of the scale, proceed evenly up to the highest standard note on the saxophone, then down to the lowest, back to the root, and finish with a full range arpeggio.

example: C Major CDEFGABCDEFGABCDEFEDCBEAGFEDCBAGFEDCBC...CEGCEGCECGECGEC

G Major

GABCDEF#GABCDEF#EDCBAGF#EDCBAGF#EDCBCDE#FG...GBDGBDBGDBGDBDG

I hope this is clear enough to understand.

It is best to play them from memory. Proceed slowly and evenly.

Best of luck,
Brian

 

[stjontl]

Best way to practice scales

Hi Jim,
There are numerous ways to practice scales...
It depends on what your purpose is. If you want to develope your technique and speed go on. I've bought the Klose book but do not merely practice these exercises as they are anymore. I try to fit these patterns into 2 or 4 bar phrases because I can use them in an improvised solo. For instance exercise No 3.The first 3 bars leads to the note E in bar 4.
You play: |CBAGABCD|EDCBCDEF|GAGEFGFD|E (whole note)| 2 notes per beat in 4/4. You get a 4 bar phrase that fits over 4 major C chords.
If you lower the B to a Bes the phrase fits in a blues progression |C7|F7|C7|C7|
My point is: The best way to practice scales depends on what you are trying to achieve...I hope this is helpful to you.. Good luck.
stjontl.

 

[Agent27]

Well, do you want the best way to practice scales or the best way to practice Klose? The two are NOT the same thing and Klose should not be treated as a substitute for scales. If I remember correctly Klose exercises are written mostly in the key of C (or A minor) with a few in G. They're good exercises, but they're not going to help you play in the keys of C# or Eb minor.

If you want to learn and improve your major scales then you should play ALL of them, full range, starting slowly and gradually building up speed. And don't just play them once. Play them a minimum of 4 times in a row PERFECTLY before moving on. If you can't play them perfectly 4 times in a row, you need to practice them slower.

If you want to work on Klose then do 2-4 exercises at a time depending on how difficult the are for you to play. If they're hard, just work on one or two. If they're easy but just need fine tuning, work on 3 or 4. Most of them a marked tempo like "allegro moderato" (about 120). Don't move on or add an exercise until you've got the ones you're working on comfortable at the marked tempo.

They're marked "Daily Studies" but I've never met anyone who actually plays ALL of the Klose exercises every day.

 

[jbtsax]

Excellent response Clayton. I enjoyed your solo in St. Thomas on your website. I heard some of the "tongue in cheek" playing of Dex coming through in spots.

John

 

[Agent27]

Excellent response Clayton. I enjoyed your solo in St. Thomas on your website. I heard some of the "tongue in cheek" playing of Dex coming through in spots.

John

Thanks. That was my first time in public on tenor in a few months. I do remember that right after that I drove from San Antonio to Houston listening to nothing but Dex's "Daddy Plays the Horn" for 3 hours.

Now back to your regularly scheduled programming.

 

[Datsaxguy]

Hey Jim, several guys who I have talked to use this method to really cement the scales into their mind and fingers. It has really helped me alot with my Dexterity and learning new scales. Its called 5 tone partials (fragments).

Each single 5 tone fragment of the scale should be practiced over and over repetitively for however long it takes for you to secure some muscle memmory. You should start slow and use the metronome to increase to a very challenging BPM. This addresses the scale and also the "challenging" hand positions (exchanges) found within the scales.

Let's look at the C major scale. It works with all scales.

CDEFGFEDCDEFGFEDC (over and over) and every now and then during the repition throw in the full scale. CDEFGABC.

After you work that up to a good pace with good sound and rhythm, then start on the next note in the scale. We are still talking about C major. This is the D dorian mode in the key of C major. It's just the next note in the C scale with the same key signature.

DEFGAGFEDEFGAGFED (over and over) then throw in DEFGABCD.

Do this for all of the modes of each scale. Start on E, then F, G, A, B, C etc. over the entire range of the horn top and bottom. It has really helped me a lot.

I hope this helps.

Datsaxguy

 

[jimfreebody]

Many thanks friends for all the advice, some of you went to a lot of trouble typing out explanations to get your points across and it’s very much appreciated.
In my town (in Australia) I don’t have access to a professional sax teacher so it is great to get questions answered by people who know.

 

[Allthatjazz]

Scale Practice

Joe Viola's Berklee Scale book -- superb.
Here's the Amazon link;

http://www.amazon.com/Technique-Sax...6163917?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1184179679&sr=8-1

 

[asaxman]

Larry Teal\'s, \"The Saxophonists Workbook\", contains scales in the complete saxophone range. This is VERY important! This would be a great book for sax players of ALL skill levels! Good luck!

 

[BigRigTom]

This thread has answered several of my questions! Thanks, guys! ...... Now back to practicing scales for me!

 

[Couffy]

I agree with Viola Volume One. Don't let the look of it intimidate you.
The old saying is, "If you can't play it slow, you'll never play it fast." Take your time and use a metronome. Start at the lowest tempo you can where you can play it accurately. I'll reinforce that... Accurately. Once mastered, start slowly building your speed by e.g., 2 bpm. Only proceed when you have mastered the scale at that tempo. Otherwise, you'll get sloppy and reinforce mistakes. It's very painstaking, but over time you'll see good, accurate, and precise scales. Once you have those down, you can screw with them all you want.

 

[extradarcafe]

Time warp city. And the posted Amazon link still works!

 

[beautifulugly]

Don't forget the bebop scales. Major, Minor and Dominant.