This week I am going to experiment with something that will probably intrigue most saxophone players—playing ALL FOUR saxes on a gig. (I’m performing my original music with my own bands in Pittsburgh on Tuesday and Saturday this week!)
The first question that most people would ask is why play ALL of them? My best answer is that I have a suspicion that the music that I have written can be best delivered using multiple instruments. Each of the instruments not only has a different character and a different tessitura, but also each offers its own unique improvisational path when soloing. It is my artistic goal to have all of the various pieces of repertoire sound different rather than have a homogenous musical sound.
I also think there are a lot of advantages to daily practice of flute and the four saxophones.
It is convenient in general to have all of the instruments ready to play for gigs/rehearsals rather than to have to take time warming up, finding reeds, and remembering how to approach each.
The sax reeds simply play better when playing them daily.
Practicing multiple woodwinds helps to find commonalities between them to make me a stronger player. The commonalities include embouchure, support, direction of the air, and other technical aspects.
Focusing on all at once serves to reveal the idiosyncrasies of each. This makes it easier to develop and refine sounds on all of them and to more easily make conscious adjustments to get the best sound with the least amount of effort.
At the very least, I like to practice a minimum of 20 minutes of each. Generally I like to practice in this order:
1. flute
2. soprano sax
3. alto sax
4. tenor sax
5. baritone sax
That said, it is helpful to mix things up as soon as all five feel comfortable.
What are the goals of doubling? Universally, I think most people would agree that the main goals are to not sound like a doubler and to have an appropriate tone/sound. Many saxophone players only play alto so the switch to tenor sounds wonky. It is really easy to sound clumsy on the soprano and baritone saxes. We want to get inside the sound and sell ourselves as specialists on the doubles. This is especially difficult with trying to sound like a flutist rather than a sax player playing flute.
Here is my Jared Sims doubling workout:
Flute for 20 minutes (set a timer!)
Start by playing melodies. Play standards and improvise. Connect with the instrument rather than starting with scales, which might disconnect the ear from the fingers.
Work on having a centered sound, good intonation, and connecting the notes. Don’t let a heavy sax player tongue disrupt the air. Use the least amount of air to get the biggest sound. Don’t use saxophone air because that is too much.
One amazing discovery that I found recently is that playing the flute with ear buds is a terrible idea. Play along with a speak OR play with one earphone only slightly over the ear so you can hear the sound of the room.Soprano sax for 20 minutes
Continue with jazz standards—what is better than knowing tunes? I learned from Dave Liebman the importance of over tones on soprano sax. The high register will be incomplete without spending some time on over tones. The other two most important fundamental aspects of soprano sax playing are—a firm embouchure and using equal embouchure pressure throughout the entire range of the horn. These two fundamentals will ensure a good intonation and control in all ranges.Alto sax for 20 minutes
Tenor sax for 20 minutes
By the time I get to alto and tenor sax, I’m warmed up so the embouchure feels great and the fingers are falling into place. For me, alto sax is “home base” and for most players, the tenor or the alto will be the most comfortable. I have spent so much time working on alto to refine my technique and to play concert repertoire that it feels like the main headquarters of my saxophone existence. (That said, I have also logged in quite a few hours on the tenor and almost sold my alto when I needed cash and figured I would never play alto again.)
If and when things go wrong on tenor and alto, I have a checklist of things to fix:Voicing - play mouthpiece pitches, overtones, or flexibility exercises
Ligature - be certain that the ligature is in the right place. The position of the ligature GREATLY affects the response of the instrument.
Simply be certain that there is enough mouthpiece in the mouth. Too little results in a small sound.
Baritone sax for 20 minutes
The goal is to have the bari sax play with the same ease of the smaller horns. The key to having control of the bari is simply EFFICIENCY.
Efficiency includes:a firm, yet relaxed embouchure with an open throat
fast air — because the air column is so much longer than the other horns that the air needs to travel fast
let the instrument hang on the strap and don’t hold with the right hand or push too much with the left hand
One of the best things to practice on bari is simply playing throughout the range of the horn in a soft dynamic.
There are remarkable differences in how these instruments are played in improvisational, solo contexts. The most obvious thing that everyone knows is that the flute is quiet and can be best heard with a microphone when playing in a band with a drum set. That is obvious! Some things are not as obvious, and they include:
The “back tongue” jazz articulation does not work on the flute as well as it does the sax. Not tonguing at all on flute would be better than using a heavy saxophone tongue.
The harmonic approach to improvising in a high register is much different than a low register. In general, it sounds more normal to play upper harmonic structures on soprano sax than it does on a bari sax.
The harmonic approach to improvising in a lower register requires even more ability to play “inside” the changes. It is really, really easy to hit clams on bari sax!
I hope that other musicians enjoy the process of making music — the mistakes and fixing errors, the troubleshooting, and the experimentation. As always I am curious what you all think.
Once again, terrific article. I am actually trying to decide on one saxophone to focus on! I am learning new instruments- Dobro and Scottish Smallpipes but struggle with which saxophone to focus on and what exactly to zero in on in my playing. Improvisation is a given.