Pacticing . . . . the first thing is to be sure to practice everyday. Even if it’s only for ten minutes. By practicing a little each day you’ll get better, and practicing a bit more each day will speed it up.
You can get reeds, mouthpieces, and other equipment you need from the
Woodwind and Brasswind
“When you struggle to reach for something you don’t know, that’s where the most interesting stuff is.”
-Herbie Hancock
Long Tones- I like to start practicing with the long tone exercise I got from Sherman Irby. To do it, you start with the note low E as quiet as you can play it. You keep that note going for about half as long as one breath will last and then go up chromatically to the next note. This continues two notes at a time up one octave and then back down. On the way up I just play the notes, but then on the way back down I use a tuner to check to make sure that I’m in tune. Checking intonation before you’re warmed up isn’t really helpful, but as Bruce Foreman said one time he doesn’t like to go out and play a test note that is completely off.
Major Scales- After the long tones it’s good to work on some scales. First you should learn the major scales. They can be played along the circle of fifths, circle of fourths, chromatically, or in other intervals. It’s good to change the order and starting point also. I use Jackie McLean’s warmup book, which includes scales and arpeggios.
Other Scales- After you know all twelve major scales you can start learning minor scales, diminished scales, whole tone scales, etc. Most other scales can be understood in terms of the major scale though. Learning every scale possible is not really necessary. Something like the Hindu Ruptured 9th Inverted Heptonic Scale is probably not too useful on a regular basis.
Books- Practice books can also be useful, especially earlier on. Rubanks makes a decent book, with some classical excerpts. The Lennie Niehaus books are also good and try to show jazz phrasing. If you play some classical music or even if you mostly play jazz, it can be beneficial to study from the classical perspective.
Rubank Method is a series that ranges from beginning to advanced. It includes scale exercises, fingering challenges, classical melodies, and other exercises.
Rubank Elementary Method Saxophone
Rubank Intermediate Method Saxophone
Rubank Advanced Method – Saxophone Vol.1
Rubank Advanced Method – Volume 2 (Saxophone)
I have the Advanced Studies volumes 1 & 2 for saxophone and used the advanced book for clarinet.
You should definitely haveThe Jazz Theory Book.
As James Moody says, “The Jazz Theory Book should be in every musician’s library regardless of the level of their ability.” As author Mark Levine says himself,
“A great jazz solo consists of:
1% magic
99% stuff that is
Explainable
Analyzable
Categorizable
Doable”
You’re on your own for the magic bit, but his book will help you with the 99% part.
And while The Jazz Theory Book is great, Mark Levine is a piano player and for saxophone specific issues the Art Of Saxophone Playing can help. But it can be slightly dry.
Intervals- I have been told by many musicians and have found myself that using intervals to think about music can be really helpful. If you learn a song in one key that’s good and all, but someone else (like a singer) might want it in another key. If you learn the intervals it can be easier to switch between keys. Something like ‘A Night in Tunisia’ has a minor second, minor third, major third, and major fifth for one part. Knowing that will direct you in all keys.
Piano- Even though I only play a little, I’ve found that learning a little piano can be great. It will help you learn what chords and progressions sound like. It’s also good to know how to play more than just a single line so you know more about how music works.
Jamie Abersold- To practice improvising the Jamie Abersold books are great. Maiden Voyage is a good one for beginners. The Body and Soul book is also good.
Band in a Box- This is a software program that acts somewhat like Jamie Abersold CDs. You can input chords, feels, time signatures, etc. Files are available online for Band in a Box that contain entire fake books of songs also. Even without the chords you can use the program as a slightly more interesting metronome.
In the end though:
You can practice to attain knowledge, but you can’t practice to attain wisdom.
-Herbie Hancock
You can practice to learn a technique, but I’m more interested in conceiving of something in the moment.
-Herbie Hancock
