Saxophone Weekly

Sister Sadie- Buddy Rich

If you hadn’t realized yet, I’m pretty much going to post music whenever I feel like it

George Michaels prank: THEBESTTHEBESTTHEBESTTHEBEST

Careless Whisper- George Michaels

Sax solo: THEBESTTHEBESTTHTEBESTTHEBEST

Sax Quartet- The Seatbelts

• Question: There seems to be an absence of Ryan on Ryan weekdays - Anonymous
• Answer:

  There seems to be an absence of time on my schedule >.>

• Question: There seems to be an absence of music on music weekend. - Anonymous
• Answer:

  I’ve been busy this weekend; I’ll be uploading on Monday and Tuesday to make up for it.

Tank! -The Seatbelts

Fun little trick I picked up on a website that’s good for when somebody tells a particularly bad joke. First of all, you’ll need to know how to bend a note. I won’t go into the details, that’s for another time; quick version, just drop your jaw as if you’re doing vibrato. Anyway, start on any old note (I like to use upper octave C, but anything works), and drop down chromatically 3 times, severely bending each note down. So for example, if you started on C, you’d play C, B, Bb, A.

After this, come up to the note a half step above the note you started on, so for me that would be C#. Do the same thing; start on this note and drop down 3 half steps, bending the ever loving hell out of it (the more exaggerated the better, this is a humorous effect). So, my notes would be C B Bb A C# C B Bb. Now, for added effect (for simplicity’s sake I’m using my example from now on), increase your volume when you jump from the A to the C#; the first set of 4 should sounded like the introduction to a laugh, while the second 4 starts with more of an explosion. Now, when you reach your last note, Bb for me, you’re going to REALLY want to add some vibrato on this one. I’d suggest starting out with a really wide wavy sound, diminishing slowly into a fast vibrato. Think of snapping a rubber band in slow motion.

Now, the real coup de grace of this whole effect is making a “koo” sound when tonguing instead of a “too”. Once you master “koo”ing and bending at the same time, you’ll have this down pat. Growling throughout the laugh on a tenor sounds pretty chill too. Easy trick to learn, and guaranteed to earn a few laughs. Happy saxophoning!

• Question: Does this change in layout imply that you are a communist? - Anonymous
• Answer:

  Indeed, my sleeper cells are awakening.

Asphalt Cocktail- John Mackey

• Question: what's your least favorite jazz instrument? - Anonymous
• Answer:

  EDIT: I actually change my mind on this one; as long as an instrument is playing jazz, it is automatically my favorite.

Haitian Fight Song- Charles Mingus

From now on, every weekend I’ll be uploading a few of my favorite songs onto my blog, and you can check out all of the ones I post on the Streampad bar at the bottom. I’ll also take requests for future weekends, up there in the question box. Chill out and enjoy!

• Question: In all honesty, what band instrument would you think would do justice to the world if it was never created? - Anonymous
• Answer:

  Without stating my reasons, oboe.

• Question: by timid i mean unconfident mostly - Anonymous
• Answer:

  In that case, I advise you strengthen your embouchure with “lip calisthenics”. Google them. 

  If that’s not a problem, you should instead work on using faster air, and summon your sound from your stomach or chest, not your throat. Work on using fast, constant air without becoming loud and obnoxious. When playing mid to high range, open your throat while keeping your embouchure tight and using fast, cool air. Remember, open throat =/= hot air, unless you’re in the low range. Hope this helps, happy saxophoning.