Keys to Better Saxophone Articulation
Citation: Criswell, Chad. "Keys to better saxophone articulation." Teaching Music, Feb. 2012: 48+. General OneFile. Web. 24 Apr. 2013.
Article Title: Keys to Better Saxophone Articulation
Author: Chad Criswell
Instrument: Saxophone
Magazine or Journal Title: Teaching Music
Summary:
I. After fundamentals
1. Focus on advanced techniques: basic types of articulation
II. Articulation
1. Should start work on thing near beginning
2. First is legato tongue, then separated tonguing, slurring, and combining them
3. Repeated legato quarter notes
a. Continuous airflow crucial
b. Tongue interrupting the flow
4. Use "tu" or "du" syllable
5. Work away from using diaphragms to articulate
6. Can imitate water value, short bursts
III. Efficient tonguing
1. Listen for the sound, everyone will have a different preference as how to tongue
2. If sound and articulation are correct, they are ok
3. Work on students ability to listen and imitate correct articulation sounds
4. Be a good model to match!
IV. Practice makes perfect
1. Encourage use of good articulation
2. Ed Sueta Rhythm Vocabulary Charts at helpful
3. Make sure what you are looking for is clearly understood with good examples
Article Title: Keys to Better Saxophone Articulation
Author: Chad Criswell
Instrument: Saxophone
Magazine or Journal Title: Teaching Music
Summary:
I. After fundamentals
1. Focus on advanced techniques: basic types of articulation
II. Articulation
1. Should start work on thing near beginning
2. First is legato tongue, then separated tonguing, slurring, and combining them
3. Repeated legato quarter notes
a. Continuous airflow crucial
b. Tongue interrupting the flow
4. Use "tu" or "du" syllable
5. Work away from using diaphragms to articulate
6. Can imitate water value, short bursts
III. Efficient tonguing
1. Listen for the sound, everyone will have a different preference as how to tongue
2. If sound and articulation are correct, they are ok
3. Work on students ability to listen and imitate correct articulation sounds
4. Be a good model to match!
IV. Practice makes perfect
1. Encourage use of good articulation
2. Ed Sueta Rhythm Vocabulary Charts at helpful
3. Make sure what you are looking for is clearly understood with good examples
A Distinctive Tone on Saxophone
Citation: Murphy, Sean. “A Distinctive Tone on Saxophone.” Instrumentalist, Mar. 2012, Vol. 66, Issue 8, p28-32.
Article Title: A Distinctive Tone on Saxophone
Author: Sean Murphy
Instrument: Saxophone
Magazine or Journal Title: Instrumentalist
Summary:
I. Saxophone
1. Many distinctive, different sounds available
2. Widest tonal spectrum of any instrument
3. Standard principles will help students develop good sound
II. Embouchure
1. Making sound is not the main goal
2. Saxophone students must learn between good and bad tone
3. Monitor embouchure shape at early age
4. Praise sound, but work forward to good tone
5. Students more interested in learning new notes than working on embouchure
III. Components of Embouchure
1. Top Teeth
a. All weight of head on top teeth, important
b. Watch for neck straps being too high
c. Test by pulling mouthpiece in mouth, use gravity not force
2. Lower Lip
a. Too much lip will cause muted sound, with louder and brighter tone
b. Finding right balance with lower lip is difficult
c. Experiment with different lip adjustments, listen for what is good
3. Corners
a. O shape, draw-string analogy
b. Also forward slightly, will improve tone
IV. Reeds
1. Important to have 3-4 playable reeds
2. Bad reeds will be detrimental to tone
V. Mouthpiece
1. Young players to learn to protect their mouthpieces
2. Different kinds will produce different tones
3. Broken mouthpieces cause many tonal problems
VI. Listening
1. The importance of listening to professional players
2. Can learn techniques like vibrato, improvisation, etc. from listening
3. Importance of developing good tone over all techniques
Article Title: A Distinctive Tone on Saxophone
Author: Sean Murphy
Instrument: Saxophone
Magazine or Journal Title: Instrumentalist
Summary:
I. Saxophone
1. Many distinctive, different sounds available
2. Widest tonal spectrum of any instrument
3. Standard principles will help students develop good sound
II. Embouchure
1. Making sound is not the main goal
2. Saxophone students must learn between good and bad tone
3. Monitor embouchure shape at early age
4. Praise sound, but work forward to good tone
5. Students more interested in learning new notes than working on embouchure
III. Components of Embouchure
1. Top Teeth
a. All weight of head on top teeth, important
b. Watch for neck straps being too high
c. Test by pulling mouthpiece in mouth, use gravity not force
2. Lower Lip
a. Too much lip will cause muted sound, with louder and brighter tone
b. Finding right balance with lower lip is difficult
c. Experiment with different lip adjustments, listen for what is good
3. Corners
a. O shape, draw-string analogy
b. Also forward slightly, will improve tone
IV. Reeds
1. Important to have 3-4 playable reeds
2. Bad reeds will be detrimental to tone
V. Mouthpiece
1. Young players to learn to protect their mouthpieces
2. Different kinds will produce different tones
3. Broken mouthpieces cause many tonal problems
VI. Listening
1. The importance of listening to professional players
2. Can learn techniques like vibrato, improvisation, etc. from listening
3. Importance of developing good tone over all techniques