I think the playing of long
tones is absolutely essential to a fine tone. There is nothing that
I know of, that will refine your tone as quickly. When playing long
tones, you take away all the other aspects of practicing, like music
reading, keeping up with up a metronome, etc, and you strip it down to the
one thing that we strive as musicians to do. That is, to produce a
well centered, focused, full and pleasing tone. The playing of long
tones should not be thought of as an endurance contest. It is not
about how long you can hold a note for. It is about focusing on one
note and trying to play that note as perfect as you possibly can while
thinking about all the things that are going on, from your diaphragm to
your throat, your sinuses and your oral cavity. Think of it as
"marrying" the two tubes involved, your body, and the
horn. Think of your air stream as a piece of string that is
constantly coming from your diaphragm, past your throat and all the way
through your horn, out into the cosmos. I cannot stress enough the
importance of this concept.
You should hold long tones
for eight to ten seconds each. Take the horn out of your mouth after
every long tone. That way you have to reform your embouchure every
time. Try to practice in a quiet room, playing against the wall, so
you can hear every nuance. Close your eyes and concentrate.
Again, breathe from your abdomen and focus your air stream on the tip of
the reed, and blow all the way through the horn. It would be a good
idea to go through a series of steps before actually playing the
note, like this:
-
Make sure the horn is
adjusted so that it goes right to your mouth.
-
Rest most of the weight
of your head on the mouthpiece by anchoring the two front teeth firmly
on top of the mouthpiece.
-
Fill up your abdomen with
air.
-
Apply a firm, gentle
pressure with your diaphragm.
-
Keep the throat
relaxed and open.
-
Bring the air stream
right to the tip of the reed. (think bulls-eye)
-
Feel the tip of the reed
touching the top of your tongue about a half an inch behind the tip of
the tongue.
-
Think of the word "tah"
and start the air stream in motion.
-
Try to play the tone as
even and smooth as you can for 8 - 10 seconds.
-
Have I mentioned blowing
all the way through the horn?;-)
Here are a few variations of dynamics you should start with.
-
First, play at a
mezzo-forte level (medium loud). Hold the note as steady and
even as possible. Like this.
-
Second, play the tone
from forte to piano. Like this.
-
Third, play the tone
from piano to forte. Like this.
-
Lastly, play the tone
piano-forte-piano. Like this.
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It is a little easier to
keep your long tone practice in the middle of the horn. Say, between
low G and G with the octave key. Work your way up and down
gradually. One variation I like is to start on middle D.
Alternating up and down by half steps, go
down a half step to C sharp. Then up to D sharp. Then C
natural. Then E (O.K.), then B, then F (O.K.), then B flat, then F
sharp, then A, then G (O.K.), A flat, A flat (O.K.), etc. Like
this:
The best book I have found
that deals with this subject is
Top Tones for the Saxophone
by Sigurd Rascher. The fingerings aren't
much good, but the exercises are the best. For more usable
fingerings, try Studies in High Harmonics for Tenor and Alto Saxophone by
Ted Nash. These are the books I studied to achieve an additional
octave and a whole step on the top end of my horn. That, and playing
in plenty of loud rock and roll bands ;-). On a good night, I can
get up to a G4. Having
those notes at your disposal definitely comes in handy and there's nothing
quite like letting rip a screaming high note just at the right time!
Tonguing
While I'm on the subject of
long tones and articulation, one exercise you should do right after you
finish your long tones is tonguing exercises. Play a long tone and
repeatedly articulate the note by saying " tah, tah, tah, tah,"
like this. Think of playing one long
note, just interrupt the reed's vibration with your tongue. The air
stream should be one long string of air, not separate pulses of air for
each articulation. Try to have as little extraneous noise as
possible, and aim for a clean attack on every note, like this. The tongue is
made of muscle, and like all muscles, it responds very well to regular
exercise.
Be sure to check out my page
on embouchure here.
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