Hi @cappers,
My apologies for this long post! I just hope parts of it help you in some way.
In my
previous comment, I just remarked on the 'tonal differences' between Zoom recordings. Since then, you've had some great tips on developing solo's, your personal sax tone, etc. Let me just add my personal comments (as a community band amateur) to these:
- it's always good to listen to (and read) solo's to 'simple tunes'; just to find out what 'intervals' other people use in their solo's and (hopefully) why
- like you, I tend to make up solo's on the spot largely 'by ear' (knowing the tune and based on a 'grounding' of a solo that I've previously rehearsed - for better or worse!); for practice/rehearsals, I've often had to look up the 'chord changes' from the piano or guitar 'parts' and translate these back to my tenor sax 'solo' part.
- with 'rehearsal recordings, I can try out alternative 'solos' at home
- but for me, rehearsals are mainly where I try out new solo's or variations on solos that I've rehearsed before; sometimes they work, sometimes not, but I'm not afraid to 'experiment with' a solo during rehearsals' I continually learn from 'what works' and 'what doesn't work'
- I quickly abandoned 'written-out' solo's because they were either 'too difficult to play' or more usually 'didn't (comfortably) suit my sax playing style'; I've sometimes taken a 'written-out' solo and edited it to make it (for me) more comfortable to play; usually, I just make up an alternative
- part of what makes playing sax 'fun' for me is 'making up' (and developing) solo's; as you say, 'what's in your head'; yes, they need to have some kind of 'grounding' on what you've already practiced and rehearsed but 'on-the-fly' variations are fine by me!
- developing 'sax solos' over chord changes is for me (after 30 years) still an 'ongoing process'
For me, there a lot of positives to take away from your solos on The Preacher and Tenor Madness.
The Preacher: the style of your solo was very much in keeping with the backing style for this number (a kind of 1920's/1930's style); good phrasing, good articulation, good repetition of 'patterns' - and in tune!
Tenor Madness - (seemingly)longer notes,(seemingly) less precise articulation, but again good phrasing, good repetition of 'patterns' - and in tune!
In general (leaving aside things like breath control, intonation, etc.), my only suggestions are:
- see if you can make the 'gap' between 'phrases' a bit wider; there are a couple of places where you play a few 'bridging notes' between phrases; they're not essential and if you didn't play these, the 'gap' would be wider
- my impression was that you played the 'The Preacher' with more confidence than 'Tenor Madness', in which you sounded a bit more hesitant; in general, our MD would say that whoever plays any solo, should sound 'confident' (even if they don't feel it!); mainly in terms of 'volume' and 'projection' (preferably standing up); playing the 'right notes' matters less to the audience than 'projecting confidence during solos'. So that they 'stand out'. Audiences will sense (and hear) any hesitancy or uncertainty.
- a consequence is that you should only play solos during performances with which you're 100% confident of playing from memory or are 100% confident of improvising/adjusting/embellishing on the spot; 'thinking of the tune in your head' during performances does nothing to help you 'project confidence' during solos. Playing a solo that you know by heart (or are 100% confident of adjusting/embellishing this 'on-the- fly') does
- A further consequence is that you should only play solos with which you are 'comfortable' playing; not too challenging, no notes that you need to read, etc. Just stand up (or sit down) and let your perfect, confident, solos shine!
Best wishes,
Mike
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