Saxophone beginners Exercises with only the mouthpiece

[Matabayahsi]

I understood how interesting and fun reed instruments could be with a carrot clarinet ( which has an alto mouthpiece) so basically now since I cant be buying big carrots everyday I am stuck with an alto mouthpiece until I eventually buy my first horn. When I have time which I do at the moment I can not stop without practising be it piano guitar or any other instrument that are available. So at the moment I got a mouthpiece that is available;

From my research I have figured out that the breathing and toungue control are very important parts of saxophone playing, so without making this an essay I ll ask my question:

What mouthpiece exercises do you know which can be beneficial?
The ones I am practising at the moment are getting short notes with my tongue, getting my tuner on and keeping the same note for a long time(circular breathing without getting out of tune), I am trying to understand how to switch between growling and normal playing ( humming and not humming) p.s : this one is a very hard one for me,
The ones I am very curious about are how to make that RRRRRRRRRRRRR sound with the reed in my mouth I believe it is called flutter tounging ?? Hoping somebody will clear this one out for me 🙂

Anyways here you go , exercises that can only be done with the mouthpiece..
Have a beautiful evening everybody

 

[jbtsax]

Give my condolences to those who live with you in the same place. The "flutter tongue" is accomplished the same way as rolling an R in Spanish. Some folks can't do that and I am one of them. Growl.

 

[Matabayahsi]

Give my condolences to those who live with you in the same place.

hahaha 😀 I am living with this couple at the moment who lives in the middle of a golf course with 2 dogs and the golf course is empty (due to the weather), naturaly the dogs are always up for a walk and you know what dogs dont mind me practising my technique while walking them around (or at least they cant tell)😀
So no living beings have been harmed or annoyed in the makings of this post

 

[kevgermany]

Quite a lot of info here:
http://tamingthesaxophone.com/saxophone-mouthpiece-exercises

Focus of mouthpiece only exercises starts with getting the correct note (concert A for alto) and keeping it stable, preferably with a tuner.

Once you've got this you can try extending the range of notes on it alone. Some guys can play an octave or more.

Other exercises:

starting/stopping notes, sharply, gently, with and without the tongue

Vibrato

Loudness

Tone

Should keep you busy for a while.

 

[Matabayahsi]

Oh I didnt see that one before but it relates to what I have been doing all along.
The funny thing is when I play at home I stick a funnel after my mouthpiece and block some of the air coming out so somewhat it sounds a little like a blocked trompet and gives me a C# I ll try what it sounds like without the funnel see if I can change the tone even.
Thanks for this it will be really helpfull with these when I get my horn blowing wont be a problem at all wehheeey 😀

 

[Colin the Bear]

NB You can make an instrument out of vegetables but you can't make soup out of a saxophone.

 

[ProfJames]

.....and you can pick your friends and you can pick your nose but......you can't pick your friend's nose!

 

[kevgermany]

NB You can make an instrument out of vegetables but you can't make soup out of a saxophone.

King Curtis did - well a thick chewy one

 

[jbtsax]

If you play the mouthpiece alone and try to change the pitch, do so by raising and lowering the back of the tongue. Do not practice tightening and relaxing the embouchure (ring of muscles around the mouth). By attaching some type of tube to the mouthpiece, the pitch that it makes will be limited to the resonance of the tube itself and you will not have the same flexibility as the mouthpiece alone.

 

[Matabayahsi]

NB You can make an instrument out of vegetables but you can't make soup out of a saxophone.

You must be able to cook a soup in the bell part though 😀

If you play the mouthpiece alone and try to change the pitch, do so by raising and lowering the back of the tongue. Do not practice tightening and relaxing the embouchure (ring of muscles around the mouth).

After my practise today i realised that i can stay on the A but i have to find it first which means a lot more practise is necessary i guess. I have tried to change the tone but like you said with changing the embouchure (i must get used to writing this word!) tomorrow i will try with the tongue!

 

[ProfJames]

This may come in uselful....http://www.jazzlab.com/en/silencer/what-is-silencer/

 

[fibracell]

I have found that the mpc exercises (with or without the silencer), more than anything else, has had the biggest improvement in my playing, helping with tuning and overtones. And also general pitch awareness. Just a few minutes a day is all you need too....

 

[Jeanette]

.....and you can pick your friends and you can pick your nose but......you can't pick your friend's nose!

Have to be a pretty good friend to try that one 😉

Jx

 

[Colin the Bear]

The only place it's polite to pick your nose is........................in a rhinoplasty catalogue.

 

[Matabayahsi]

The only place it's polite to pick your nose is........................in a rhinoplasty catalogue.

😀

If you play the mouthpiece alone and try to change the pitch, do so by raising and lowering the back of the tongue. Do not practice tightening and relaxing the embouchure (ring of muscles around the mouth). .

I tried this today couldnt do it :/ i am not sure if i get the concept but i will keep trying.

On the good news now i can do flutter tongue and humming and also most of the time play in A at the first time! Today has been a good day

 

[altissimo]

http://www.bobrk.com/saxfaq/2.6.html