Playing the saxophone New Better Worst This Week

[Smiffy]

So to start this off again (200+ posts on the old site)

New, nothing been away working and no chance of playing 🙁 and will be again next week

Better, I can play tomorrow
Worse...... wait till tomorrow to find out

 

[Pete Thomas]

• New: Orangeness
• Better: People giving their support and helping with reviving threads like this and giving some constructive criticism
• Worse: Battling with software, code, so called technical support and redirects.

 

[Young Col]

Yes, a good thread to celebrate and comiserate.

Worse. Having a filthy cold overlaying early hay fever. Surprising how quickly out of breath I was after getting back to practising yesterday.

Better. Page 133 of Taming the Saxophone. One of my targets is to get through all the stuff in the ABRSM grade book in a certain time and I've done pretty well, but I was baulked a bit by all the dimished(!) 7ths. However Pete explains in Taming... that the notes in a diminished arpeggio are all a minor 3rd apart and as a consequence there's only three sets of fingering for all twelve scales. Suddenly it's much easier and you can start on any one in each of the three sets and go up and down as you like. Not that I'm anywhere near fluent, but it doesn't half make it easier to think about. Cheers Pete.

 

[neil]

i`ve nailed the solo on `one step beyond`....thats much better

 

[old git]

Mastered another button on my Yamaha 9000 Pro.

Glad you made the jump Gary and that the loot is still coming in.

 

[TomMapfumo]

Hi Smiffy - this will soon be a Radio 4 comedy programme!

New - awaiting delivery of my new Long Cornet. Apparently Miles Davis's trumpet (Martin Committee model) had quite a narrow bore and sounded softer - more like one of these cornets - more common in American Jazz circles. Also decided to concentrate primarily on High Brass for a while.

Better - I am doing quite a lot of trumpet accompaniment to various sax pieces (by Martin Speake, Jan Garbarek and others) by ear and working out what scales fit well with the various pieces - great fun creating my own Jazz Quintet!😛

Worse - time spent with sax, but when I do play it my improvisations feel a lot more discreet and stylish,and generally with fewer notes.

So focussing mainly on Jazz Cornet/Flugel/Trumpet in attempt to narrow it down a bit and progress in one direction.

Kind regards
Tom😎

 

[old git]

Young Tom,
I shall never be as amusing as you but whilst you are on about Mr. Davis, didn't he remark something along the lines that he tried to play without vibrato, as when he got older his chops would shake naturally and wasn't his modified mouthpiece partly responsible for that tone?

 

[TomMapfumo]

Absolutely correct! Many Brass Band Cornet players prove everyday that vibrato on high brass is positively dreadful and frighteningly overused - very different on sax, in my experience, which lends itself well to such treatment.

Kind regards OG;}
Tom😎

 

[Rogerb]

Well New & Better has gotta be the gorgeous BW alto about which I have bored you sufficiently.

Worse: that I suddenly seem unable to play my expensive JJDV on it ...at least not as well as the cheapo 5c which came with it.....may cause mpc GAS 🙁

 

[half diminished]

New: R&C Soprano R1 Jazz Sax (saxello)

Better: Making progress with my playing and better understanding of chord progression - dare I say it, it's starting to make some sense!

Worse - Now skint!

 

[Col9]

New: Sold my Jody Jazz 7 and bought a like new Yani 5 for £5 cheaper 😀 .its much easier. As easy as the stock M/P but with richer bottom end and much nicer top end.

Better: Getting around the low A tricky bit in Sinfonia No.4

Worse: Thinking I need to to try a Meyer 6m, and having a pile of cash in paypal from some sales last week.

Well heres looking forward to next week.

Col.

 

[Smiffy]

One day soon I am going to pick my Sax's up and play again

 

[thehunt]

New, played my first gig, solo in front of 200 people :welldone
Better, don't need to go to the toilet as much now it's done
Worse, have tendinitis in my right arm

 

[Young Col]

Phil
I meant to add my congrats on the other thread. From someone who realises that I am nowhere near ready to play in public yet, I can only say well done!

I do't think you can do too much about tendonitis except let it wear off. It's tension. Pain killers help, but only mask the real problem. I get it when typing too much as I hold my fingers wrongly and too stiffly.
Colin

 

[kreggurree]

New : My Bahaus Walstein Tenor 🙂

Better : My alto tone and control seems to have improved, seemingly as a result of trying the tenor so much this last week, I think its loosened my alto embouchure a bit.

Worse : I have two ulcers in my bottom lip, need bonjela!

 

[Nick Cook]

New: Black Sakkusu tenor (thanks Phil!!)
Better: The weather.
Worse: My swimming (went this morning for the first time in 6 months - I'm knackered!!!)

 

[Mamos]

Roland Kirk had paralysis down one side of his body due to a stroke but it didn't stop him from gigging until he died 18 months later from a second stroke.

Tendonitis you say🙂

Only joking dude

Be interesting to hear what injuries you can sustain from prolonged sax playing.

My wife is scared she will end up cheeks like Scott Hamilton🙂

mamos

 

[Smiffy]

Picked up my Tenor for the first time since Xmas

I need

New chops
New lunges


or someone has drilled an extra hole in it

 

[TomMapfumo]

Hi Smiffy!

I reckon that regular lunges should help you develop stronger lungs with time!

New: Awaiting delivery of my new Olds Super button-free tenor saxophone (often called a trombone), and new mouthpiece (Wick 12CS). Currently on my 2nd Specials tune (Gangsters), and begun to improvise on Rudy.

Better: My 3 button soprano saxophone playing has gone up a notch and I am improvising on a number of tunes, including ones from Arve Henriksen's new album Cartography - brilliant album.

Worse: Not been playing my multi-buttoned trumpets and trombone.

Playing trombone and trumpet one after the other is so much easier than sax and trumpet because of the need to change embouchure, and it shouldn't be too long before I join a Ska band and start gigging in South Wales (well maybe another 12 months or so, but its going great guns - I already have a 2 octave range and playing my Dominant 7th arpeggios like there's no tomorrow!).

Kind regards
Tom😎

 

[Jules]

New- following watching Jeff Coffin's instant sax lessons on YouTube, I'm following his- "...list 5 things you're bad at, and 5 you're good at- for the bads, set one short term goal and one long term one..." plan

Better- clean articulation at speed with a metronome (also some slight improvement in tone at the top end of my tenor too)....

Worse- sick of my bloody metronome going beep beep beep.. Argh!!! sore bottom lip too...