- 1,315
Hello there
I would like to share my thoughts on doubling tenor w/ alto.
I play almost for a year+ on tenor sax and my results are impressive.
having a 20 years jazz background in jazz piano and guitar really helped skip many obstacles a typical sax beginner has to overcome, and i was able to build basic technique in record time.
At this point I can play easily major minor pentatonic maj/min whole tone diminshed etc scales in all keys, I feel comfortable playing most jazz standards from real books and I can easily improvise using my ideas that i have developed through the years studying piano.
My tone in tenor is not pro but using a V5 t35 mpc I gigged with bands doing jazz tracks and i could get from decent subtone getz sound up to screaming altissimo, and noone believed im a beginner.
Nothing seemed difficult in tenor sax so far. With persistance and smart studying I really feel proud for what i ve achieved. Im somewhere at the intermediate level.
I have 2 tenorsaxes. A yts 32 that is really free blowing and got me started really easy, and a french beaugnier duke that is a little more difficult lowing but it delivers a slightly fatter retro sound which i love. On both isound similar and OK.
My "success story" ends when i play the alto. Any alto. ive tried many. My tone is weak. To my ears whatever i do sounds much worse than the tenor. My tone has no character, no variance and i cant fix it. At first i thought it was my sax, a beaugnier duke alto, but it isnt. My tech and friends find it superb and they sound great with it. Tried a yamaha, a jupiter a selmer, the same crappy sound on all of them.
I changed 4 mpcs, reeds and no matter what I do the beginners mediocre tone is always there. I sound like a person that plays for one month or less hahahaha. My intonation also is weak. On tenor im spot on. On altos i scoop until i reach the correct pitch on high notes. The difference is amazing.
So far I discussed this with fellow saxophone players and they have told me 2 things.
1) some people just sound,like and play better certain types of saxes and avoid doubling. And that its perfectly ok
2) others told me to wait for some time and to persist in embouchoure exercises ( long tones & oooh iiiiii mouth shapes etc ) and over time I will se improvement. They said that my embouchoure is developed for tenor but not ready for the alto. And they say that it has a lot of difference on tenor , its much more relaxed.
None of them ever had the problem i have though. They all told me that they gradually improved their tone on each sax type. They also mentioned that on soprano it can be difficult in the beginning but alto shouldn't feel that hard at all.
Most of them find the tenor the less comfortable sax. And they all started on alto
sometimes i think about quitting the idea of trying to be good in playing the alto. Maybe its not my thing. It spoils all the fun I get from sax playing.
Should I focus on tenor? or to try again after a year or so and see how it goes?
What are your opinions-suggestions?
thank you in avance.
I would like to share my thoughts on doubling tenor w/ alto.
I play almost for a year+ on tenor sax and my results are impressive.
having a 20 years jazz background in jazz piano and guitar really helped skip many obstacles a typical sax beginner has to overcome, and i was able to build basic technique in record time.
At this point I can play easily major minor pentatonic maj/min whole tone diminshed etc scales in all keys, I feel comfortable playing most jazz standards from real books and I can easily improvise using my ideas that i have developed through the years studying piano.
My tone in tenor is not pro but using a V5 t35 mpc I gigged with bands doing jazz tracks and i could get from decent subtone getz sound up to screaming altissimo, and noone believed im a beginner.
Nothing seemed difficult in tenor sax so far. With persistance and smart studying I really feel proud for what i ve achieved. Im somewhere at the intermediate level.
I have 2 tenorsaxes. A yts 32 that is really free blowing and got me started really easy, and a french beaugnier duke that is a little more difficult lowing but it delivers a slightly fatter retro sound which i love. On both isound similar and OK.
My "success story" ends when i play the alto. Any alto. ive tried many. My tone is weak. To my ears whatever i do sounds much worse than the tenor. My tone has no character, no variance and i cant fix it. At first i thought it was my sax, a beaugnier duke alto, but it isnt. My tech and friends find it superb and they sound great with it. Tried a yamaha, a jupiter a selmer, the same crappy sound on all of them.
I changed 4 mpcs, reeds and no matter what I do the beginners mediocre tone is always there. I sound like a person that plays for one month or less hahahaha. My intonation also is weak. On tenor im spot on. On altos i scoop until i reach the correct pitch on high notes. The difference is amazing.
So far I discussed this with fellow saxophone players and they have told me 2 things.
1) some people just sound,like and play better certain types of saxes and avoid doubling. And that its perfectly ok
2) others told me to wait for some time and to persist in embouchoure exercises ( long tones & oooh iiiiii mouth shapes etc ) and over time I will se improvement. They said that my embouchoure is developed for tenor but not ready for the alto. And they say that it has a lot of difference on tenor , its much more relaxed.
None of them ever had the problem i have though. They all told me that they gradually improved their tone on each sax type. They also mentioned that on soprano it can be difficult in the beginning but alto shouldn't feel that hard at all.
Most of them find the tenor the less comfortable sax. And they all started on alto
sometimes i think about quitting the idea of trying to be good in playing the alto. Maybe its not my thing. It spoils all the fun I get from sax playing.
Should I focus on tenor? or to try again after a year or so and see how it goes?
What are your opinions-suggestions?
thank you in avance.