How to Play a Saxophone Warm Up

A good warm up routine makes the difference between a mediocore practice session and a productive one. Take some time to practice a few warm up activities on your saxophone before burrying your head in the sheet music.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

1. Prepare mentally before getting your horn out. Think about what you want to accomplish in today's practice session, and focus.

2. Get the air flowing. Pick an easy note to play. Start out quiet, and get loud and then quiet again. Practice increasing and decreasing your airflow with the volume.

3. Follow up with a few long notes held with vibrato.

4. Play your F,C, D, E and G scales first slurred so there is little or no seperation between notes, and then with distinct seperation between each note.

5. Use the scales, octaves or another warm up piece to loosen up your fingers. Concentrate on crisp finger movements that lead to great sound.

6. Work on long tones to improve your overall sound. Start with a low C, and practice holding the note with the same air and stregnth as you do with a high D. Hold the note with a steady tone until you're out of wind. Move up a fourth and repeat.

Tips & Warnings

• Schedule practice times when you're feeling your best. If you're having a bad day or are too distracted, put practice off until you can concentrate on your saxophone playing.

Resources

• Saxophone warm ups.