How to Practice Saxophone

The saxophone can be incredibly expressive and powerful, but you need to practice to play well. The key to becoming a better saxophonist is to practice correctly. Practicing correctly is hard work, but if you dedicate yourself daily to this practice routine, you can achieve amazing skills with your saxophone.

Difficulty: Moderately Challenging

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Saxophone
• Reeds
• Metronome
• Tuner

1. Warm up. Before practicing, play easy notes beginning in the middle register of your saxophone, followed by the lower register and then the high register.

2. Technical skills. Technical exercises focus on finger dexterity and range flexibility. While performing the following exercises, focus on keeping your fingers as close to the keys as possible and on making each note speak evenly and equally. They should be practiced as slowly as necessary to be done accurately, and always with a metronome. As skill improves, tempos may be gradually increased. Include tonguing to practice articulation.

3. Technical exercise 1: 5 note passages. For the chromatic scale and each major scale, play up the scale five notes and then back down three times. Repeat until notes speak evenly and equally with no bobbles. Then repeat the process starting on the second note, the third, and so forth for the entire range of the saxophone.
   
   Example for C Major scale: C-D-E-F-G-F-E-D-C-D-E-F-G-F-E-D-C-D-E-F-G-F-E-D-C then D-E-F-G-A-G-F-E-D-E-F-G-A-G-F...

4. Technical exercise 2: intervals. For the chromatic scale and each major scale, go "up a third, down a second, up a third, down a second" up the scale and then "down a third, up a second, down a third, up a second" down the scale. Then go "up a forth, down a third" up the scale and "down a forth, up a third" down the scale. Then "up a fifth, down a forth," and so on until your maximum interval is an octave. Practice on the entire range.
   
   Example in C Major: C-E-D-F-E-G-F-A-G...F-D-E-C-D-B-C then C-F-D-G-E-A-F...F-C-E-B-D-A-C

5. Technical exercise 3: Arpeggios. For each major scale, play every other note in the scale for four notes beginning with the root, then scale degree two, then three and so on. Practice on the entire range.
   
   Example in C Major: C-E-G-B, D-F-A-C, E-G-B-D, F-A-C-E...

6. Tone and intonation. While practicing T&I exercises on your saxophone, focus on the sound you are producing, your airstream, and your embouchure. Your mouth should be as round as possible with your lower lip soft and fat like a pillow cushioning the reed. Your airstream should be fast, steady, and warm, breathing from your lower stomach. Listen to your sound and make adjustments to improve it. Play each exercise using a tuner.

7. T&I exercise 1: Long tones. Choose several different pitches in different registers. Play and hold them. Listen to your sound and focus on keeping the pitch and tone steady. Control your airstream and embouchure to eliminate "bumps" and "warbles" in the sound.
   
   Variation - Dynamic Long Tones: Begin the tone as soft as you can play it, crescendo evenly to the loudest sound you can produce without getting too much edge on the tone, and then decrescendo evenly to the softest sound you can produce. Focus on making sure that both the crescendo and decrescendo are even and that the tone and pitch remain constant at all dynamics.

8. T&I exercise 2: Neighboring long tones. Choose the note that you feel sounds best on your saxophone. Play it and hold. While holding, move a half step up. Focus on making that note sound as good as the first one you played. Go back and forth between the two notes until you are satisfied. Repeat beginning on the second note and moving another half step up and so on. When you have maxed out your register in the upper direction, begin again on the original note and move down.

9. T&I exercise 3: Overtones. Play and hold a low Bb. Sound the first overtone, then move back to low Bb. Play and hold a low Bb, sound the second overtone, then move back to low Bb. Continue through the seventh overtone or the third octave. Repeat on low Bb, B, and C. For more information on overtones, see: http://www.ehow.com/how_5058421_play-overtones-saxophone.html

10. Musical skills. The best way to practice musical skills, such as phrasing and interpretation, is by studying saxophone literature and listening to professional saxophone recordings. Listen to the professional interpretations and expressions and imitate them. As you become more comfortable with the music, experiment with interpretive ideas of your own.

11. Practice every day. You are exercising muscles at a micro level. For those muscles to strengthen, you must practice on a consistent basis. Taking time off will make you regress as your muscle memory and strength fades.

Tips & Warnings

• Practice makes perfect
• Take private lessons
• Practice more
• Using more air fixes many problems. Most beginning players do not blow enough air through the saxophone. This means the sound cannot resonate and the saxophone cannot function properly.
• Practice again
• Do not play something fast until you can play it slow
• Practice some more
• Do it again
• Do not get discouraged
• Do not become obsessed with your equipment. Great players can still sound amazing on poor equipment.