Sax Appeal Publishing
  • Home
  • Live Bands
    • AXIOM
    • The Roch Band
    • Doctor Wu Band
    • The Super Groovers >
      • Mainline Connection
      • Supergroovin'
    • Joseph Pernicano Band
  • Transcription & Arrangements Services
  • Education
    • Saxophone Forum
    • Jazz Play Along Books & CD >
      • Ultra Smooth Jazz Grooves, for Alto Sax
      • Ultra Smooth Jazz Grooves, for Tenor Sax
      • Ultra Smooth Jazz Grooves, for Flute
      • Ultra Smooth Jazz Grooves, for Violin
      • Ultra Smooth Jazz Grooves, for Piano/Keyboards
      • Ultra Smooth Jazz Grooves, for Guitar
      • Blues Horn Ensemble
      • Outstanding Jazz Saxophone Solos
  • Listen Here!
  • Frank's Bio
  • Music & Downloads
    • Mainline Connection CD
    • Supergroovin' CD
  • Contact Frank
  • Thank You

Can  you, please tell me some pointers on how I can get that ultra smooth sound like Smooth Jazz Groove 5.

6/18/2013

0 Comments

 
It is an interesting question you propose.  Much in how I would answer would be based on your current experience and playing level.

Many things are involved. The most important thing is you and what you personally are hearing inside your "minds ear".  What you hear yourself sounding like in your head depends on what and who, you are listening to, and feel are your favorite saxophone players.  Those that inspire you and make you want to play the saxophone to begin with.

Listening and imitating them by playing along with their recordings helps you discover what they are doing. Listen to your favoring tracks over and over and you begin to hear it in your head even when the music is not playing. Tonal memory would be a good name for it.  It may take several passes over a tune before you start finding the notes or your ear might lead there faster than think. Everyone is different and develops at their own pace so be patient, keep practicing and let your sound evolve naturally.

That is just the start, than you get into equipment, reeds mouthpieces type of horn etc. (See following posts)


The only other thing I can think of specifically to Groove #5 would be the groove's feel, a shuffle, 12/8 or triplet feel.  The key there and in many other tunes of different rhythmic variations is to feel the rhythm internally as best you can, let the smallest denomination of time in that song, in this case the triplet, be the constant pulse going on in your body.  Feel it as an internal dance expressing itself with your fingers instead of you feet as a dancer would do. Practice the scales in triplet variations with different tongue articulations. Check out "Time Awareness for All Musicians", by Peter Erskine.  It may help you understand what I am referring to.  And of course, a metronome helps to keep you in time at a regular tempo.

0 Comments

    About The Author

    Frank Vilafranca

    By design, as a music artist and musician, I have painted myself into a corner as a soloist.  
    It was unappealing to me, growing up, to follow the good advice of instructors who advised I learn all the doubles and transcribe and learn solos of the masters. I felt strongly I wanted to discover the saxophone on my own, and follow my own path.  To this day I think of myself as a bit of a rebel in music and in life. 
    While it has taken me longer to reach the level I am at as an artist, I feel I can really claim my own space in the enormous spectrum of professional saxophone players. I realized recently that if a student practices their saxophone with perfection in mind, chances are they are not exploring and experimenting to see just what kind of noise they can make with one. Not to say you don't want to have great technique, it simply is just not human, we are imperfect and if the music becomes to accurate, it loses the life, feel and emotion. 

    The first thing I would say to a young saxophone student is "Don't do as I do, do as I say". Where have we all heard that before?  I would strongly recommend listening to your teachers and putting in the time early in life, listening and studying to the classic masters and as many modern players as you can. If you can progress faster as a result, you'll have much more time to enjoy playing music.  Most of all, it is much harder to catch up later in life when age and life makes it more challenging to put in the hours needed to become great.

    Archives

    June 2013
    March 2013
    August 2011

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.