Hey there saxofriend!

If you've been subscribed to this email for any length of time, you probably know that I'm working on a new jazz educational project with saxophone giants Bob Mintzer, Dave Liebman, and Bob Sheppard. Unlike my last educational program, this one is geared towards players of all musical instruments - not just the saxophone. 

Most of you have probably already listened to the Bob Sheppard interview that comes free with this newsletter, but a few weeks back, I had another chance to speak with Bob - this time, at great length. During our master class session he shared, in great depth, techniques that could provide you with a lifetime of stuff to practice. However, when he veered into one particular topic, I had to stop him. It was a topic that was totally inappropriate for the program I was trying to assemble.

OK, but it wasn't a bad thing. In a nutshell, Bob started talking about some stuff that was pretty darn saxophone-specific and totally awesome for you guys. But I didn't want to include it as part of my new jazz program because it would bore the bejeezus out of the buzzers, pluckers and tinklers out there (that's my creepy way of saying "non-saxophone players").

That said, here is a simple but precious chunk of saxophone wisdom that I hope you enjoy... 

Why You Should Always Be Playing Long Tones 

In this portion of the interview, Bob talks about the importance of air and tongue independence. In other words, just because your tongue is stopping the air, it doesn't mean that your lungs should be stopping it too.

I'm going to be doing some serious paraphrasing here, but in our discussion, Bob compares the use of the tongue to a finger covering a hose blasting out a steady stream of water. The thumb might be interrupting the flow of water, but the flow itself is unchanged. Now, if you were actually twisting the water faucet on and off very quickly, then I suppose that could work too, but it would be extremely inefficient and result in a very weak flow of water. 

Well, it's the same principle with your air stream, especially while articulating. Pumping air for each individual note that you're tonguing causes your tone to sound weak and unsupported. On top of that, when your airstream is not constant, your rhythmic feel is disrupted by irregular note lengths. Keeping your air moving continually and independent of the tongue will give your playing the type of evenness you hear in just about all great saxophone playing. 

Moral of the story? No matter what you're trying to do with your tonguing, the flow of air must be constant and uninterrupted. As Bob put it, "the note's got to be slow, even when you're moving fast."     

So whether you're slamming the reed like a machine gun or barely tonguing at all, playing everything as a long tone is the way to go, so give it a try and let me know how it works out for you!

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As always, if you have any questions about anything sax-related, or even otherwise, please do not hesitate to reach out and ask and I'll do what I can to get your question answered on the site. Heck, I'll even make you famous by including in the article your name and a link to your own website, if you like.  

Are You Ready to Take Your Saxophone Playing to the Next Level?

If so, check out my acclaimed e-book and audio program, Bulletproof Saxophone Playing. With nearly 6 hours of Audio Master Class Interviews (in mp3 format) with saxophone greats, Rick Margitza, Walt Weiskopf, Dr. David Demsey, and others, this program is designed to quickly get you playing better than you've ever played. It's packed with "insider info" that would likely take you years to acquire otherwise.

You can learn more at www.BulletproofSaxophonePlaying.com. 

Until next time...

Doron Orenstein
Best. Saxophone. Website. Ever.
http://bestsaxophonewebsiteever.com
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