I am a 10th grader trying out for Allstate here in Florida. I have a Yamaha-62 with an 875 neck and concept mouthpiece. One piece of advice I would have is doing full range scales all year and switching to circle of fourths 2 months out. This helped my scales so much, and cite reading that was in weird keys. Something else is I would recommend is when working with the metronome is 50% of the time and switch back and fourth until the rhythm is clean and smooth. I would agree on chancing the metronome but my way is doing it at different tempos, because if it’s not clean at a slow tempo it won’t be clean at a fast tempo. I would also recommend the Selmer concept mouthpiece for the nice dark tone for classical sax. I think this video is packed with such good information. Thanks for all of the tips!
When I went to conference I took a stab at doing a classical saxophone audition and it went well and I earned a 100. I also did a jazz and also earned a 100 and made it for that, but at the time I wasn’t even on a list for classical, and it definitely opened my eyes on what different worlds they both were and how lopsided my practicing was
i am currently in middle school (8th grade) and im going to be dedicatong everything to get first all state. ik this is un realistic but its just how i am. im first district and region and these tips really gave me a different look on how to practice. Thanks Nathan!
I think that's a great goal. It's only unrealistic if you think it is. I thought that making the district band this year was unrealistic, yet I still got third chair. I'm sure that if I took the extra week to practice the music with more determination/effort I would have gotten what I wanted. Keep practicing!
In Texas, we don't have sight-reading nor scales, which is really annoying because someone could practice the etudes all day for 5 months and be exceedingly amazing at them but in general not be an as well-rounded musician. So in that case, there are a lot of great musicians that don't make it because they don't look at the etudes for as long as others (which is kinda fair). Then again, it is smart to not focus on the etudes as much as other things because they don't help in the long term like tone and technical exercises do. It helping you become a better musician and you having fun along the way is really what matters, in my opinion.
@@Saxologic It's unique for sure, especially in saxophones even in 4a which is nothing compared to tmea you still have the top 5 saxophones in each room absolutely blazing through everything perfectly you have no clue who will cut through most times if it a room full of people who haven't made it before
@deankuhl I believe that 4A, 5A, or however many A's your school has is absolutely irrelevant to talent. You still have an equal opportunity to achieve perfection on your audition materials. The only reason why larger schools have more good players is because there's more players in total, so some of them have to be good, based on statistics. That's my ideology at least.
@@nicholasrossi739 completely true in the most part, the only difference in my case is far more resources, i.e private lessons (sometimes with college professors) access to nice instruments, music theory, etc but in overall if you work hard enough it doesn’t matter (hey nicholas, i was principal 4a bari lmao)
No offense to the musicians at all. They're all great. but I never wanted to do all state because I very specifically didn't wanna sound like this. I really didn't wanna do Jazz all state because I didn't want to have the overly technical "clean" Jazz etude sound either
Your Mario kart lick is nothing against mine ua-cam.com/users/shorts2khx18bYnho?si=JL_wCj9ZbZaGdbVp LOL. Btw, thank you saxologic for everything, you motivate me everyday :)
I’m doing all district this year and it makes sense why you don’t want to do all state but I practice saxophone 5 hours 5 days a week trying to get to all state
@@jeteyeproagain5497 I did not do any of these competitions when I was in high school. I thought even at 17 that it was a waste and that it was ruining the art of music making by turning the music I love into a vulgar competition. I ended up getting my B.M. in Jazz Studies (with an Anthro BA as a double) tho. Very little of what we do in high school matters tbh? That said, dont let me dissuade you. Do your best, buddy. I was only saying that I dont want to sound the way that this musician sounds in this video bc it sounds like an all-state etude.
It’s a bell ring. You can buy one for like 20$ or less. It’s not necessary at all, but it’s aesthetically pleasing and it centers the rather brash timbre of the lowest notes and even lowers the pitch closer in tune
Good question! It’s a bell ring that was 3D printed by Will Peak, one of the finest repair techs in the worlds of Peak Performance Woodwinds in KC. You can get one from his website in a variety of sizes and he’ll recommend a few options that would fit the bell of your horn best. It doesn’t affect timbre, only lowers the pitch of low Bb and maybe makes that low register a little smoother or more responsive.
Hey man.. love your stuff.. 2 months... whats up.. .think you could get your hands on P. Mauriat PMSA-500BX "Black Pearl" Alto Saxophone .. seriously thinking about getting this one. In the saxophone desert here and would like to see a review
I was principal bari in 4a texas as a sophomore and a delayed beginner something I would say is to get a good reference more than anything and listen to it nonstop; always listen to someone who you are far worse than (there will ALWAYS be someone better than you). Personally I tried to take it at my own tempo without a metronome until I got the fingerings down and THEN added a metronome for me this worked best as I found myself getting lost in the beats, but when you listen to lots of references and you build a solid internal pulse something that helped me a LOT when getting rid of stress when auditioning was to not think at all; especially on your etudes when you’re so locked into it.. count the tempo in your head and think ahead of time and just zone out and let your body do the work as for scales for people in atssb always use a met, and learn chromatic fingerings ASAP they help a ton with fluidity.. I was using top top/ 1 & 1 fingering for Bb a year before making state, it isn’t too late to change overall i get caught up in getting frustrated at my instrument as I play on an intermediate horn; it is almost always the mouthpiece and ligature, if you have someone better than you sound amazing on the gear you have then you’re the problem. Something I wish I knew sooner was to not focus so much on my sound (sounds weird) but focus on the fluidity and clarity of my sound rather than having a full sound with a hard reed learn how to make your reeds good all the time.. if someone knows how PLEASE let me know lmao MORE THAN ANYTHING SING THROUGH THE INSTRUMENT, learn musicality, for me this was just common sense and I never knew it was a thing until my band director told me about it.. musicality is far more than just dynamics; sooner you learn this sooner you will sound better THINK OF YOURSELF AS AN OPERA SINGER
for which saxophone? for alto I would recommend AL4/concept either m/o, or optimum (then if you wanna drop 300, ishimori or silverstein) (i play on a $200 student alto with a C* and a stock rovner ligature) for tenor I currently have a C* with an optimum ligature, its about a $350 setup; I primarily play tenor (marching band & concert, the only time I play bari is for all-state) for bari, I've heard that Bl4 is awesome, as well as a C*, or a concept In summary; lots of the higher tier vandoren/selmer mouthpieces will sound similar, personally I wish i chose a TL4 instead of a C*, and my optimum was great for reference, it doesn't honestly matter what your setup is to an extent; I got first on bari (IN 4A) with a 5C stock yamaha mouthpiece and a stock ligature if you reallyyyyyy can i would honestly say get either an ishimori lig/silverstein lig with a concept on alto or c* on tenor/bari, and al4/tl4/bl4 work great on all of them
One thing that has bothered me about all-state is in the final round of my senior year my lesson teacher was a judge and the week after he told his students that the other judges had their own interpretation of the slow piece. It was in 6/8 and my lesson teacher said to play it in 6, and so did other high school lesson teachers. Well the other judges and college clinicians would say to play it in 2. So listening to some peoples audition they played their slow piece faster then their fast piece. Still made all-state but that still bugs me
Did you receive your doctorate, Nathan? You've had a Ph.D for a long time. In this case, the "Ph" stands for, "Phenomenal!" I'm an (slightly) older adult who played tenor sax in high school and then let it all go after graduating. After a very long time, I decided to pick up the sax again and found a deal on a student soprano sax. I can actually keep the thing in tune unless, I think of something funny. Then, my notes go sharp. I know a ton of scales and a few songs. I need to find a way to move forward.
Would it be wise of me to buy a beginner professional jean paul as-860 anniversary edition which costs 1500 over the student as-400 which costs 500, btw both of these r alto saxophones n im new to playing the sax
Does anyone know of any good neckstraps my neck has been killing me after long practice sessions and i've been looking at the breathtaking neckstrap but don't want to spend 200 bucks on a neckstrap Also thanks for the tips i got some auditions coming up and all state jazz stuff
Good question! It’s a bell ring that was 3D printed by Will Peak, one of the finest repair techs in the worlds of Peak Performance Woodwinds in KC. You can get one from his website in a variety of sizes and he’ll recommend a few options that would fit the bell of your horn best. It doesn’t affect timbre, only lowers the pitch of low Bb and maybe makes that low register a little smoother or more responsive.
I am a two-time all stater headed into my senior year. My goal is first band first chair so I’ll take every bit of advice I can! Thanks nathan!
I am a 10th grader trying out for Allstate here in Florida. I have a Yamaha-62 with an 875 neck and concept mouthpiece. One piece of advice I would have is doing full range scales all year and switching to circle of fourths 2 months out. This helped my scales so much, and cite reading that was in weird keys. Something else is I would recommend is when working with the metronome is 50% of the time and switch back and fourth until the rhythm is clean and smooth. I would agree on chancing the metronome but my way is doing it at different tempos, because if it’s not clean at a slow tempo it won’t be clean at a fast tempo. I would also recommend the Selmer concept mouthpiece for the nice dark tone for classical sax. I think this video is packed with such good information. Thanks for all of the tips!
When I went to conference I took a stab at doing a classical saxophone audition and it went well and I earned a 100. I also did a jazz and also earned a 100 and made it for that, but at the time I wasn’t even on a list for classical, and it definitely opened my eyes on what different worlds they both were and how lopsided my practicing was
This is super helpful thank u
This is cool.i am a middle schooler and have the chance to do all state band for Georgia.
i am currently in middle school (8th grade) and im going to be dedicatong everything to get first all state. ik this is un realistic but its just how i am. im first district and region and these tips really gave me a different look on how to practice. Thanks Nathan!
I think that's a great goal. It's only unrealistic if you think it is. I thought that making the district band this year was unrealistic, yet I still got third chair. I'm sure that if I took the extra week to practice the music with more determination/effort I would have gotten what I wanted. Keep practicing!
Great interview with excellent tips!❤
In Texas, we don't have sight-reading nor scales, which is really annoying because someone could practice the etudes all day for 5 months and be exceedingly amazing at them but in general not be an as well-rounded musician. So in that case, there are a lot of great musicians that don't make it because they don't look at the etudes for as long as others (which is kinda fair). Then again, it is smart to not focus on the etudes as much as other things because they don't help in the long term like tone and technical exercises do. It helping you become a better musician and you having fun along the way is really what matters, in my opinion.
in 4A we still do scales, only tmea replaces scales with an extra etude
we only have 2 etudes, a lyrical and a technical, and all scales at area
Oh interesting, I didn’t know that! Texas is truly in a league of its own - I hope one day I can check out TMEA!
@@Saxologic It's unique for sure, especially in saxophones even in 4a which is nothing compared to tmea you still have the top 5 saxophones in each room absolutely blazing through everything perfectly
you have no clue who will cut through most times if it a room full of people who haven't made it before
@deankuhl I believe that 4A, 5A, or however many A's your school has is absolutely irrelevant to talent. You still have an equal opportunity to achieve perfection on your audition materials. The only reason why larger schools have more good players is because there's more players in total, so some of them have to be good, based on statistics. That's my ideology at least.
@@nicholasrossi739 completely true in the most part, the only difference in my case is far more resources, i.e private lessons (sometimes with college professors) access to nice instruments, music theory, etc
but in overall if you work hard enough it doesn’t matter
(hey nicholas, i was principal 4a bari lmao)
No offense to the musicians at all. They're all great. but I never wanted to do all state because I very specifically didn't wanna sound like this. I really didn't wanna do Jazz all state because I didn't want to have the overly technical "clean" Jazz etude sound either
That’s fair, a lot of great jazz musicians share that mindset!
Your Mario kart lick is nothing against mine ua-cam.com/users/shorts2khx18bYnho?si=JL_wCj9ZbZaGdbVp LOL. Btw, thank you saxologic for everything, you motivate me everyday :)
I’m doing all district this year and it makes sense why you don’t want to do all state but I practice saxophone 5 hours 5 days a week trying to get to all state
@@jeteyeproagain5497 I did not do any of these competitions when I was in high school. I thought even at 17 that it was a waste and that it was ruining the art of music making by turning the music I love into a vulgar competition. I ended up getting my B.M. in Jazz Studies (with an Anthro BA as a double) tho. Very little of what we do in high school matters tbh?
That said, dont let me dissuade you. Do your best, buddy. I was only saying that I dont want to sound the way that this musician sounds in this video bc it sounds like an all-state etude.
You should go to the sax London store
what's he have inside the bell of his sax??
It’s a bell ring. You can buy one for like 20$ or less. It’s not necessary at all, but it’s aesthetically pleasing and it centers the rather brash timbre of the lowest notes and even lowers the pitch closer in tune
Good question! It’s a bell ring that was 3D printed by Will Peak, one of the finest repair techs in the worlds of Peak Performance Woodwinds in KC. You can get one from his website in a variety of sizes and he’ll recommend a few options that would fit the bell of your horn best. It doesn’t affect timbre, only lowers the pitch of low Bb and maybe makes that low register a little smoother or more responsive.
Hey man.. love your stuff.. 2 months... whats up.. .think you could get your hands on P. Mauriat PMSA-500BX "Black Pearl" Alto Saxophone .. seriously thinking about getting this one. In the saxophone desert here and would like to see a review
Our sax studio had to judge those high school kids. It's wild how a few just stick out. The good ones are way out ahead. Some are so bad. So bad.
I was principal bari in 4a texas as a sophomore and a delayed beginner
something I would say is to get a good reference more than anything and listen to it nonstop; always listen to someone who you are far worse than (there will ALWAYS be someone better than you). Personally I tried to take it at my own tempo without a metronome until I got the fingerings down and THEN added a metronome
for me this worked best as I found myself getting lost in the beats, but when you listen to lots of references and you build a solid internal pulse
something that helped me a LOT when getting rid of stress when auditioning was to not think at all; especially on your etudes when you’re so locked into it.. count the tempo in your head and think ahead of time and just zone out and let your body do the work
as for scales for people in atssb always use a met, and learn chromatic fingerings ASAP they help a ton with fluidity.. I was using top top/ 1 & 1 fingering for Bb a year before making state, it isn’t too late to change
overall i get caught up in getting frustrated at my instrument as I play on an intermediate horn; it is almost always the mouthpiece and ligature, if you have someone better than you sound amazing on the gear you have then you’re the problem. Something I wish I knew sooner was to not focus so much on my sound (sounds weird) but focus on the fluidity and clarity of my sound rather than having a full sound with a hard reed
learn how to make your reeds good all the time.. if someone knows how PLEASE let me know lmao
MORE THAN ANYTHING SING THROUGH THE INSTRUMENT, learn musicality, for me this was just common sense and I never knew it was a thing until my band director told me about it.. musicality is far more than just dynamics; sooner you learn this sooner you will sound better THINK OF YOURSELF AS AN OPERA SINGER
Do you have any recommendations on mouthpieces and ligs? I’ve been struggling to know which mouthpieces/ligs to choose from
for which saxophone?
for alto I would recommend AL4/concept
either m/o, or optimum (then if you wanna drop 300, ishimori or silverstein) (i play on a $200 student alto with a C* and a stock rovner ligature)
for tenor I currently have a C* with an optimum ligature, its about a $350 setup; I primarily play tenor (marching band & concert, the only time I play bari is for all-state)
for bari, I've heard that Bl4 is awesome, as well as a C*, or a concept
In summary; lots of the higher tier vandoren/selmer mouthpieces will sound similar, personally I wish i chose a TL4 instead of a C*, and my optimum was great
for reference, it doesn't honestly matter what your setup is to an extent; I got first on bari (IN 4A) with a 5C stock yamaha mouthpiece and a stock ligature
if you reallyyyyyy can i would honestly say get either an ishimori lig/silverstein lig with a concept on alto or c* on tenor/bari, and al4/tl4/bl4 work great on all of them
ATSSB MENTIONED!!!
@@erickcowboy top 10 rarest sightings of all time
Review the xaphoon
Fly to romania my friend and see what we have there
One thing that has bothered me about all-state is in the final round of my senior year my lesson teacher was a judge and the week after he told his students that the other judges had their own interpretation of the slow piece. It was in 6/8 and my lesson teacher said to play it in 6, and so did other high school lesson teachers. Well the other judges and college clinicians would say to play it in 2. So listening to some peoples audition they played their slow piece faster then their fast piece. Still made all-state but that still bugs me
this is awesome!
Perfection
Did you receive your doctorate, Nathan? You've had a Ph.D for a long time. In this case, the "Ph" stands for, "Phenomenal!"
I'm an (slightly) older adult who played tenor sax in high school and then let it all go after graduating. After a very long time, I decided to pick up the sax again and found a deal on a student soprano sax. I can actually keep the thing in tune unless, I think of something funny. Then, my notes go sharp. I know a ton of scales and a few songs. I need to find a way to move forward.
Would it be wise of me to buy a beginner professional jean paul as-860 anniversary edition which costs 1500 over the student as-400 which costs 500, btw both of these r alto saxophones n im new to playing the sax
What reed and mouthpiece should I get if I want to play more of a jazz way
Meyer for alto or Otto Link for tenor are good choices. I like Vandoren ZZs for reeds.
@@Jordan-ll5eq thank you and do you also do lessons
@@ernstlozin6138 Not at the moment
Does anyone know of any good neckstraps my neck has been killing me after long practice sessions and i've been looking at the breathtaking neckstrap but don't want to spend 200 bucks on a neckstrap
Also thanks for the tips i got some auditions coming up and all state jazz stuff
jazzlab sax holder
jazz lab sax holder or I just bought this Boston sax shop one a while ago, it has a bar to take the strings away from your neck
What is in the bell of your sax?
Good question! It’s a bell ring that was 3D printed by Will Peak, one of the finest repair techs in the worlds of Peak Performance Woodwinds in KC. You can get one from his website in a variety of sizes and he’ll recommend a few options that would fit the bell of your horn best. It doesn’t affect timbre, only lowers the pitch of low Bb and maybe makes that low register a little smoother or more responsive.
😊
I HAVE A SERIES FOR YOU!!!!!
(Idea, saxophone for beginners you can teach how to hold, play, assemble, read notes, sound good, note names etc)
im auditioning for jazz 💀
No one sounds like Coltrane or Dolphy…sorta like going to Catholic Church 🤔🎵🎶🎵🎶🎷
Everyone doesn’t understand the language you guys are speaking 🎵🎶🎵🎶🎷
Part 2 of sxophone cringe pls 🙏