One of the best things a sax player can do to improve the overall command of their instrument is play with rock or blues bands. This is because most rock or blues bands are basically guitar-driven, and most guitar players like to play in keys like E, A, and C (for example; obviously these aren’t the only keys guitar players like). When transposed, the sax player ends up playing in C#, F#, and A (for alto/baritone) or F#, B, and D (for soprano/tenor). If that last part doesn’t make any sense see my articles, “Transposing Instruments” and “Transposing Instruments, part 2.”
How does this help your sax technique? These keys involve fingerings and scales that, unless you are a total scale nerd (like me), you don’t often use. Most beginning to intermediate music for the saxophone is written for your six primary fingers (and the octave key), but these keys get your pinky fingers involved a lot more. Actually playing in a rock or blues band gets you the practical experience of working in these keys, but just so you’re prepared for that gig, this is the first in a series of articles I’ll be contributing to get you moving into what I like to call “the pinky keys.”
THE KEY OF B
(concert D for Eb players, A for Bb players)
This is a nice key to work on for a lot of reasons. First, you can play the scale over three octaves, covering a good deal of the horn’s total range. Second, in the low end of the scale it really works your left-hand pinky finger in the transition from low B to C# (and vice versa) and your right-hand pinky finger in the transition from low C# to D# (and vice versa). Third, it involves an alternate fingering for A#.
The second and third items I just mentioned are good areas to really focus on individually and make an entire practice session out of. Here’s the lesson for the low end:
Low B to C#
Moving smoothly between low B and C# mostly involves two things: the shape of your LH pinky and the amount of pressure you’re applying to the keys. A more or less curved shape provides for the most accuracy. If you know what I mean by that, skip the next paragraph. Otherwise, here’s a brief anatomy lesson.
Your fingers have three phalanges with three joints. A curved shape in your finger means the phalanges curve inward towards your palm like you’re making a fist. If the phalange most distant from your palm is bent backward, that is incorrect.
As for pressure, you need enough pressure to fully depress the key and avoid air leaks, so that the note actually sounds, but not so much pressure that getting to the other key is too difficult. You need to spend some time with your particular horn to get a feel for how much pressure is appropriate. On my horn, the low B key goes down way past the low C# key, so moving between those keys requires some finesse. With a better key design, this would be easier (there’s a tip if you’re shopping for a horn: check the left-hand stack).
Now, just spend some time moving between those two notes with one long breath, with no particular tempo or rhythm. Just get the feel for it. Do this for a few minutes, with at least five breaths. Remember to keep it smooth. There should be two notes sounding, not three (it’s common to get a C when you’re moving between the two notes). If you’re getting the feel for it, try setting a metronome to about 60 and just go back and forth (B-C#-B-C# etc.) on quarter notes. If you’re doing that smoothly, you have all the technique necessary to get really good at this. Developing that technique is all that remains. You can either increase the metronome by a few BPM (easier) or keep the metronome at 60 and go to eighth-notes (harder). The most important thing is to keep the transition smooth. Speed will come with time, over days, weeks, and months. Be patient.
Low C# to D#
Moving between low C# and D# is a little easier (at least in my experience; you may experience something different). The principles are the same: keep a curved shape in your pinky and don’t put excessive pressure on the keys. Try the same exercise as described above for the B-C# transition.
Once you have at least some basic dexterity going on these transitions individually, try incorporating them into one grouping. Use the following exercise:
The note E is there to provide your pinkies a little break. Plus, it’s good to get comfortable moving into this set of fingerings from more standard fingerings.
Stay tuned for the next few articles in this series, where I’ll address some of the other issues I mentioned in the introduction.
more articles by Brien Henderson
- Anatomy of the Blues Scale
- A Great Site for Old Music
- Every Musician Should Read This
- Spice Things Up With The Tritone Sub
- Writing Your Own Music: How To Get Started
- Intro to chords in Jazz
- Subdivide. It Pays Off
June 6th, 2007 at 1:07 pm
Great Article Brien! Really love the fingering charts!
October 22nd, 2007 at 11:51 pm
Good article. The saxophone’s standard range is only 2 1/2 octaves, though, so your 3 octave B scale would take you well into the altissimo, not what you would call beginner or intermediate.