Yes, then come back to this page and submit in the comment box below the youtube URL link along with any other info you want to share such as your sax, reeds, etc and after you post the comment I embed the link there as it can only be done in the admin area of the site.
ps
your youtube video must be saved as “public” or “unlisted” but not “private” otherwise it can’t be embedded.
Michael: Rock Around the Clock – thats a really difficult one to play – shows how well you’re doing! I was talking to a classical musican, and he was telling me the vandoren reeds are about half a strength harder than the Ricoh reeds. So based on what he was saying your Juno 3 should be equivalent to a vandoren 2.5! Curious to know how long have you been playing it? When i put mine on the blog, i’d only played them about 5 or 6 times.
Jake: Still sounds a pretty good mouthpiece you’ve got! I’d try a Ricoh Jazz Select Unfiled Reed 3 soft. 2 minute max soak in H20 – slap it on & go!
My setup doesn’t rock – so like u guys, metal to sax seems sounding better!
Thanks Sxpoe and the classical musician who you were talking with is correct about the reed strength……but in Rock Around the Clock I was playing with the No.3 JAVAS, not the Junos; meaning I would need to play a 2.5 Java as Johnny had noted if I was going to play the Javas; a size 3 Java is just a little to thick for me at this time and that’s why some of those high notes were a little rough v.s Tequila with a size 3 Java, which is equivalent to a Java 2.5. Good observation there Sxpoe. IN terms of playing that song, especially the solo, that’s where a metronome has helped me to be able to control that rhythm as I was talking about before. That’s really important for the next upload that I’ll do in June with a song of Johnny’s on Alto Sax. Looking forward to your next upload 🙂
after all the slow stuff i’ve been posting, thought i’d change it up and do some dirty ole classic rock n roll oldies! Really working on my growl in this one. I got hit up to play the sax with a band at a upcoming benefit. This is an oldies band that plays tons of 60’s tunes, (this is one of their recorded songs i’m using). It is awesome practice to play with other musicians. really helps with the timing and control (they let you know when the sax is too loud, lol, they don’t like to be overtaken!). It is also great because classic oldies incorporate a lot of the 1-3-5 part of the scales!! Great for learning the arpeggios and helping cement them in the brain!! Got a lot of them memorized now. Yea!!
You’re doing all the right stuff there Jake. It takes some control to growl those lower notes and you’re getting them really nicely.
All those parts will blend in with the band as long as your level is just right as you say…better to be a little lower than over take the singer, cause then you’re out! But don’t confuse lower in the mix with playing with a softer approach. You still got to “give it” and get that tough sound without doing it overly loud. This will be easier on stage because you can play with the microphone (distance).
The negative on this recording is that you are playing flat…tuning-wise that is. It’s overall so I would just push the mp in quite a bit more until you’re in tune with them.
Hey Jake – that was brilliant, i could listen to that again mate – you’re really good. You’re right about playing in a band – i play in a church band (not the same league as you – sax player grade 5, flute grade 5,clarinet grade 5, guitar player- learner 2 yrs, Base guitar player – pro,me acoustic rythmn guitar – 40 yrs playing, recorder player).
Absolutely no timing issues with the guitar – so easy to keep in time with the base player, and people singing, but the guy whose only been playing 2 years really struggles.
Its a different ball game playing sheet music in a band, you have to keep one eye on the sheet music and the other on the conductor, some written sections you have to play slower, so the tempo can vary, and then you have pay attention to the loud & soft sections.. it goes on and on.
thanks sxpoe. Keep at your practicing and you will get there too. Been a touch over 1 1/2 years. Time flys by!! So glad I started but wish I would have picked the sax up years ago!! You are def right about playing with a band. Not only the timing and making sure everyone is on the same page but the intonation as well. As Johnny pointed out I was playing flat (Shhh, I didn’t notice I was, haha).
These are all the things that should come together for us as we improve. In your 1st 6 months you have made huge strides. That is what is so nice with these videos. It’s nice to look back and the have physical evidence of our improvement, especially on those days when the sax may not be going our way. LOL
That is so true Jake about the blog here and our videos that Johnny lets us upload. As we’re learning we often don’t realize that we ARE improving. I have had way more days in the past year of learning that playing the Saxophone wasn’t going my way LOL and many times that is what we see instead of our progress. But then we look at our videos and WOW, we are coming along 🙂 Or were starting to anyway LOL
Petite Fleur – this one i’ve recorded with a backing track that includes a Sax player. When you listen to it, i’m the one that starts late as usual – so i am aware the timing is off, but i want to record this when i can play it in time later on – to compare it to.
You’re getting closer! Actually, playing along and shadowing another sax will make it sound like you’re off worse than it really is. If you had that track without the sax you’d be fitting in there pretty good.
Thanks Johnny, your input is really appreciated. I’m aiming to get my timing issues improved by September, when i start playing alongside a Soprano Sax Player, who also plays Alto Sax. When we both play Alto, we should be playing different parts – so i’ve got my work cut out!
Jake, Sxpoe, Michael- good to hear everyone’s contribution and PROGRESS… Been out of the loop awhile now myself. Got overly busy with work and my saxes have been neglected (I hate when that happens!). Went to see if I could find something to upload, and when I did my Zoom recorder wouldn’t power up. So not my day…
But encouraged by hearing everyone.
Yesterday – recorded on a hemke 2 reed. This one the last part of the song i may slightly be more in time, the first part i lost it! Still another one for me to look back on in a few months time!
Come on chaps – stick some more vid’s up on here. You don’t have to wait till you’ve completely mastered them – hopefully when i look back on them in a years time -i’ll think to myself – God that wasn’t half rubbish!! lol
Are you reading and following the music chart or playing from memory? Your entrances are off but somehow you get back on track. I think you should practice with a metronome. Could be simple reading passages or exercises but the metronome teaches us how to be on time. It’s robotic and some don’t find it a whole lot of fun but it does work. Then, while playing with a track or a real drummer you think of the count (time) and it relates to that boring metronome’s click, click, click.
Nice sxpoe. very soft and soothing tone. Yea your timing was a lot better on that one. It would be nice to see a video of your playing if you could get that (not that the elephants were bad, haha). By seeing video, you may also get some pointers on your playing as well. We have had other posts where Johnny has commented on sax position and posture as ways to improve upon our playing. Good luck with the duets, they can be challenging for sure. Need timing to be right on for that.
Thanks Johnny, playing from sheet music, at the same time trying to count in the start, while listening. I use the metronome in lots of short exercises, and the backing tracks in exericise books are a lot simpler as they count you in 1,2,3,4. But not to worry, work in progress. Must be frustrating for you guys to hear me play! lol
Cheers Jake, if i use my camcorder as a webcam to record,
its a lot of hassle setting it up with the Pc – probably spend half an hour sorting out where to put the music player & work out how far away to stand from the camcorder. Whereas as with the iTouch – just switch it on, play the backing track on it, and record the sax at the same time instantly. I use an Ap called Tunable which is simple to use.
Excellent Johnny, sound advice. What i’m going to do now, is do a lot more recording, playing back & listing to the recordings, and only release them when i feel the timing is a lot better. But i’ve enjoyed the advice on here, from you, Jake & Michael!
Hey Kevin: Nice to see you here man! I know exactly what you mean–we’ve been dealing with a lot regarding my wife’s accident. Your playing has always been a real encouragement to me and would love to see it here on the blog.
Sxpoe: It’s not frustrating for me at all to hear you play….to the contrary it encourages me to see how much you love your Saxophone and that alone makes you way cool of a guy! No matter if someone is a Professional player like Johnny or student players like the rest of us, we all love playing our Saxophones.
What Johnny is recommending to you here about using the Metronome is one of THE biggest things that has helped me out in timing. It’s not enough for us to be just playing the right notes; we have to play those notes at the right time and that’s how a metronome helps. It may seem robotic like he says here, but the gains to be made says it all. You’re making great progress; keep going 🙂
Not a new Tenor, new Alto. My Tenor is a 1967 Selmer Bundy with a great sound of that era and have no plans right now on replacing it. New Alto will be coming very soon. I was happy to see Johnny put here on the blog the article about how good that Alto Sax is. There are scores of solos/songs that are actually better on the alto. I will be uploading an Alto Song of Johnny’s now in June and I’m working on something right now where you will see both the Alto and the Tenor played in the same song. But typically I like to alternate on the blog between both Saxophones. I love both Saxophones.
I had the option the other day to get a decent, used Soprano Sax but didn’t do it because there’s only so much time in the day to play LOL but I’m certainly not ruling out getting a Soprano in time. There are a number of songs that sound better on the Soprano too; that’s the great thing about the Saxophone is that there’s so many things you can do with it! The other neat thing about the Soprano is that it’s a Bb Sax so sheet music is the same as it is for Tenor.
Hey guys, just having some fun today after working on Johnny’s Altissimo course, those chromatic scales are great fun to say the least 🙂 I LOVE these type of swing songs…..was thinking how cool “Moon Dance” by Van Morrison would sound on the Tenor, it’s got a great Sax solo. Jphnny’s ‘In the Mood” is one of my very favorites!
This is being played on my Java Size 3 Cane reed; the same reed as I did Tequila. It feels much “smoother” and easier to play for me than the Javas right now. A size 3 Juno is the equivalent to a 2.5 Java, 1/2 size smaller than I did with “Rock Around the Clock” Been having crazy weather causing problems for my cane reeds, but found a protective case on Amazon today that may help. Cheers everyone!
Coming along Michael!
Watch your fingers, they are stretching up and nearly touching the sky…
ok a little bit of an exaggeration but put some focus on keeping them as close to the keys as possible, this way you have a chance of getting some speed a lot easier. The time it takes for a finger to come from a fully stretched position to your key is a lot longer than if it is placed just centimeters over it.
Michael – that was fantastic man! thats a difficult piece to play fast. One thing i’ve noticed is some squeaking on a couple of high notes? also quavers catch me out in swing time music as you have to play the 1st one slightly longer than the 2nd one when two are joined together on their own. But i can tell you’re practicing Johnny’s chromatic scales! Thats a really hard piece to play fast and make it flow – you’re miles ahead of me – keep up chromatic scale work matey!! Looking forward to your next one.
I was going to put bessme mucho up, but i couldn’t get permission from the owners to use their track – which was a bit of a downer for me!
That’s a bummer they wouldn’t let you use their backing track 🙁 Haven’t heard of that happening too much. Keep up the great work Sxpoe.
You have good eyes and ears for sure 🙂 I didn’t even plan on uploading this at all, just kind of did it on the spur of a moment but it’s great fun to play so just wanted to share it with other members and have some fun doing it. Yeah there’s a couple of very small squeaks as the Guardala MP is new to me 🙂 It’s all about timing there (at least they’re not too big of squeaks LOL) I’ve been working a lot on Johnny’s chromatic scales but still have a long, long way to go. I don’t want to cheat myself by moving ahead in Johnny’s Altissimo course and even think about working on other things that I haven’t reached or ready to attempt yet. I haven’t even looked at how to finger any Altissimo notes at all in his course. This whole month I’m working out those “rough spots” that he talks about in that section of his Altissimo Course. He did such a fantastic job of emphasizing these rough spots, that before I didn’t even realize I had, even though I had been practicing chromatic scales! Like he mentions there, if we find we have a rough spot……..stop and work on it and don’t move on until we address that spot. It was a huge help to me. But I should be ready to move on to the next lesson now in June. At first it can seem hard playing in rhythm with these type of swing songs, but with time, after working to apply ourselves to what Johnny has to teach on these matters, it kind of just happens. Cheers to you Sxpoe 🙂
I’m busted……..Johnny caught what I caught myself doing on this song. When it comes to the Saxophone…..he doesn’t miss anything, does he? 🙂
I didn’t even plan on uploading this, as Johnny has provided so much of his own backing tracks/sheet music to upload here to the blog and I want to support all his hard work to make those songs available for the rest of us. But this is a way cool song on the Saxophone! At least Karaoke had one decent backing track in their selection to use LOL. By the Way Johnny, Moonlight Lady by Julio Iglesias sounds great on the Alto Sax!
Those long fingers is probably the reason for that one rough spot I’ve had. But I’ve notice, when doing them on the Alto, I don’t have that rough spot, maybe because it’s a smaller Saxophone?
I can feel a difference in the notes being played on the Juno Cane reed here; the same one I used for Tequila v.s. The Java for Mack the Knife and Rock Around the Clock. The Juno is a size 3, the equivalent to a Java 2.5 (which equates to a 1/2 size smaller than what I was using in Mack the Knife and Rock Around the Clock.) I LOVE this Guardala but did have to experiment with the right combination for me.
You’re a star Michael – very good work ethic man!!
I read an article where someone asked how long should they practice something and the reply they got was until they could play it 5 times in a row without a single mistake!
For me Johnny’s altissimo course is additional work to my own Sax lessons and everything up to the altissimo fingering lessons i feel can all be practiced at the same time.
I do these everyday as warm up lessons!(thanks Johnny)!
At the moment i can go up to altissimo C, i just tried them to see if i could hit them! Its like reeds, how do you know when to move up a reed? the only way to know is to try one and see – if its too hard don’t make a big deal out of it.
hey michael, i just remembered. I had a sax lesson a couple weeks back and i was playing Summertime and i squeaked several times very loudly. I stopped and asked him what was i doing wrong. It turned out my reed was on its way out – phew!!
You sound better on #2. It’s more in tune and more consistent, could be that you were more warmed up by then!
Also, your playing along with the metronome better now. Good work on that, keep doing it and your performances with the backing tracks will be better also.
Thanks Johnny – after recording these two, i stuck the guardala MP back on in the exact same position, played it with a different backing track & realised it was out of tune!
Only had the Guardala a day, so i now know that i have to slightly pull it out a bit more than the other MP.
In Tune the Guardala seems to me more agressive ! but its great to have a rubber & a metal MP.
The Rubber Kali plays as soon as you blow it, whereas the guardala plays fractionally later.
Good job Sxpoe–definately improving and that’s what it’s all about. Hats off to you for playing along with the metronome, lots of people may find using a metronome to be somewhat boring and “robotic” but the rewards are huge. For me personally, it has been, without doubt, one of THE most important things that has helped me to learn about playing in proper time. What I have learned from using a metronome–and they are part of my regular practice routine– is that it doesn’t do us any good to play the right notes if we can’t play those notes at the right time when were playing a song. Using it will really help you to play along with backing tracks like Johnny says because you will have that ability to play the right notes at the right time. Cool deal Sxpoe; you are getting better, keep going! 🙂
Thanks Michael – i’m reasonably ok with a metronome apart from the occasional lapse in concentration, i have to keep focused on it all the time. I need to focus more on backing tracks now – luv da sax
Johnny’s video of “Take Five” has 30,836 views…..and about 500 of those views were probably me in learning this song LOL. It’s one of my all-time favorite Alto Saxophone songs and to me it’s an example of a song that is actually sounds better on the Alto v.s. the Tenor.
When you buy this song from Johnny, you don’t get the sheet music for the Sax solo as he plays it, but rather he has done something better, and that is provides you with the scale so that we can improvise with it ourselves. I watched Johnny’s solo, Paul Desmond’s solo, and other solos and I wanted something similar to what Johnny does but also want to get creative and make it a little different; and this is where what I’ve been learning in his book on “Killer Blues” has helped me to do. No one is going to play it exactly the same, but that’s the cool thing about improvisation.
I treated this song as 2 separate lessons; one of the main melody and another of the solo itself. The solo is like a song within a song of sorts. Although I’ve been working on this song almost everyday for the past 6 months, it’s still lacking a little bit. But I am happy to be able to play in in that 5/4 time. Try not to me too hard on my guys! 🙂
Glad to see you didn’t play the solo exactly like me or other solos…it’s your own and that’s what you want to work on. This is a very hard song for anyone to play let alone a beginner with only 12 months experience. Many rough spots as you already know Michael but I know you’ll keep working on em!
Mostly, what I noticed in watching it here on the blog, was in the solo certain notes that I need to emphasize more (like you talk about in the first 3 lessons on How to Play Killer Blues) and using more rests/pauses v.s. running the notes in together–that’s kind of like talking or singing without pausing LOL. This good news is that it’s in 5/4 time; and look where I was 12 months ago; it’s progress 🙂
This Saxophone does need servicing too, the side palm keys have been getting stuck, as well as the high bis key that you use to play Altissimo G. I literally have to wiggle them loose before practicing and had to do so here. But that will be taken care of soon 🙂
Really good effort Michael, you’re coming on taking on a song like that – like Johnny says there are some noticeable rough spots, which i’m sure you’ll have no problem ironing out. Keep going mate!!
I’m depressed at the moment – haven’t played since thursday, had a tooth taken out, tomorrow might have a go.
I read your post on the forum about your teeth and that’s no fun for sure; been there and done that. The good news on the Take Five song is that I was able to control the timing and play in 5/4 time. Uploading to the blog helps us to progress and see what were doing right and wrong. This Alto Sax does need some serious servicing though like I describe in my comment above and I know for a fact that is PARTLY what contributed to a few of those rough spots and that will be taken care of soon. Need to emphasize & scoop a few more of those notes in the solo and work on some of the rests/breaks. It’s coming along 🙂
nice job keeping the pace michael. that was def a quick tune!! Keep working on smoothing up your tone, sounded a little choppy and square, but like Johnny said, that is a tough tune!! especially with only a year under your belt so hats off too you there!!
I like seeing these videos. Not only do we improve through them but we can take other people styles and habits and incorporate them into creating our own style. Like around 0:56 of the video, I could see Johnny doing a glissando as you turn to the side. That was pretty cool and gives feeling to the song as well. Keep up the good work!!
Yeah, that’s the thing that’s great about the blog because as were playing it, especially a song like this in 5/4 time, we may be doing something right or wrong, not really realizing it. I’m addressing the solo now, focusing on scooping more of the notes so they don’t seem so squared up, allotting for more pauses, some notes that I played as quarter notes will become 8th notes, (or the other way around LOL) etc.. But I was happy about being able to play that 5/4 time throughout the entire song and come up with MY OWN solo, and Johnny mentioned he was happy that I didn’t make it exactly the same as his. But I did want it to be somewhat similar & at least recognizable. He provides the scale in his sheet music that this song is based on so that we can improvise ourselves with it. I’ll do it again in a few months as one of those before/after things.
Michael, getting to hear someone attempt this difficult song inspires me to keep working on it. The hours of work you put into learning it will contribute to your skills in timing, fingering speed, etc. So keep up the hard work.
Practising 2 songs for the world cup – using a Rico Royal 2 & a sore lip, but not using this as an excuse.
Still got a long way to go. But hey looking forward to the world cup!!
Kevin and Sxpoe: You guys inspire me to have fun with the Sax and keep working and that’s what it’s all about. That’s why I love the blog–and special thanks to Johnny for putting it here–we can all watch each other and learn. Uploading here is not about perfection; it’s about progressing and learning so that we can get to perfection LOL I do miss seeing your videos Kevin and I hope to see something here on the blog soon; your song of “Pick Up the Pieces” on Alto Sax still stands out in my mind and I have learned about half of it on Tenor. I even went back to the Member’s videos and clicked “like” on your Alto version just a few days ago LOL 🙂
One thing that helped me play in the 5/4 time is………(drums rolling LOL)….a metronome. I have used a metronome almost from day one since I started learning from Johnny and I use it every time I practice. On the “lessons” section here on his home page he talks about the benefits of using it and what he said in that video has stuck out in my mind. Playing the right notes alone is not enough, we have to control the timing especially for a song like Take Five, being in 5/4 time; and that’s how a metronome helps.
I will say, however, that the student model of Alto Sax I used DESPERATELY needs servicing and that accounts for some of the “roughness”. As an example, the side palm keys get stuck and high bis key gets stuck and I literally have to wiggle those keys a lot before I use it and it’s irritating when it happens while in the middle of playing something too! Good news is that it will be taken care of soon.
On the solo, I also think I may have played too many licks for the time allotted, so I’m revising it and also want to emphasize more of the Bb, Eb and F keys. I’ll upload it later on as a before/after upload LOL
Some time ago, my son and I published this video with Johnny’s song of “Sax in the Country” but you may recall I mentioned that someone tried hacking into my youtube account (always change your password every so often) and so I removed some Saxophone videos as a protection. Also, new members may not have ever seen it before; and it’s no secret that I’m a big fan of Johnny’s Sax music! This is one of the coolest Sax songs I’ve heard because it’s so fitting for where I live here in Arkansas. I really wish there were a backing track/sheet music for this one, but at least I can share it with my family & friends here–which I have and they really dig it.
I’m wondering if you have the echo effect on intentionally or by accident? It can be a nice effect to the overall sax sound. If you want to work with it I suggest fine tuning it a bit…
The actual delay effect is just as loud as the original sax signal so you could try turning it down a bit, that would smooth out the effect and make it not so obvious.
Hey Louie, that’s a super cool song for the Saxophone. It’s a amazing how we can hear a particular melody at least 100 times, but it takes someone to play it for it to kind of “click” that it’s great Saxophone music 🙂 Thanks for sharing this, cool to see you upload here to the blog; hope to see more of your videos. What type of Metal Mouthpiece are you using? I’ve heard great things about that particular model of Tenor Saxophone you have; Yamaha has been making superb Saxophones of a long time.
For your next video, I would encourage you to stand up and play v.s. sitting down; it can help get more air to your Sax from your diaphragm. When we’re sitting down, it puts added pressure on our diaphragm and can constrict the flow of air. Johnny actually talks about this on one of his exercises on his Altissimo course. Look forward to seeing your next video!
love it Louie – good reverb on it. Always wanted to hear what a YTS-62 sounds like. I’d like hear another one without the reverb, you sound like you have a really smooth tone!!
Johnny the reverb/echo was by accident and as life has it my wife was rushing me while I was recording this song. I will turn it off or turn it down more for the next song. I going to try one of yours tunes.
Michael, thank you for the kind words. The metal m.p. I purchase was from amazon (very – very cheap! compare to name brands mp). It didn’t have a name however, it sound ok from my p.o.v. and does the job. I’ll look up the name for you when I find it.
YTS-62 was a gift to myself since I can’t afford a Selmer like Johnny (hihi). The sitting down part not sure why I did it (I guess I was being lazy). The next video I will be standing up. The camera was also aim low and I also wanted to show my hand position on the horn.
Sxpoe, thank you for your kind words on the tone of the YTS-62. I going to make another video with help of my next door neighbor. He has more of an understanding and is knowledgeable on video and audio recording.
Once again thank you guys for your comments and suggestion.
By the way, I saw each and every one of you guys video and you guys Rock! Keep the videos coming and Johnny keep the tunes coming too!
Nice tone Luis! That recording sounded much better than the first!! How long have you been playing?
Did you like the Cecilio? I have a China made Hawk and am currently looking to get a nice professional tenor now that I know I am sticking with it. I know what you mean about those Mark VI. $$$$$$$. LOL.
Once again thanks for the kind words Sxpoe and Jake.
My history on playing the saxophone goes back to my younger days of being a young boy of 11yrs or 12yrs old (I forget). Anyway, I was taught by a professional jazz player from the 1950-60 era, who lived a low key life style and love to teach music. He passed away of a heart attack in 1983 while visiting his home state (Florida).
I stop playing the saxophone when I entered High School and picked it up again when I met my second wife (2007).
I won my wife’s heart by playing Billy Joel’s “Just the Way You Are”.
Jake, the Cecilio for price you cannot beat it. The horn has it up’s and down’s or should I say. I had my up’s and down’s. Sometimes I would hit every notes I wanted other times I sounded like a duck.
I still have the Cecilio as a backup horn. I once read about a player who played on a junk of an instrument and when he got his hands on nice working instrument. He played like a professional with years under his belt.
The bottom line Jake, if you can make that student model horn sound good then when you get your hands on an advance or professional horn. Oh boy watch out !
By the way guys I re-did the Imagine video and recorded And I love her today. I should have it ready or should I say my neighbor should have done by Friday.
Once again a big Thank You to Johnny for allowing myself and others post video and comments of our playing..
Hi Guys, just wanted to share a though and I’am sure you guys heard this from Johnny and read it here. Don’t worry about how you sound on the sax just play the horn.
We all have our sax tone. You just gotta listen to your own sound… practice for at least twenty minutes a day. Do a scales or a couple bars a song you like.
When I was learning to play during my early years as a young boy. My practice was 30 minutes prior to the start of the school day, thirty minutes after lunch time and an hour and half after school Monday thur Friday. So as you can see the tone and playing didn’t come over night. More like several decades later and still a work in progress.
Your practice session should not be something you dread It should be something you can walk away from and say; Ok I learn something new today or I’m going to try something different or new.
Every-now and then, I still feel like my sax tone needs some work on as well as other things. And I work on it.
Anyway thats my two cents on the matter and by no means I’am better than any of you guys or an expert. I look forward to my practice session.
Hey Luis–gorgeous song for the Saxophone you played there; and Johnny’s backing tracks are WAY superior to Karaoke backing tracks, that’s for sure 🙂 Nice of you to tackle this song, this song has a feel that helps me and my wife settle in for the night if you know what I mean 🙂
I do have a few questions: If you’ve been playing for a while, are there any embellishments that you can add to your playing to really make this song come alive? Watch Johnny’s videos; he uses them all the time. It makes such a big difference v.s. just playing notes from our sheet music. Just the little things like scooping notes, trills, changing Octaves, vibrato, playing it with feeling/emotion, etc., can add so much flavor; especially to such a gorgeous song like this. You obviously have the experience for it from learning to play at a young age–and I only wish I could say the same thing LOL—so go for it and spice that baby up 🙂
I was also noticing that your Mouthpiece looks like, as your playing, it’s pointing upward towards the roof of your mouth v.s. straight into your mouth; which can hurt your tone and embouchure. If you watch your video on the timing of 1:53-1:57 and then again at 2:14-2:15, the notes become flat and thin out a little bit. There’s a couple of other places but the above mentioned timing are 2 good places to check it out. I think if you hold the MP level in your mouth v.s. letting it drop, this will really help. One other thing is notice the timing of the phrases of your playing at 0:34-to-0:37 and compare the same phrase to 0:55-to-1:00. This timing at 34 seconds to 37 seconds is slightly too early.
You’re an experienced player, and the more you watch for even the slightest of detail in your playing, the better you will be. I’m curious about your MP/reed set up. Thanks for sharing such great videos, looking forward to watching more videos from you, there’s no shortage of music here on Johnny’s site; he’s got so much for us to tackle! 🙂
Thanks for the comment Michael, never really paid to much attention to the mp in my mouth. I will take a closer look at that in the mirror (thanks for catching that for me).
The reed is set on the table just below the rim.
So that I don’t squeal on G (above the staff).
The next song I’ll tackle I will put some soul into. Let me see what I’ll learned from all these years (hihi).
Michael, that was a amazing example of constructive feedback! It’s nice when we hear how good the tone is coming along and other nice comments but what really helps us improve is when we get tips and feedback citing examples from the videos we post.
The unfortunate part from newbies is that we always don’t have the ear and experience to pick out things, especially from a more experienced player. I have been at it a little over 1 1/2 years and I couldn’t tell I was flat til Johnny pointed it out.
The smallest things (such as the mouthpiece, as you pointed out) can have a huge impact on our improvement.
I agree with Michael, Luis, Your tone is smooth and sounds nice but embellishments will take your playing to a new level. That’s kinda where I am at the moment. Now that I can play the notes, its time too put something on them and make them special and give them feeling!
Thanks so much for this site Johnny!! Keep rocking the videos friends!
Yes Johnny…..thanks SO MUCH for this site. It’s been a fantastic way to improve in our playing, meet other student players, make new friends, take personal lessons from Johnny on Skype; and by the way….if you’ve never booked a private lesson with Johnny on skype, do it. It’s $ well spent and I’m going to do it again as soon as I can. More importantly is that we see that he’s just a terrific guy.
I think as we improve–thanks to Johnny adding the blog here–we all just start noticing things in our own playing that maybe even a few months ago we wouldn’t have even thought about or was even aware of, and we all help each other get better because of it. I remember on one of my first uploads I played something and Johnny immediately brought out that I was playing in the wrong key signature! I didn’t even bother asking the band instructor what key it was in, and didn’t even bother looking at the key signature on the sheet music myself! I just didn’t know any better, I just thought we get something and play it LOL. Looking back on that…..good grief! 🙂 I laugh a lot about it. But we learn from those things. The worse the to do is get discouraged and quit because our tone, for example, doesn’t sound like Johnny’s–or whoever it was that turned us on to the Saxophone. Contrary to what someone may say that the Saxophone is “easy” to play, it takes many years to get to that level that we all want to be at. But we can’t expect to get to that level without making mistakes, and lots of them. And the blog here is great because we can all watch each other play v.s. just reading about it. Thanks so much Johnny for putting up an awesome site for us 🙂
Talking about all of Johnny’s hard work to make this website possible for us, we need to all remember, too, that on the home page there’s a link where we can make a donation to this site, links here to use where we can go to Amazon when we need to buy something and this site benefits from, book a lesson with Johnny, etc..
one piece of advice i can give about using embellishments is make sure you can play the piece properly, error free and in time first. Then try it with embellishments.
Adding embillishments can result in shortening other notes which in turn can distort the whole song, sometimes making it sound rushed. This is where playing in a band, other band members can accomadate you better, which you won’t get in backing track!
I learnt this hard way when i went to one of my lessons and tried to impress my teacher by playing embellishments to a backing track. He stopped me straight there and then and made me play the tune without embellishments, as he wanted me to be able to play it properly first.
Then he wrote on the sheet where & when i could play the embellishments.
But don’t let me put you guys off! As they are wonderful to hear, and allow us to put our own stamp on a piece.
Keep the uploads cumming guys!
Yes, Jake, I love it when people can come to together and help one another in their goals (i.e. saxophone playing). A perfect example was Michael’s last post (Thank You Michael).
Even though I have that many years under my belt. I am still learning something new from others (embellishments is one of them). I never really realize my mp placement until it was pointed out.
I can blame bad habit (it going to be stuff to break!)
Hey Luis, you have some good things happening with your saxophone! Nice going. I will ask you a question in order to help you progress to the next level….
What is the major difference from what you look like while playing as compared to a more advanced professional player?
It’s how much of your mouthpiece is in your mouth.
Because you are only taking in very little of your mouthpiece, you are dealing with several problems: intonation, sqweeks, breaking notes, thin tone.
If you learn to play with more mouthpiece in your mouth you will develop a much bigger tone.
Take a bigger bite. It will feel uncomfortable at first so bring it back a little bit. Next time take more in. It will always feel uncomfortable but you let it slide back a bit but not as much as how you had it before. Focus on this for a few days or weeks…always trying to play with a little bit more in your mouth. After a while you will have moved up more on your mouthpiece and your tone is going to be bigger.
Hey Sxpoe, there’s a good reason why your Sax instructor watches you like a Hawk, and that’s because it’s the attention to all those small details, like Johnny cleverly brings out here, that makes the difference/separates great players from everyone else. And you’ll thank your “doctor” for it later too–cool comparison LOL
Hats off to you Luis–keep those videos coming 🙂
All my teachers and instructors at one point or another had smack me across the head about the placement of the mp (hihi). Just too hard headed to remember a small detail like that (perfect example of a bad habit form from childhood).
Once again Thank you guys for the feed back and advice. Going to get to work on those details pointed out.
Thought I would share this video with everyone. 3rd row at a recent Foreigner concert. Love the sax in this tune, this is one of the tunes that got me started on the sax!! Favorite part of this video is around 2:28, the man knows whats coming, LOL. Lots of improve in here too! Hopefully I can get to this point someday, that’s what all this work is for!!!! ENJOY, I DID!!
Very cool, thanks for that Jake…was it you who filmed it from your seat?
Nice that he stayed true to the Jr Walker solo.
You’ll get there Jake. Those are really high notes but when you have a close look there’s only a few of them and very doable if you keep on with the altissimo course!!!
Wish it was my seat! No, my buddy that I jam with filmed it from his seat with his iphone!!
Yea, I got the solo here from a book titled “25 Great sax Solos”, even has a cd with it. Yea, it is doable. Still working away on the altissimo course. Still having trouble with the Altissimo G and G#. I also seem to be struggling with getting the 3rd overtone high Bb from the low Bb fingering. I gotta admit I haven’t been working on them daily though. I have been focusing on this music that I have to play at an upcoming show in a couple weeks!! Gotta get back to the basics cause I want to get into the altissimo range cause it just ROCKS!!
Thanks for sharing this Jake–wish I was there! We will get to that level playing 😉 look at the progress we’ve made since hooking up here with Johnny. Keep rock in’ Jake and keep those great videos of yours coming. Looks like your playing with a band now? Good for you–Just stay on top of Johnny’s Altissimo Course and don’t forget to work on that Improvisation!
Taking grade 2 exam in november, in an effort to improve my time-keeping when
playing Johnny’s songs. So pardon me (michael) for not uploading one of Johnny’s pieces
as i want to compare it again in november – to see the difference.
The following 2 of 3 songs i have to play in the exam, accompanied by a piano player
at the same tempo instead of a backing track (that should be interesting).
Been practicing the 2 pieces for a week now, the 1st piece seems ok.
The 2nd piece (starting at 0.57) is a bit loose on the time keeping,
and struggling with the dynamics in it is something new i’m getting to grips with.
“Drunken Sailor” & “Rosemary and thyme” (should have signed up for
grade 2 Jazz sax exam instead as one of the pieces in that is “watermelon man”).
Both these 2 pieces are relatively easy – on a par with Johnny’s green sleeves,
which is ideal for someone like me with only 7 months experience.
After reading what everyone wrote. I decide to put it into practice and go back to the basic of playing the horn. To rid myself of some bad habits I created over the years.
I will keep you guys posted, until then Rock On Guys!
No need to apologize to me Sxpoe LOL–I just got back from Vacation; played tourist in Texas and in about 2 weeks I’ll be uploading something very popular and simple song (at the insistence of my kids wanting me to do this particular song for them that I will be doing) It’s not a backing track of Johnny’s either but it is pretty “funky” LOL
That’s a really cool song Sxpoe and your definately showing improvements, good for you! That’s the great thing about the blog is that we can all watch each other play v.s. just reading about it. Keep going!
Hey Luis, your videos are really encouraging to me, love your Sax set up. Was wondering what your MP/reed set up was. I could definately see some experience in your playing. I think you mentioned you could play Billy Joel’s song of “Just The Way You Are”? That would sound terrific on your Saxophone set up! Looking forward to your next upload 🙂
Was sitting around watching some tv and kept thinking about my tenor, then this song popped into my head. I had the song in an alto book, so I quickly transcribed it for my tenor and gave it a whirl!!
I am using my reworked mouthpiece I just got back. I think I finally found the right piece for me. WOW!! What a difference. Man this thing blows way easier since I got it back, and I’m loving the tone I am getting!! I am using 2.5 java reds. I got some java greens on the way to compare. I didn’t do a whole lot of dynamics in this song, I just whipped it together, but this song doesn’t need a bunch, it def speaks for itself!!
Good one Jake, very nice 🙂 That reworked Mouthpiece seems to have really helped; what did you have them do to it? Was it the Mouthpiece that you had already been using on your Tenor and had it modified or is it another MP all together? How is it in the upper register? Nice to see you progress in your playing Jake!
Luv it Jake – you’ve cracked it Mate.
your setup now is perfect!
When i listen to you play rising and falling it feels like a bird soaring in the sky!
This is really going to help you now as you can relax and play even better!
I can hear my teacher introducing you – “Ladies & Gentleman i give you the one and only Jake ….
This is the same mouthpiece that I used for my unchained melody video. It is a Guardala styled King model. When I got it it played a little stiff and would close off in the upper register, especially my high F#.
It plays smoothly now, I even have hit my Altissimo G with it, not consistently but more so than before!! Not really sure what he did to it. I told him what I felt and he did the rest. He set it up for the java 2.5 reeds. He also handfinished a MBII I got my hands on. That sound good too. I hear a little less brightness as compared to the King model. Its nice having 2 mouthpieces that work!!
Here’s another version of yesterday. This is my altissimo version (not for the faint of heart). LOL
This is in the same key as Johnny’s version. This is a perfect song for working in the first altissimo note “G”.
Tis a challenge but I find it easier when working on a song in addition to doing the exercises to get up there. Sometimes its there, other not so much. This will give me a good starting point to look at when I am proficient at the Altissimo range. HaHa.
Boy after working in the upper range, the lower notes sound so full and robust! I’m attributing the improvement in my tone to Johnny’s Altissimo course. After only 5 months I can hear a major difference. Early on I had problems with High D and up sounding full. I can hear them filling up now as well as compared to earlier videos! So excited!! Thanks so much Johhny!!!!!!!!!
Anyone wanting to improve your tone I highly recommend johnny’s course. It will improve your overall tone and playing even if you don’t wanna play altissimo!!
I recorded this after a few tries and can feel my mouth soreness. That needs to be strengthened up for sure. I’m gonna keep plugging away!
JAKE: Good for you; it’s coming along! Yes, Johnny’s Altissimo course is great, I’m at the lessons in Ear Training..will be approaching Overtones soon 🙂 Nice thing about the blog is being able to watch our videos and monitor our progress; sometimes we don’t see that we are progressing.
Speaking about member’s videos; my Alto is off to get some desperately-needed servicing so wanted to upload this fun tune. My favorite part is actually at the end, so you’ll have to watch it all the way through to see why 🙂 We alternated in raising and lowering the volume between both Saxophones; trading/switching between Alto and Tenor on different takes; watch to see if you see the change ups. I’m working on one of Johnny’s songs using a similar “duet” type of format….only on his song I’ll makes sure that these 2 guys get along with each other LOL. http://youtu.be/MQUwc3oucv4
Hey guys – i’ve just listened to both your latest blogs through some better speakers which is a whole world difference to listening to them through i-touch head phones.
Jake – if you’re having problems with dynamics like i am having at the moment – listen to someone singing it, then try and hum the whole song in terms of loudness and softness to the backing track, and then play the sax like as if you were humming it loud and soft – a lot easier than reading those left and right angles they have on music sheets. But overall fantastic mate! Good demo of what your setup can do.
Michael – ha, ha (end bit was amusing).
Thats cool duet, i can’t fault the playing man!
You’re moving into a new area now – harmony.
I listen to a lot of this in the band at church.
Its like a wedding – the bride and groom walks up the aisle, everyone in church is focused on how the bride looks, they hardly glance at the groom. That’s how a lot of simple duets work! But man fantastic excellent recording! I want to have a go with guitar & sax but my recording setup is pants! lol
very funny ending Michael. its good to see you having fun while learning the sax. It would be fun if we could get together on a song to post here. We could work on our individual parts and have someone splice them together in a video. Just some food for thought.
Your sax sounds pretty bright and sharp sounding (not intonation wise). Is that the sound you are looking for? I know mine sounds pretty bright still so I am in the process of trying out some different reeds to find the “sweet spot” for my sound. What kind of reeds are you using again?
Overall nice improvement though. What a difference a short year makes. LOL
HEY JAKE: That’s a PERFECT idea of doing one of Johnny’s songs together; in fact let’s not talk about it…..let’s do it. My son is a cpu whiz LOL I’ll send you a message about it. Yes, it’s amazing what a year does, you’re coming along nicely..your Altissimo G is trying to come out. Keep working at it and it will come out fully.
No, the alto doesn’t sound good at all intonation wise; it’s way out of tune/high bis key & palm keys constantly getting stuck but that’s being taken care of as previously mentioned. I didn’t have to hit any of those keys for this song. It’s not the sound I’m after, but I’m headed in the direction I wanna go though. I recently started using Vandoren ZZ reeds, per Johnny’s suggestion, and they are way brighter v.s. what I was using. Still using Java 2.5 Greens on Tenor, I played with one slightly used; it’s probably time to open a new reed out of it’s package LOL
Also, remember we we’re lowering/raising the volume as I was doing a change up between Alto/Tenor, especially when I got to the portion of the song where there’s backing vocals singing over and over the words “happy” We didn’t want these backing vocal portions being played sounding louder than the main lyrics being played. Nonetheless, it was a fun experiment and a fun song. Looking at getting a home recording studio set up soon, that records better than the simple USB mic/webcam I have right now, but for the blog that’s all that’s really needed for now.
Make you feel my love – was mushed into learning this one. Suprised to find out its a bob dylan tune
(not a great fan – always thinking of blowing in the wind)
Saxaphone Senimental – this is 3rd song i have to learn for my grade 2 exam.
I have to play this at 144 speed, currently struggling with 96 i think.
This one has to be played as a solo piece in the exam with no backing. lots of dynamics which aren’t under controll yet.
Michael, good job with the video. very entertaining! Lookin’ forward to the Michael/Jake duet!
Been outa commission myself these past 2 weeks now… wanted to enjoy a trail ride (dirt bike) with my son and another father/son up in the woods of northern MI. Well a fairly simple botched turn in a sandy corner resulted in 4 broken ribs, a partially collapsed lung, and 4 titanium plates to speed up the mending process. My recovery is doing well, and I have tried a few practice sessions on my alto, but my breathing is pretty shallow as you might expect. So hoping once I’m back up to speed those titanium plates give me a new “resonance”!!
Good to hear from you Kevin. Sorry bout your accident, that surely sounds painful!! Yea, might be a little bit before you blow big breaths into that sax. Looking forward to more of your videos once you get up and going again! Thanks for the comments.
Kevin, glad to hear from you and most importantly is that your okay! What about your son, how is he? My wife was involved in a major car accident a few months back, she was parked at a stop sign and a driver from the other road turned into here lane, where she was parked, instead of turning into their lane where they were supposed to be; they were driving distracted while on the cell phone and not paying attention. We just never know what’s going to happen from one minute to the next. Take the time you need to heal so that you can start playing the Saxophone of yours again–you’ll see a couple of “likes” on your Saxophone videos on your channel….that was me as I went back a few weeks ago and took a look at your playing as I miss seeing your videos.
Me and Jake already messaged each other about a duet; he’ll be doing the Tenor part and I’ll be doing the Alto part of Johnny’s song….after my Alto gets serviced that is; intonation is off quite a bit but that’s to be expected with the servicing it needs. I’m looking to get home recording studio set up soon, will be contacting Johnny for his help on it.
Nice to hear from you Kevin!
SXPOET: I put a comment here for Kevin to read and I forgot to mention you and your new video: You’re showing a lot of improvement and it takes time. Cool pics/graphics you put with your videos. But one thing I would recommend is that, on your next video, make the video where we can see you playing as this really helps. There are things that can happen while we’re playing like not having enough of the MP in our mouths, the MP is sideways in our mouths, our fingers are stretching to far out from the Sax while hitting the keys, our embouchure, etc.. If other members/Johnny can see you playing, this can really help in the way of seeing what you’re doing and provide some helpful points to help you to keep improving–and you are most definately improving. I always like to hear you play!
Thanks Muchael i have sax lessons with a pro once a week so you don’t have to worry about that! But as i’ve explained in a previous blog about not using a web cam (too lazy to set it up – lol)
http://youtu.be/jVUm_FCzwPQ
wawaw – thankyou Michael, got me having a go at doing a duet!
Took the easy route and recorded my sax playing first,
then used that recording as a backing track
& then played the guitar & recorded both.
Just a experiment to see if i could do it!
I think Johnny will have to start charging me for putting my junk up here on his blog?
Well, I strive to put my best effort into my videos before posting them, but if I held myself to that standard during this time I wouldn’t post a video for weeks or months to come. The work on this piece began back in Feb when I was practicing 4-5 times/wk. I had laid down 3 harmony tracks using my Tenor sax- one rough take just to see how this might shape up. Then I got crazy busy with work and didn’t touch this piece until this week where I added a melody track with my Alto in hopes of joining in with the others posting videos and enjoying Johnny’s website.
I am 2 weeks off of my surgery to plate 4 broken ribs and re-inflate a partially collapsed lung, though I must say my sound on the Alto was not near as weak as I was expecting.
So anyway hope this brings a bit of entertainment to someone though it’s definitely a work-in-progress that I hope to do it justice in the coming months…
Also for those withholding there participation please consider this a nudge to join in. If an aging guy(56) working ridiculous hours and mending from 4 broken ribs can post a video then- “yes you can”…
Really great to see you here on the blog Kevin and so glad your okay. I have always been very encouraged by your videos and progress. Those are very serious injuries. Man, I have no idea if I would even remotely consider playing anything on the Saxophone for some time had something like that happened to me, so hats off to you there for sure! That just shows how much you love your Sax. Considering your injuries, you’re sound is great! Good for you for pulling out that Alto and playing some great music. And yes, for anyone holding back from uploading here to the blog, hope this video encourages you to pull out that Sax and share something. Get plenty of rest Kevin and hope to see more of your playing 🙂
WOW, that sounded so cool! Harmonized very well. You truly are an inspiration to all of us learning! Your tone is so soothing and smooth. I will def be watching that video a few more times. Nice to hear you are recovering well and to see you back here on the blog!!
Very nice Jake, good for you! It’s hard to beat playing with a live band. Thanks for sharing this with everyone, makes for great memories for sure. So the next time you doubt that you’re progressing, just take a look your first live peformance! Very good and WAY cool 🙂
I get to have my first live performance coming this November at an event I was invited to about 6 months ago, but I will be using Johnny’s backing tracks. We’re going to be in a building where it’s almost like a theater! Each of the performers is going to get to be on a stage and there’s a big screen behind us where we can play video footage from the cpu. behind us to make things more entertaining, so my son is making some ultra-cool animations; google pics, etc.. We’re going to have a variety of people doing different things, some of them are harmonica players, some are singers, etc.. I was told I was the only Saxophone player going to be there. Will definately make sure to film it and share it with everyone. I plan, for one of the songs I’m working on right now, to get off stage and actually walk into the audience and do some playing, up close and personal. I made sure I got permission from the organizer for this event to get off stage and play for people right in front of them, he thought it would be the coolest thing in the world 🙂
Thanks for sharing this Jake!
nice michael. we played mustang sally and during the song there were a bunch of dancers. i got on the dance floor and danced while playing the sax. people loved it. i was getting tons of high 5’s. i just joined this band and couldn’t believe the compliments i was getting. i was so animated compared to the band. that’s the beauty of the sax. if you play it well you can really give it feeling. johnny is a great example of that. you can take simple notes and just make them come alive. people could not believe i have been playing for less than 2 years. I was getting compliments from other bands that have been playing for over 20 years. that says a lot to me. thank you. thank you. thank you johnny for your help and support!!!!!!!!!!!
That’s cool you we’re able to get out and do that on the Dance floor and you’re 100% correct about playing with feeling; that really sums up in a nutshell what I was talking about with the duet. What you say about people who can’t believe that you’ve been playing less than 2 years doesn’t surprise me at all (I’ve been told the same thing LOL) and that’s because of Johnny’s instruction. It’s like the Altissimo course; he made a true, genuine, comprehensive way to learn what the things it takes to play up in that range. Same thing goes with everything else he does here; I’m really lovin’ the Killer Blues ebook. Yes Johnny, Thanks You! 🙂
Thanks for the comments Lou. I didn’t have sheet music for Mustang Sally. The band played and I just played a bass riff with the tenor sax to compliment the song. I did about 18 songs that day and didn’t have time to make a solo lead for this song although it would have definitely been fun as it was a fun song to play with a lot of energy!!
I think confidence grows when we put the practice time in!!
Ya Jake! Sorry for the delayed response… I somehow missed this post somehow when it first came round. Gotta say, you have really good musical sense and timing which of course is mandatory for playing with others.
When I’m playing with a band I always have 2 volume levels; one for background parts and the other for solos. This is good advice for any musician, not just a sax player. I always back it off just a bit when the singer is singing. It’s not only polite but helps with the band’s overall dynamics.
reminds me of a joke…
So I told the guy, hey, can you play with a little more dynamics? What!? he said, I’m playing as loud as I can!
Members Saxophone Videos Part 5
Noob question incoming:
Do we just upload the videos to YouTube?
Yes, then come back to this page and submit in the comment box below the youtube URL link along with any other info you want to share such as your sax, reeds, etc and after you post the comment I embed the link there as it can only be done in the admin area of the site.
ps
your youtube video must be saved as “public” or “unlisted” but not “private” otherwise it can’t be embedded.
Michael: Rock Around the Clock – thats a really difficult one to play – shows how well you’re doing! I was talking to a classical musican, and he was telling me the vandoren reeds are about half a strength harder than the Ricoh reeds. So based on what he was saying your Juno 3 should be equivalent to a vandoren 2.5! Curious to know how long have you been playing it? When i put mine on the blog, i’d only played them about 5 or 6 times.
Jake: Still sounds a pretty good mouthpiece you’ve got! I’d try a Ricoh Jazz Select Unfiled Reed 3 soft. 2 minute max soak in H20 – slap it on & go!
My setup doesn’t rock – so like u guys, metal to sax seems sounding better!
Thanks Sxpoe and the classical musician who you were talking with is correct about the reed strength……but in Rock Around the Clock I was playing with the No.3 JAVAS, not the Junos; meaning I would need to play a 2.5 Java as Johnny had noted if I was going to play the Javas; a size 3 Java is just a little to thick for me at this time and that’s why some of those high notes were a little rough v.s Tequila with a size 3 Java, which is equivalent to a Java 2.5. Good observation there Sxpoe. IN terms of playing that song, especially the solo, that’s where a metronome has helped me to be able to control that rhythm as I was talking about before. That’s really important for the next upload that I’ll do in June with a song of Johnny’s on Alto Sax. Looking forward to your next upload 🙂
thanks Michael – I won’t be doing anymore uploads until i get a larger speaker for playing backing tracks on.
after all the slow stuff i’ve been posting, thought i’d change it up and do some dirty ole classic rock n roll oldies! Really working on my growl in this one. I got hit up to play the sax with a band at a upcoming benefit. This is an oldies band that plays tons of 60’s tunes, (this is one of their recorded songs i’m using). It is awesome practice to play with other musicians. really helps with the timing and control (they let you know when the sax is too loud, lol, they don’t like to be overtaken!). It is also great because classic oldies incorporate a lot of the 1-3-5 part of the scales!! Great for learning the arpeggios and helping cement them in the brain!! Got a lot of them memorized now. Yea!!
You’re doing all the right stuff there Jake. It takes some control to growl those lower notes and you’re getting them really nicely.
All those parts will blend in with the band as long as your level is just right as you say…better to be a little lower than over take the singer, cause then you’re out! But don’t confuse lower in the mix with playing with a softer approach. You still got to “give it” and get that tough sound without doing it overly loud. This will be easier on stage because you can play with the microphone (distance).
The negative on this recording is that you are playing flat…tuning-wise that is. It’s overall so I would just push the mp in quite a bit more until you’re in tune with them.
thanks. will push m.piece in more and try it out. i couldn’t really tell, still fine tuning my ears!!
Hey Jake – that was brilliant, i could listen to that again mate – you’re really good. You’re right about playing in a band – i play in a church band (not the same league as you – sax player grade 5, flute grade 5,clarinet grade 5, guitar player- learner 2 yrs, Base guitar player – pro,me acoustic rythmn guitar – 40 yrs playing, recorder player).
Absolutely no timing issues with the guitar – so easy to keep in time with the base player, and people singing, but the guy whose only been playing 2 years really struggles.
Its a different ball game playing sheet music in a band, you have to keep one eye on the sheet music and the other on the conductor, some written sections you have to play slower, so the tempo can vary, and then you have pay attention to the loud & soft sections.. it goes on and on.
thanks sxpoe. Keep at your practicing and you will get there too. Been a touch over 1 1/2 years. Time flys by!! So glad I started but wish I would have picked the sax up years ago!! You are def right about playing with a band. Not only the timing and making sure everyone is on the same page but the intonation as well. As Johnny pointed out I was playing flat (Shhh, I didn’t notice I was, haha).
These are all the things that should come together for us as we improve. In your 1st 6 months you have made huge strides. That is what is so nice with these videos. It’s nice to look back and the have physical evidence of our improvement, especially on those days when the sax may not be going our way. LOL
That is so true Jake about the blog here and our videos that Johnny lets us upload. As we’re learning we often don’t realize that we ARE improving. I have had way more days in the past year of learning that playing the Saxophone wasn’t going my way LOL and many times that is what we see instead of our progress. But then we look at our videos and WOW, we are coming along 🙂 Or were starting to anyway LOL
Petite Fleur – this one i’ve recorded with a backing track that includes a Sax player. When you listen to it, i’m the one that starts late as usual – so i am aware the timing is off, but i want to record this when i can play it in time later on – to compare it to.
You’re getting closer! Actually, playing along and shadowing another sax will make it sound like you’re off worse than it really is. If you had that track without the sax you’d be fitting in there pretty good.
Thanks Johnny, your input is really appreciated. I’m aiming to get my timing issues improved by September, when i start playing alongside a Soprano Sax Player, who also plays Alto Sax. When we both play Alto, we should be playing different parts – so i’ve got my work cut out!
Jake, Sxpoe, Michael- good to hear everyone’s contribution and PROGRESS… Been out of the loop awhile now myself. Got overly busy with work and my saxes have been neglected (I hate when that happens!). Went to see if I could find something to upload, and when I did my Zoom recorder wouldn’t power up. So not my day…
But encouraged by hearing everyone.
Yesterday – recorded on a hemke 2 reed. This one the last part of the song i may slightly be more in time, the first part i lost it! Still another one for me to look back on in a few months time!
Come on chaps – stick some more vid’s up on here. You don’t have to wait till you’ve completely mastered them – hopefully when i look back on them in a years time -i’ll think to myself – God that wasn’t half rubbish!! lol
Are you reading and following the music chart or playing from memory? Your entrances are off but somehow you get back on track. I think you should practice with a metronome. Could be simple reading passages or exercises but the metronome teaches us how to be on time. It’s robotic and some don’t find it a whole lot of fun but it does work. Then, while playing with a track or a real drummer you think of the count (time) and it relates to that boring metronome’s click, click, click.
Nice sxpoe. very soft and soothing tone. Yea your timing was a lot better on that one. It would be nice to see a video of your playing if you could get that (not that the elephants were bad, haha). By seeing video, you may also get some pointers on your playing as well. We have had other posts where Johnny has commented on sax position and posture as ways to improve upon our playing. Good luck with the duets, they can be challenging for sure. Need timing to be right on for that.
Thanks Johnny, playing from sheet music, at the same time trying to count in the start, while listening. I use the metronome in lots of short exercises, and the backing tracks in exericise books are a lot simpler as they count you in 1,2,3,4. But not to worry, work in progress. Must be frustrating for you guys to hear me play! lol
Cheers Jake, if i use my camcorder as a webcam to record,
its a lot of hassle setting it up with the Pc – probably spend half an hour sorting out where to put the music player & work out how far away to stand from the camcorder. Whereas as with the iTouch – just switch it on, play the backing track on it, and record the sax at the same time instantly. I use an Ap called Tunable which is simple to use.
It’s a little frustrating but I will tell you what I hear and hopefully a bit of advice that will help you to improve…that’s why we do this!
Excellent Johnny, sound advice. What i’m going to do now, is do a lot more recording, playing back & listing to the recordings, and only release them when i feel the timing is a lot better. But i’ve enjoyed the advice on here, from you, Jake & Michael!
Hey Kevin: Nice to see you here man! I know exactly what you mean–we’ve been dealing with a lot regarding my wife’s accident. Your playing has always been a real encouragement to me and would love to see it here on the blog.
Sxpoe: It’s not frustrating for me at all to hear you play….to the contrary it encourages me to see how much you love your Saxophone and that alone makes you way cool of a guy! No matter if someone is a Professional player like Johnny or student players like the rest of us, we all love playing our Saxophones.
What Johnny is recommending to you here about using the Metronome is one of THE biggest things that has helped me out in timing. It’s not enough for us to be just playing the right notes; we have to play those notes at the right time and that’s how a metronome helps. It may seem robotic like he says here, but the gains to be made says it all. You’re making great progress; keep going 🙂
Thanks Michael – look forward to hearing your next song on the Sax. Have you got your new Tenor yet?
Not a new Tenor, new Alto. My Tenor is a 1967 Selmer Bundy with a great sound of that era and have no plans right now on replacing it. New Alto will be coming very soon. I was happy to see Johnny put here on the blog the article about how good that Alto Sax is. There are scores of solos/songs that are actually better on the alto. I will be uploading an Alto Song of Johnny’s now in June and I’m working on something right now where you will see both the Alto and the Tenor played in the same song. But typically I like to alternate on the blog between both Saxophones. I love both Saxophones.
I had the option the other day to get a decent, used Soprano Sax but didn’t do it because there’s only so much time in the day to play LOL but I’m certainly not ruling out getting a Soprano in time. There are a number of songs that sound better on the Soprano too; that’s the great thing about the Saxophone is that there’s so many things you can do with it! The other neat thing about the Soprano is that it’s a Bb Sax so sheet music is the same as it is for Tenor.
Hey guys, just having some fun today after working on Johnny’s Altissimo course, those chromatic scales are great fun to say the least 🙂 I LOVE these type of swing songs…..was thinking how cool “Moon Dance” by Van Morrison would sound on the Tenor, it’s got a great Sax solo. Jphnny’s ‘In the Mood” is one of my very favorites!
This is being played on my Java Size 3 Cane reed; the same reed as I did Tequila. It feels much “smoother” and easier to play for me than the Javas right now. A size 3 Juno is the equivalent to a 2.5 Java, 1/2 size smaller than I did with “Rock Around the Clock” Been having crazy weather causing problems for my cane reeds, but found a protective case on Amazon today that may help. Cheers everyone!
Coming along Michael!
Watch your fingers, they are stretching up and nearly touching the sky…
ok a little bit of an exaggeration but put some focus on keeping them as close to the keys as possible, this way you have a chance of getting some speed a lot easier. The time it takes for a finger to come from a fully stretched position to your key is a lot longer than if it is placed just centimeters over it.
Michael – that was fantastic man! thats a difficult piece to play fast. One thing i’ve noticed is some squeaking on a couple of high notes? also quavers catch me out in swing time music as you have to play the 1st one slightly longer than the 2nd one when two are joined together on their own. But i can tell you’re practicing Johnny’s chromatic scales! Thats a really hard piece to play fast and make it flow – you’re miles ahead of me – keep up chromatic scale work matey!! Looking forward to your next one.
I was going to put bessme mucho up, but i couldn’t get permission from the owners to use their track – which was a bit of a downer for me!
That’s a bummer they wouldn’t let you use their backing track 🙁 Haven’t heard of that happening too much. Keep up the great work Sxpoe.
You have good eyes and ears for sure 🙂 I didn’t even plan on uploading this at all, just kind of did it on the spur of a moment but it’s great fun to play so just wanted to share it with other members and have some fun doing it. Yeah there’s a couple of very small squeaks as the Guardala MP is new to me 🙂 It’s all about timing there (at least they’re not too big of squeaks LOL) I’ve been working a lot on Johnny’s chromatic scales but still have a long, long way to go. I don’t want to cheat myself by moving ahead in Johnny’s Altissimo course and even think about working on other things that I haven’t reached or ready to attempt yet. I haven’t even looked at how to finger any Altissimo notes at all in his course. This whole month I’m working out those “rough spots” that he talks about in that section of his Altissimo Course. He did such a fantastic job of emphasizing these rough spots, that before I didn’t even realize I had, even though I had been practicing chromatic scales! Like he mentions there, if we find we have a rough spot……..stop and work on it and don’t move on until we address that spot. It was a huge help to me. But I should be ready to move on to the next lesson now in June. At first it can seem hard playing in rhythm with these type of swing songs, but with time, after working to apply ourselves to what Johnny has to teach on these matters, it kind of just happens. Cheers to you Sxpoe 🙂
I’m busted……..Johnny caught what I caught myself doing on this song. When it comes to the Saxophone…..he doesn’t miss anything, does he? 🙂
I didn’t even plan on uploading this, as Johnny has provided so much of his own backing tracks/sheet music to upload here to the blog and I want to support all his hard work to make those songs available for the rest of us. But this is a way cool song on the Saxophone! At least Karaoke had one decent backing track in their selection to use LOL. By the Way Johnny, Moonlight Lady by Julio Iglesias sounds great on the Alto Sax!
Those long fingers is probably the reason for that one rough spot I’ve had. But I’ve notice, when doing them on the Alto, I don’t have that rough spot, maybe because it’s a smaller Saxophone?
I can feel a difference in the notes being played on the Juno Cane reed here; the same one I used for Tequila v.s. The Java for Mack the Knife and Rock Around the Clock. The Juno is a size 3, the equivalent to a Java 2.5 (which equates to a 1/2 size smaller than what I was using in Mack the Knife and Rock Around the Clock.) I LOVE this Guardala but did have to experiment with the right combination for me.
You’re a star Michael – very good work ethic man!!
I read an article where someone asked how long should they practice something and the reply they got was until they could play it 5 times in a row without a single mistake!
For me Johnny’s altissimo course is additional work to my own Sax lessons and everything up to the altissimo fingering lessons i feel can all be practiced at the same time.
I do these everyday as warm up lessons!(thanks Johnny)!
At the moment i can go up to altissimo C, i just tried them to see if i could hit them! Its like reeds, how do you know when to move up a reed? the only way to know is to try one and see – if its too hard don’t make a big deal out of it.
hey michael, i just remembered. I had a sax lesson a couple weeks back and i was playing Summertime and i squeaked several times very loudly. I stopped and asked him what was i doing wrong. It turned out my reed was on its way out – phew!!
This is a recording of Greensleeves played on a Alto Guardala King metal Mp with a Rico Jazz Select 2s Reed.
This is the same recording of Greensleevs played on a Alto Theo Wanne Kali Rubber Mp with the same Rico Jazz Select 2s Reed.
Which sounds better?
You sound better on #2. It’s more in tune and more consistent, could be that you were more warmed up by then!
Also, your playing along with the metronome better now. Good work on that, keep doing it and your performances with the backing tracks will be better also.
Thanks Johnny – after recording these two, i stuck the guardala MP back on in the exact same position, played it with a different backing track & realised it was out of tune!
Only had the Guardala a day, so i now know that i have to slightly pull it out a bit more than the other MP.
In Tune the Guardala seems to me more agressive ! but its great to have a rubber & a metal MP.
The Rubber Kali plays as soon as you blow it, whereas the guardala plays fractionally later.
Good job Sxpoe–definately improving and that’s what it’s all about. Hats off to you for playing along with the metronome, lots of people may find using a metronome to be somewhat boring and “robotic” but the rewards are huge. For me personally, it has been, without doubt, one of THE most important things that has helped me to learn about playing in proper time. What I have learned from using a metronome–and they are part of my regular practice routine– is that it doesn’t do us any good to play the right notes if we can’t play those notes at the right time when were playing a song. Using it will really help you to play along with backing tracks like Johnny says because you will have that ability to play the right notes at the right time. Cool deal Sxpoe; you are getting better, keep going! 🙂
Thanks Michael – i’m reasonably ok with a metronome apart from the occasional lapse in concentration, i have to keep focused on it all the time. I need to focus more on backing tracks now – luv da sax
Johnny’s video of “Take Five” has 30,836 views…..and about 500 of those views were probably me in learning this song LOL. It’s one of my all-time favorite Alto Saxophone songs and to me it’s an example of a song that is actually sounds better on the Alto v.s. the Tenor.
When you buy this song from Johnny, you don’t get the sheet music for the Sax solo as he plays it, but rather he has done something better, and that is provides you with the scale so that we can improvise with it ourselves. I watched Johnny’s solo, Paul Desmond’s solo, and other solos and I wanted something similar to what Johnny does but also want to get creative and make it a little different; and this is where what I’ve been learning in his book on “Killer Blues” has helped me to do. No one is going to play it exactly the same, but that’s the cool thing about improvisation.
I treated this song as 2 separate lessons; one of the main melody and another of the solo itself. The solo is like a song within a song of sorts. Although I’ve been working on this song almost everyday for the past 6 months, it’s still lacking a little bit. But I am happy to be able to play in in that 5/4 time. Try not to me too hard on my guys! 🙂
Glad to see you didn’t play the solo exactly like me or other solos…it’s your own and that’s what you want to work on. This is a very hard song for anyone to play let alone a beginner with only 12 months experience. Many rough spots as you already know Michael but I know you’ll keep working on em!
Mostly, what I noticed in watching it here on the blog, was in the solo certain notes that I need to emphasize more (like you talk about in the first 3 lessons on How to Play Killer Blues) and using more rests/pauses v.s. running the notes in together–that’s kind of like talking or singing without pausing LOL. This good news is that it’s in 5/4 time; and look where I was 12 months ago; it’s progress 🙂
This Saxophone does need servicing too, the side palm keys have been getting stuck, as well as the high bis key that you use to play Altissimo G. I literally have to wiggle them loose before practicing and had to do so here. But that will be taken care of soon 🙂
Really good effort Michael, you’re coming on taking on a song like that – like Johnny says there are some noticeable rough spots, which i’m sure you’ll have no problem ironing out. Keep going mate!!
I’m depressed at the moment – haven’t played since thursday, had a tooth taken out, tomorrow might have a go.
I read your post on the forum about your teeth and that’s no fun for sure; been there and done that. The good news on the Take Five song is that I was able to control the timing and play in 5/4 time. Uploading to the blog helps us to progress and see what were doing right and wrong. This Alto Sax does need some serious servicing though like I describe in my comment above and I know for a fact that is PARTLY what contributed to a few of those rough spots and that will be taken care of soon. Need to emphasize & scoop a few more of those notes in the solo and work on some of the rests/breaks. It’s coming along 🙂
nice job keeping the pace michael. that was def a quick tune!! Keep working on smoothing up your tone, sounded a little choppy and square, but like Johnny said, that is a tough tune!! especially with only a year under your belt so hats off too you there!!
I like seeing these videos. Not only do we improve through them but we can take other people styles and habits and incorporate them into creating our own style. Like around 0:56 of the video, I could see Johnny doing a glissando as you turn to the side. That was pretty cool and gives feeling to the song as well. Keep up the good work!!
Yeah, that’s the thing that’s great about the blog because as were playing it, especially a song like this in 5/4 time, we may be doing something right or wrong, not really realizing it. I’m addressing the solo now, focusing on scooping more of the notes so they don’t seem so squared up, allotting for more pauses, some notes that I played as quarter notes will become 8th notes, (or the other way around LOL) etc.. But I was happy about being able to play that 5/4 time throughout the entire song and come up with MY OWN solo, and Johnny mentioned he was happy that I didn’t make it exactly the same as his. But I did want it to be somewhat similar & at least recognizable. He provides the scale in his sheet music that this song is based on so that we can improvise ourselves with it. I’ll do it again in a few months as one of those before/after things.
I’ve only been playing 7 months now, but Michael you inspired me to have a go at Take Five!
I just tried the 1st 3 bars today doing what Johnny says, memorizing a bar at a time.
Its harder than i thought (hats off to you matey), in the 3rd bar i couldn’t get the semiquavers up to speed!! lol
recorded using a Ricoh Jazz Select 2S reed.
Michael, getting to hear someone attempt this difficult song inspires me to keep working on it. The hours of work you put into learning it will contribute to your skills in timing, fingering speed, etc. So keep up the hard work.
Practising 2 songs for the world cup – using a Rico Royal 2 & a sore lip, but not using this as an excuse.
Still got a long way to go. But hey looking forward to the world cup!!
Good, the anthem has those nice low notes. When you practice it play them even louder!
Kevin and Sxpoe: You guys inspire me to have fun with the Sax and keep working and that’s what it’s all about. That’s why I love the blog–and special thanks to Johnny for putting it here–we can all watch each other and learn. Uploading here is not about perfection; it’s about progressing and learning so that we can get to perfection LOL I do miss seeing your videos Kevin and I hope to see something here on the blog soon; your song of “Pick Up the Pieces” on Alto Sax still stands out in my mind and I have learned about half of it on Tenor. I even went back to the Member’s videos and clicked “like” on your Alto version just a few days ago LOL 🙂
One thing that helped me play in the 5/4 time is………(drums rolling LOL)….a metronome. I have used a metronome almost from day one since I started learning from Johnny and I use it every time I practice. On the “lessons” section here on his home page he talks about the benefits of using it and what he said in that video has stuck out in my mind. Playing the right notes alone is not enough, we have to control the timing especially for a song like Take Five, being in 5/4 time; and that’s how a metronome helps.
I will say, however, that the student model of Alto Sax I used DESPERATELY needs servicing and that accounts for some of the “roughness”. As an example, the side palm keys get stuck and high bis key gets stuck and I literally have to wiggle those keys a lot before I use it and it’s irritating when it happens while in the middle of playing something too! Good news is that it will be taken care of soon.
On the solo, I also think I may have played too many licks for the time allotted, so I’m revising it and also want to emphasize more of the Bb, Eb and F keys. I’ll upload it later on as a before/after upload LOL
looking forward to your next upload Michael!
I’ll try to restrain my comments! lol
Some time ago, my son and I published this video with Johnny’s song of “Sax in the Country” but you may recall I mentioned that someone tried hacking into my youtube account (always change your password every so often) and so I removed some Saxophone videos as a protection. Also, new members may not have ever seen it before; and it’s no secret that I’m a big fan of Johnny’s Sax music! This is one of the coolest Sax songs I’ve heard because it’s so fitting for where I live here in Arkansas. I really wish there were a backing track/sheet music for this one, but at least I can share it with my family & friends here–which I have and they really dig it.
I hope I did this right. My equipment is a Yamaha YTS-62 with a metal mouth piece and a number two medium Rico reed.
Had an issue lining up the audio and video. All comments welcome Thanks
Louie
I’m wondering if you have the echo effect on intentionally or by accident? It can be a nice effect to the overall sax sound. If you want to work with it I suggest fine tuning it a bit…
The actual delay effect is just as loud as the original sax signal so you could try turning it down a bit, that would smooth out the effect and make it not so obvious.
Hey Louie, that’s a super cool song for the Saxophone. It’s a amazing how we can hear a particular melody at least 100 times, but it takes someone to play it for it to kind of “click” that it’s great Saxophone music 🙂 Thanks for sharing this, cool to see you upload here to the blog; hope to see more of your videos. What type of Metal Mouthpiece are you using? I’ve heard great things about that particular model of Tenor Saxophone you have; Yamaha has been making superb Saxophones of a long time.
For your next video, I would encourage you to stand up and play v.s. sitting down; it can help get more air to your Sax from your diaphragm. When we’re sitting down, it puts added pressure on our diaphragm and can constrict the flow of air. Johnny actually talks about this on one of his exercises on his Altissimo course. Look forward to seeing your next video!
love it Louie – good reverb on it. Always wanted to hear what a YTS-62 sounds like. I’d like hear another one without the reverb, you sound like you have a really smooth tone!!
Thanks guys for the comments;
Johnny the reverb/echo was by accident and as life has it my wife was rushing me while I was recording this song. I will turn it off or turn it down more for the next song. I going to try one of yours tunes.
Michael, thank you for the kind words. The metal m.p. I purchase was from amazon (very – very cheap! compare to name brands mp). It didn’t have a name however, it sound ok from my p.o.v. and does the job. I’ll look up the name for you when I find it.
YTS-62 was a gift to myself since I can’t afford a Selmer like Johnny (hihi). The sitting down part not sure why I did it (I guess I was being lazy). The next video I will be standing up. The camera was also aim low and I also wanted to show my hand position on the horn.
Sxpoe, thank you for your kind words on the tone of the YTS-62. I going to make another video with help of my next door neighbor. He has more of an understanding and is knowledgeable on video and audio recording.
Once again thank you guys for your comments and suggestion.
By the way, I saw each and every one of you guys video and you guys Rock! Keep the videos coming and Johnny keep the tunes coming too!
Louie
This video recorded two years ago. The equipment and setup is a Cecilio Tenor using a number 2 Rico reed and a Yamaha 4c rubber mp.
I played this song for a friend at his wedding. Once again forgive me on the video part it out of sync.
All comments are welcome.
Louie
Luis – that was beautiful man! I knew you were smooth!!
Nice tone Luis! That recording sounded much better than the first!! How long have you been playing?
Did you like the Cecilio? I have a China made Hawk and am currently looking to get a nice professional tenor now that I know I am sticking with it. I know what you mean about those Mark VI. $$$$$$$. LOL.
Once again thanks for the kind words Sxpoe and Jake.
My history on playing the saxophone goes back to my younger days of being a young boy of 11yrs or 12yrs old (I forget). Anyway, I was taught by a professional jazz player from the 1950-60 era, who lived a low key life style and love to teach music. He passed away of a heart attack in 1983 while visiting his home state (Florida).
I stop playing the saxophone when I entered High School and picked it up again when I met my second wife (2007).
I won my wife’s heart by playing Billy Joel’s “Just the Way You Are”.
Jake, the Cecilio for price you cannot beat it. The horn has it up’s and down’s or should I say. I had my up’s and down’s. Sometimes I would hit every notes I wanted other times I sounded like a duck.
I still have the Cecilio as a backup horn. I once read about a player who played on a junk of an instrument and when he got his hands on nice working instrument. He played like a professional with years under his belt.
The bottom line Jake, if you can make that student model horn sound good then when you get your hands on an advance or professional horn. Oh boy watch out !
By the way guys I re-did the Imagine video and recorded And I love her today. I should have it ready or should I say my neighbor should have done by Friday.
Once again a big Thank You to Johnny for allowing myself and others post video and comments of our playing..
Thank You Johnny!
Thanks Luis, very encouraging words! Makes me want a better horn faster now. LoL!
And I love Her cover
Luis – cool, love it man!
you inspire me to work harder!
Hi Guys, just wanted to share a though and I’am sure you guys heard this from Johnny and read it here. Don’t worry about how you sound on the sax just play the horn.
We all have our sax tone. You just gotta listen to your own sound… practice for at least twenty minutes a day. Do a scales or a couple bars a song you like.
When I was learning to play during my early years as a young boy. My practice was 30 minutes prior to the start of the school day, thirty minutes after lunch time and an hour and half after school Monday thur Friday. So as you can see the tone and playing didn’t come over night. More like several decades later and still a work in progress.
Your practice session should not be something you dread It should be something you can walk away from and say; Ok I learn something new today or I’m going to try something different or new.
Every-now and then, I still feel like my sax tone needs some work on as well as other things. And I work on it.
Anyway thats my two cents on the matter and by no means I’am better than any of you guys or an expert. I look forward to my practice session.
Hey Luis–gorgeous song for the Saxophone you played there; and Johnny’s backing tracks are WAY superior to Karaoke backing tracks, that’s for sure 🙂 Nice of you to tackle this song, this song has a feel that helps me and my wife settle in for the night if you know what I mean 🙂
I do have a few questions: If you’ve been playing for a while, are there any embellishments that you can add to your playing to really make this song come alive? Watch Johnny’s videos; he uses them all the time. It makes such a big difference v.s. just playing notes from our sheet music. Just the little things like scooping notes, trills, changing Octaves, vibrato, playing it with feeling/emotion, etc., can add so much flavor; especially to such a gorgeous song like this. You obviously have the experience for it from learning to play at a young age–and I only wish I could say the same thing LOL—so go for it and spice that baby up 🙂
I was also noticing that your Mouthpiece looks like, as your playing, it’s pointing upward towards the roof of your mouth v.s. straight into your mouth; which can hurt your tone and embouchure. If you watch your video on the timing of 1:53-1:57 and then again at 2:14-2:15, the notes become flat and thin out a little bit. There’s a couple of other places but the above mentioned timing are 2 good places to check it out. I think if you hold the MP level in your mouth v.s. letting it drop, this will really help. One other thing is notice the timing of the phrases of your playing at 0:34-to-0:37 and compare the same phrase to 0:55-to-1:00. This timing at 34 seconds to 37 seconds is slightly too early.
You’re an experienced player, and the more you watch for even the slightest of detail in your playing, the better you will be. I’m curious about your MP/reed set up. Thanks for sharing such great videos, looking forward to watching more videos from you, there’s no shortage of music here on Johnny’s site; he’s got so much for us to tackle! 🙂
An hour a day stops the tone from fading away! lol
Thanks for the comment Michael, never really paid to much attention to the mp in my mouth. I will take a closer look at that in the mirror (thanks for catching that for me).
The reed is set on the table just below the rim.
So that I don’t squeal on G (above the staff).
The next song I’ll tackle I will put some soul into. Let me see what I’ll learned from all these years (hihi).
Sxpoe, love that comment!
Michael, that was a amazing example of constructive feedback! It’s nice when we hear how good the tone is coming along and other nice comments but what really helps us improve is when we get tips and feedback citing examples from the videos we post.
The unfortunate part from newbies is that we always don’t have the ear and experience to pick out things, especially from a more experienced player. I have been at it a little over 1 1/2 years and I couldn’t tell I was flat til Johnny pointed it out.
The smallest things (such as the mouthpiece, as you pointed out) can have a huge impact on our improvement.
I agree with Michael, Luis, Your tone is smooth and sounds nice but embellishments will take your playing to a new level. That’s kinda where I am at the moment. Now that I can play the notes, its time too put something on them and make them special and give them feeling!
Thanks so much for this site Johnny!! Keep rocking the videos friends!
Yes Johnny…..thanks SO MUCH for this site. It’s been a fantastic way to improve in our playing, meet other student players, make new friends, take personal lessons from Johnny on Skype; and by the way….if you’ve never booked a private lesson with Johnny on skype, do it. It’s $ well spent and I’m going to do it again as soon as I can. More importantly is that we see that he’s just a terrific guy.
I think as we improve–thanks to Johnny adding the blog here–we all just start noticing things in our own playing that maybe even a few months ago we wouldn’t have even thought about or was even aware of, and we all help each other get better because of it. I remember on one of my first uploads I played something and Johnny immediately brought out that I was playing in the wrong key signature! I didn’t even bother asking the band instructor what key it was in, and didn’t even bother looking at the key signature on the sheet music myself! I just didn’t know any better, I just thought we get something and play it LOL. Looking back on that…..good grief! 🙂 I laugh a lot about it. But we learn from those things. The worse the to do is get discouraged and quit because our tone, for example, doesn’t sound like Johnny’s–or whoever it was that turned us on to the Saxophone. Contrary to what someone may say that the Saxophone is “easy” to play, it takes many years to get to that level that we all want to be at. But we can’t expect to get to that level without making mistakes, and lots of them. And the blog here is great because we can all watch each other play v.s. just reading about it. Thanks so much Johnny for putting up an awesome site for us 🙂
Talking about all of Johnny’s hard work to make this website possible for us, we need to all remember, too, that on the home page there’s a link where we can make a donation to this site, links here to use where we can go to Amazon when we need to buy something and this site benefits from, book a lesson with Johnny, etc..
one piece of advice i can give about using embellishments is make sure you can play the piece properly, error free and in time first. Then try it with embellishments.
Adding embillishments can result in shortening other notes which in turn can distort the whole song, sometimes making it sound rushed. This is where playing in a band, other band members can accomadate you better, which you won’t get in backing track!
I learnt this hard way when i went to one of my lessons and tried to impress my teacher by playing embellishments to a backing track. He stopped me straight there and then and made me play the tune without embellishments, as he wanted me to be able to play it properly first.
Then he wrote on the sheet where & when i could play the embellishments.
But don’t let me put you guys off! As they are wonderful to hear, and allow us to put our own stamp on a piece.
Keep the uploads cumming guys!
Embellishment will be forth coming.
Yes, Jake, I love it when people can come to together and help one another in their goals (i.e. saxophone playing). A perfect example was Michael’s last post (Thank You Michael).
Even though I have that many years under my belt. I am still learning something new from others (embellishments is one of them). I never really realize my mp placement until it was pointed out.
I can blame bad habit (it going to be stuff to break!)
As Jake said “Keep rocking the videos friends”
Hey Luis, you have some good things happening with your saxophone! Nice going. I will ask you a question in order to help you progress to the next level….
What is the major difference from what you look like while playing as compared to a more advanced professional player?
It’s how much of your mouthpiece is in your mouth.
Because you are only taking in very little of your mouthpiece, you are dealing with several problems: intonation, sqweeks, breaking notes, thin tone.
If you learn to play with more mouthpiece in your mouth you will develop a much bigger tone.
Take a bigger bite. It will feel uncomfortable at first so bring it back a little bit. Next time take more in. It will always feel uncomfortable but you let it slide back a bit but not as much as how you had it before. Focus on this for a few days or weeks…always trying to play with a little bit more in your mouth. After a while you will have moved up more on your mouthpiece and your tone is going to be bigger.
Fantastic piece of advice Johnny!
You hit the nail right on the head!
I couldn’t see what the exact problem was.
For all you beginners just starting out – at least get some lessons from day one!
My Sax teacher watches me like a hawk – sometimes i feel like i’m at the Doctors having a medical. It’s a bit offputting at first.
Hey Sxpoe, there’s a good reason why your Sax instructor watches you like a Hawk, and that’s because it’s the attention to all those small details, like Johnny cleverly brings out here, that makes the difference/separates great players from everyone else. And you’ll thank your “doctor” for it later too–cool comparison LOL
Hats off to you Luis–keep those videos coming 🙂
Thanks Johnny,
All my teachers and instructors at one point or another had smack me across the head about the placement of the mp (hihi). Just too hard headed to remember a small detail like that (perfect example of a bad habit form from childhood).
Once again Thank you guys for the feed back and advice. Going to get to work on those details pointed out.
Nice one Luis!
When someone performs music for you its like their sharing a gift with you!
And like all gifts when you sit there and recieve them you can sometimes be dissaponted as it may not live up to your expectations.
When someone performs and brings that accross it makes me as a listener feel special, and they’ve won me over as a fan.
Thought I would share this video with everyone. 3rd row at a recent Foreigner concert. Love the sax in this tune, this is one of the tunes that got me started on the sax!! Favorite part of this video is around 2:28, the man knows whats coming, LOL. Lots of improve in here too! Hopefully I can get to this point someday, that’s what all this work is for!!!! ENJOY, I DID!!
Very cool, thanks for that Jake…was it you who filmed it from your seat?
Nice that he stayed true to the Jr Walker solo.
You’ll get there Jake. Those are really high notes but when you have a close look there’s only a few of them and very doable if you keep on with the altissimo course!!!
Wish it was my seat! No, my buddy that I jam with filmed it from his seat with his iphone!!
Yea, I got the solo here from a book titled “25 Great sax Solos”, even has a cd with it. Yea, it is doable. Still working away on the altissimo course. Still having trouble with the Altissimo G and G#. I also seem to be struggling with getting the 3rd overtone high Bb from the low Bb fingering. I gotta admit I haven’t been working on them daily though. I have been focusing on this music that I have to play at an upcoming show in a couple weeks!! Gotta get back to the basics cause I want to get into the altissimo range cause it just ROCKS!!
Thanks for sharing this Jake–wish I was there! We will get to that level playing 😉 look at the progress we’ve made since hooking up here with Johnny. Keep rock in’ Jake and keep those great videos of yours coming. Looks like your playing with a band now? Good for you–Just stay on top of Johnny’s Altissimo Course and don’t forget to work on that Improvisation!
grade 2 – drunken sailor & rosemary and thyme
Taking grade 2 exam in november, in an effort to improve my time-keeping when
playing Johnny’s songs. So pardon me (michael) for not uploading one of Johnny’s pieces
as i want to compare it again in november – to see the difference.
The following 2 of 3 songs i have to play in the exam, accompanied by a piano player
at the same tempo instead of a backing track (that should be interesting).
Been practicing the 2 pieces for a week now, the 1st piece seems ok.
The 2nd piece (starting at 0.57) is a bit loose on the time keeping,
and struggling with the dynamics in it is something new i’m getting to grips with.
“Drunken Sailor” & “Rosemary and thyme” (should have signed up for
grade 2 Jazz sax exam instead as one of the pieces in that is “watermelon man”).
Both these 2 pieces are relatively easy – on a par with Johnny’s green sleeves,
which is ideal for someone like me with only 7 months experience.
Hello fellow sax players and Johnny.
After reading what everyone wrote. I decide to put it into practice and go back to the basic of playing the horn. To rid myself of some bad habits I created over the years.
I will keep you guys posted, until then Rock On Guys!
No need to apologize to me Sxpoe LOL–I just got back from Vacation; played tourist in Texas and in about 2 weeks I’ll be uploading something very popular and simple song (at the insistence of my kids wanting me to do this particular song for them that I will be doing) It’s not a backing track of Johnny’s either but it is pretty “funky” LOL
That’s a really cool song Sxpoe and your definately showing improvements, good for you! That’s the great thing about the blog is that we can all watch each other play v.s. just reading about it. Keep going!
Hey Luis, your videos are really encouraging to me, love your Sax set up. Was wondering what your MP/reed set up was. I could definately see some experience in your playing. I think you mentioned you could play Billy Joel’s song of “Just The Way You Are”? That would sound terrific on your Saxophone set up! Looking forward to your next upload 🙂
Way to go Luis – in the meantime, if you’ve got anything more wonderful to play whether you’re learning it or not – please share!
Was sitting around watching some tv and kept thinking about my tenor, then this song popped into my head. I had the song in an alto book, so I quickly transcribed it for my tenor and gave it a whirl!!
I am using my reworked mouthpiece I just got back. I think I finally found the right piece for me. WOW!! What a difference. Man this thing blows way easier since I got it back, and I’m loving the tone I am getting!! I am using 2.5 java reds. I got some java greens on the way to compare. I didn’t do a whole lot of dynamics in this song, I just whipped it together, but this song doesn’t need a bunch, it def speaks for itself!!
ya Jake, a change in the right direction for sure! Let us know if you find a difference with the greens.
Good one Jake, very nice 🙂 That reworked Mouthpiece seems to have really helped; what did you have them do to it? Was it the Mouthpiece that you had already been using on your Tenor and had it modified or is it another MP all together? How is it in the upper register? Nice to see you progress in your playing Jake!
Luv it Jake – you’ve cracked it Mate.
your setup now is perfect!
When i listen to you play rising and falling it feels like a bird soaring in the sky!
This is really going to help you now as you can relax and play even better!
I can hear my teacher introducing you – “Ladies & Gentleman i give you the one and only Jake ….
This is the same mouthpiece that I used for my unchained melody video. It is a Guardala styled King model. When I got it it played a little stiff and would close off in the upper register, especially my high F#.
It plays smoothly now, I even have hit my Altissimo G with it, not consistently but more so than before!! Not really sure what he did to it. I told him what I felt and he did the rest. He set it up for the java 2.5 reeds. He also handfinished a MBII I got my hands on. That sound good too. I hear a little less brightness as compared to the King model. Its nice having 2 mouthpieces that work!!
Thanks for the comments
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2aexeLnCViQ
Here’s another version of yesterday. This is my altissimo version (not for the faint of heart). LOL
This is in the same key as Johnny’s version. This is a perfect song for working in the first altissimo note “G”.
Tis a challenge but I find it easier when working on a song in addition to doing the exercises to get up there. Sometimes its there, other not so much. This will give me a good starting point to look at when I am proficient at the Altissimo range. HaHa.
Boy after working in the upper range, the lower notes sound so full and robust! I’m attributing the improvement in my tone to Johnny’s Altissimo course. After only 5 months I can hear a major difference. Early on I had problems with High D and up sounding full. I can hear them filling up now as well as compared to earlier videos! So excited!! Thanks so much Johhny!!!!!!!!!
Anyone wanting to improve your tone I highly recommend johnny’s course. It will improve your overall tone and playing even if you don’t wanna play altissimo!!
I recorded this after a few tries and can feel my mouth soreness. That needs to be strengthened up for sure. I’m gonna keep plugging away!
JAKE: Good for you; it’s coming along! Yes, Johnny’s Altissimo course is great, I’m at the lessons in Ear Training..will be approaching Overtones soon 🙂 Nice thing about the blog is being able to watch our videos and monitor our progress; sometimes we don’t see that we are progressing.
Speaking about member’s videos; my Alto is off to get some desperately-needed servicing so wanted to upload this fun tune. My favorite part is actually at the end, so you’ll have to watch it all the way through to see why 🙂 We alternated in raising and lowering the volume between both Saxophones; trading/switching between Alto and Tenor on different takes; watch to see if you see the change ups. I’m working on one of Johnny’s songs using a similar “duet” type of format….only on his song I’ll makes sure that these 2 guys get along with each other LOL.
http://youtu.be/MQUwc3oucv4
Hey guys – i’ve just listened to both your latest blogs through some better speakers which is a whole world difference to listening to them through i-touch head phones.
Jake – if you’re having problems with dynamics like i am having at the moment – listen to someone singing it, then try and hum the whole song in terms of loudness and softness to the backing track, and then play the sax like as if you were humming it loud and soft – a lot easier than reading those left and right angles they have on music sheets. But overall fantastic mate! Good demo of what your setup can do.
Michael – ha, ha (end bit was amusing).
Thats cool duet, i can’t fault the playing man!
You’re moving into a new area now – harmony.
I listen to a lot of this in the band at church.
Its like a wedding – the bride and groom walks up the aisle, everyone in church is focused on how the bride looks, they hardly glance at the groom. That’s how a lot of simple duets work! But man fantastic excellent recording! I want to have a go with guitar & sax but my recording setup is pants! lol
very funny ending Michael. its good to see you having fun while learning the sax. It would be fun if we could get together on a song to post here. We could work on our individual parts and have someone splice them together in a video. Just some food for thought.
Your sax sounds pretty bright and sharp sounding (not intonation wise). Is that the sound you are looking for? I know mine sounds pretty bright still so I am in the process of trying out some different reeds to find the “sweet spot” for my sound. What kind of reeds are you using again?
Overall nice improvement though. What a difference a short year makes. LOL
HEY JAKE: That’s a PERFECT idea of doing one of Johnny’s songs together; in fact let’s not talk about it…..let’s do it. My son is a cpu whiz LOL I’ll send you a message about it. Yes, it’s amazing what a year does, you’re coming along nicely..your Altissimo G is trying to come out. Keep working at it and it will come out fully.
No, the alto doesn’t sound good at all intonation wise; it’s way out of tune/high bis key & palm keys constantly getting stuck but that’s being taken care of as previously mentioned. I didn’t have to hit any of those keys for this song. It’s not the sound I’m after, but I’m headed in the direction I wanna go though. I recently started using Vandoren ZZ reeds, per Johnny’s suggestion, and they are way brighter v.s. what I was using. Still using Java 2.5 Greens on Tenor, I played with one slightly used; it’s probably time to open a new reed out of it’s package LOL
Also, remember we we’re lowering/raising the volume as I was doing a change up between Alto/Tenor, especially when I got to the portion of the song where there’s backing vocals singing over and over the words “happy” We didn’t want these backing vocal portions being played sounding louder than the main lyrics being played. Nonetheless, it was a fun experiment and a fun song. Looking at getting a home recording studio set up soon, that records better than the simple USB mic/webcam I have right now, but for the blog that’s all that’s really needed for now.
http://youtu.be/0DYmZPjl_1I
2 songs
Make you feel my love – was mushed into learning this one. Suprised to find out its a bob dylan tune
(not a great fan – always thinking of blowing in the wind)
Saxaphone Senimental – this is 3rd song i have to learn for my grade 2 exam.
I have to play this at 144 speed, currently struggling with 96 i think.
This one has to be played as a solo piece in the exam with no backing. lots of dynamics which aren’t under controll yet.
Jake, great job! Tone improvement for sure! Overall everything improved- control, pitch, timing… Good song selection to showcase your improvements!
Michael, good job with the video. very entertaining! Lookin’ forward to the Michael/Jake duet!
Been outa commission myself these past 2 weeks now… wanted to enjoy a trail ride (dirt bike) with my son and another father/son up in the woods of northern MI. Well a fairly simple botched turn in a sandy corner resulted in 4 broken ribs, a partially collapsed lung, and 4 titanium plates to speed up the mending process. My recovery is doing well, and I have tried a few practice sessions on my alto, but my breathing is pretty shallow as you might expect. So hoping once I’m back up to speed those titanium plates give me a new “resonance”!!
Good to hear from you Kevin. Sorry bout your accident, that surely sounds painful!! Yea, might be a little bit before you blow big breaths into that sax. Looking forward to more of your videos once you get up and going again! Thanks for the comments.
Kevin, glad to hear from you and most importantly is that your okay! What about your son, how is he? My wife was involved in a major car accident a few months back, she was parked at a stop sign and a driver from the other road turned into here lane, where she was parked, instead of turning into their lane where they were supposed to be; they were driving distracted while on the cell phone and not paying attention. We just never know what’s going to happen from one minute to the next. Take the time you need to heal so that you can start playing the Saxophone of yours again–you’ll see a couple of “likes” on your Saxophone videos on your channel….that was me as I went back a few weeks ago and took a look at your playing as I miss seeing your videos.
Me and Jake already messaged each other about a duet; he’ll be doing the Tenor part and I’ll be doing the Alto part of Johnny’s song….after my Alto gets serviced that is; intonation is off quite a bit but that’s to be expected with the servicing it needs. I’m looking to get home recording studio set up soon, will be contacting Johnny for his help on it.
Nice to hear from you Kevin!
SXPOET: I put a comment here for Kevin to read and I forgot to mention you and your new video: You’re showing a lot of improvement and it takes time. Cool pics/graphics you put with your videos. But one thing I would recommend is that, on your next video, make the video where we can see you playing as this really helps. There are things that can happen while we’re playing like not having enough of the MP in our mouths, the MP is sideways in our mouths, our fingers are stretching to far out from the Sax while hitting the keys, our embouchure, etc.. If other members/Johnny can see you playing, this can really help in the way of seeing what you’re doing and provide some helpful points to help you to keep improving–and you are most definately improving. I always like to hear you play!
Thanks Muchael i have sax lessons with a pro once a week so you don’t have to worry about that! But as i’ve explained in a previous blog about not using a web cam (too lazy to set it up – lol)
sorry Muchael – should be Michael. typo – Don’t you just love keyborads! lol
http://youtu.be/jVUm_FCzwPQ
wawaw – thankyou Michael, got me having a go at doing a duet!
Took the easy route and recorded my sax playing first,
then used that recording as a backing track
& then played the guitar & recorded both.
Just a experiment to see if i could do it!
I think Johnny will have to start charging me for putting my junk up here on his blog?
http://youtu.be/l6U8MegtOgo
Well, I strive to put my best effort into my videos before posting them, but if I held myself to that standard during this time I wouldn’t post a video for weeks or months to come. The work on this piece began back in Feb when I was practicing 4-5 times/wk. I had laid down 3 harmony tracks using my Tenor sax- one rough take just to see how this might shape up. Then I got crazy busy with work and didn’t touch this piece until this week where I added a melody track with my Alto in hopes of joining in with the others posting videos and enjoying Johnny’s website.
I am 2 weeks off of my surgery to plate 4 broken ribs and re-inflate a partially collapsed lung, though I must say my sound on the Alto was not near as weak as I was expecting.
So anyway hope this brings a bit of entertainment to someone though it’s definitely a work-in-progress that I hope to do it justice in the coming months…
Also for those withholding there participation please consider this a nudge to join in. If an aging guy(56) working ridiculous hours and mending from 4 broken ribs can post a video then- “yes you can”…
Really great to see you here on the blog Kevin and so glad your okay. I have always been very encouraged by your videos and progress. Those are very serious injuries. Man, I have no idea if I would even remotely consider playing anything on the Saxophone for some time had something like that happened to me, so hats off to you there for sure! That just shows how much you love your Sax. Considering your injuries, you’re sound is great! Good for you for pulling out that Alto and playing some great music. And yes, for anyone holding back from uploading here to the blog, hope this video encourages you to pull out that Sax and share something. Get plenty of rest Kevin and hope to see more of your playing 🙂
WOW, that sounded so cool! Harmonized very well. You truly are an inspiration to all of us learning! Your tone is so soothing and smooth. I will def be watching that video a few more times. Nice to hear you are recovering well and to see you back here on the blog!!
Jake, that was awesome man! love that tone that came out of that horn! Love It !
Louie
My 1st live performance with a band! SO COOL!!!!! Wow, was amazing, so much better than playing at home alone!!!
Very nice Jake, good for you! It’s hard to beat playing with a live band. Thanks for sharing this with everyone, makes for great memories for sure. So the next time you doubt that you’re progressing, just take a look your first live peformance! Very good and WAY cool 🙂
I get to have my first live performance coming this November at an event I was invited to about 6 months ago, but I will be using Johnny’s backing tracks. We’re going to be in a building where it’s almost like a theater! Each of the performers is going to get to be on a stage and there’s a big screen behind us where we can play video footage from the cpu. behind us to make things more entertaining, so my son is making some ultra-cool animations; google pics, etc.. We’re going to have a variety of people doing different things, some of them are harmonica players, some are singers, etc.. I was told I was the only Saxophone player going to be there. Will definately make sure to film it and share it with everyone. I plan, for one of the songs I’m working on right now, to get off stage and actually walk into the audience and do some playing, up close and personal. I made sure I got permission from the organizer for this event to get off stage and play for people right in front of them, he thought it would be the coolest thing in the world 🙂
Thanks for sharing this Jake!
nice michael. we played mustang sally and during the song there were a bunch of dancers. i got on the dance floor and danced while playing the sax. people loved it. i was getting tons of high 5’s. i just joined this band and couldn’t believe the compliments i was getting. i was so animated compared to the band. that’s the beauty of the sax. if you play it well you can really give it feeling. johnny is a great example of that. you can take simple notes and just make them come alive. people could not believe i have been playing for less than 2 years. I was getting compliments from other bands that have been playing for over 20 years. that says a lot to me. thank you. thank you. thank you johnny for your help and support!!!!!!!!!!!
That’s cool you we’re able to get out and do that on the Dance floor and you’re 100% correct about playing with feeling; that really sums up in a nutshell what I was talking about with the duet. What you say about people who can’t believe that you’ve been playing less than 2 years doesn’t surprise me at all (I’ve been told the same thing LOL) and that’s because of Johnny’s instruction. It’s like the Altissimo course; he made a true, genuine, comprehensive way to learn what the things it takes to play up in that range. Same thing goes with everything else he does here; I’m really lovin’ the Killer Blues ebook. Yes Johnny, Thanks You! 🙂
Hi Jake full of confidence Nice job can you tell me were I can get the sheet music & backing track for. mustang Sally Lou
Thanks for the comments Lou. I didn’t have sheet music for Mustang Sally. The band played and I just played a bass riff with the tenor sax to compliment the song. I did about 18 songs that day and didn’t have time to make a solo lead for this song although it would have definitely been fun as it was a fun song to play with a lot of energy!!
I think confidence grows when we put the practice time in!!
Ya Jake! Sorry for the delayed response… I somehow missed this post somehow when it first came round. Gotta say, you have really good musical sense and timing which of course is mandatory for playing with others.
When I’m playing with a band I always have 2 volume levels; one for background parts and the other for solos. This is good advice for any musician, not just a sax player. I always back it off just a bit when the singer is singing. It’s not only polite but helps with the band’s overall dynamics.
reminds me of a joke…
So I told the guy, hey, can you play with a little more dynamics? What!? he said, I’m playing as loud as I can!