Besame mucho from pavus

[Martin Pavíček]

Hello everyone, this is my first (released) recording:

I’m not completely satisfied with it, and I have several mistakes. Instead of middle D it sometimes plays a middle A – like the second aliquot from the bottom D – can it be related to the fact that I recently lost two adjacent teeth (stool) in the upper jaw?

Please make recommendations on what to focus on – but keep in mind that I started playing in 2017, at a very very mature age :-).

Thanks

Martin P.

[Michael]

Beautiful song, thanks for sharing 🙂

[john]

Martin great job for only starting last year!
Your breathe control is lacking some support and I believe it’s not coming from your diaphragm.
I’ll be doing a lesson on this soon.

johnny

[Martin Pavíček]

Hi Johny, thank you for the reaction. With the right breathing I have the following difficulties:
1. According to some sources, when breathing out, the belly should fall (ie if I lie on the ground on my back, my exhale should decrease my belly to the ground). However, according to other sources, the stomach should be “bent” when inhaled and then not to go dow when exhale – the diaphragm should move towards the head, but the abdominal wall should not descend to the ground. What do you think?
2. If I really want to feel the air being pushed out of my diaphragm and nothing else, I play very loud – but if I do not want to play so loud, the airways do not put so much resistance and I do not feel if the air “leans” on the diaphragm or not .
I hope I have described it comprehensibly.

Are there any sections in the record where you clearly hear the bad tone due to poor breathing? I.e. sections that would sound different if I breathe properly?
Thank you for answer ….

What about others – our critic @saxomonica ? :-). Or, sometimes @sxpoet has interesting spots ….

Martin

[Anonymous]

Hi Martin,
If you started in 2017, your pitch & tone is very good for such a short time period. Building up air support improves over time so i wouldn’t get too stressed about it. It’s no different to someone who tries to hold their breath under water for a longer period.

One thing i can tell you from my own experience, there are two ways of releasing air from your lungs when blowing out a note – relaxed or tensed up muscles around the chest. If all your muscles are tensed up, you run out of air a lot faster and the strenght of the pitch starts to get weaker and fades away, and because of the tenseness of muscles, you cant grab a decent amount of air to refill your lungs quickly enough to have a strong supported pitcg to carry on playing. Whereas if you practice relaxing the muscles around your chest you will find you can hold a note or notes a lot longer of the same strength of pitch, and also this lets you gulp a volume of air to quickly carry on playing without a drop in dynamics. If you watch some sax players playing very fast, you will see that in action.

The best exercise is practicing long tones.

Another very good exercise which practically everyone ignores, is to slow the backing track down as low as you can (about 60) and practice playing in time. It is very difficult breathing wise to play at extremely slow speeds, but it does build up strength of breath control, better than any exercise i’ve come across.

[john]

good advice from sxpoet as usual….long tones for sure!
the obvious thing to listen for is the wavering in your notes. if the air support is stronger then this wavering starts to go away.
you are doing very good for the amount of time so far….keep working the way you are and be patient.
Think about sharing another video in a month or 2 to see if we can tell if there are any changes.

[Anonymous]

i only started playing the sax 5 yrs ago, at a late age in life, but i have had weekly lessons from a working Pro, the equivalent standard as Johnny, with a lifetimes experience. I don’t claim to know everything sax-wise, but as a novice, a lot of problems i have encountered are still fresh in my mind.

[saxomonica]

Hi Everyone, Happy New Year 🙂

Hi Martin, great song, good job very well done.
Cheers!

Thanking you kindly @sx poet for informative tips.

So. Martin. You refer to me as, ‘our critic’? Hmm …
It is not a hat that fits well with me.

Well, now. You refer to my extant caustic comments on a past member’s 3 songs, that is being one whom has now bolted?
Anyways. You want me to lick his bum and offer up soft cock embellishments to his airs??
I guess it would be encouraging ..

I’ve paid the price for my tactlessness and gave up sax recently feeling feeling bad OK.
“When you are pointing your finger at somebody else you are pointing three fingers back at yourself”.

N.B. One thought it was Pink Floyd whom sung, ‘Hanging on in quite desperation is the English way’.

All righty. I was tough on that bloke but he wanted honest feedback. Which i gave.
I have a good ears. 20 yrs ago i taught blues harmonica for five years at Zap Music in Perth W.A.

These a days i have come back to playing the tenor sax and i tend play blues harp riffs.
And, i love Johnny and the Hurricanes to jam along with. Johnny Paris. 300 Hurricanes.

Some very basic harp riffs played on tenor sax would go – (Guitar in G)
Up riff A C# D E
Down riff E D C# A
Std blues E D C# D C# A
Fancy A C# D E D C# D C# A F#
9 blow down a d f# c# b A G E C# A E F# G A
etc
these are basic beginner licks by a guy called Jon Gindick, and, suggest check him out on line.
Check out Little Walter if you have any interest.
He oft plays chromatic harmonica third position, he is on a C harp band is in D.
Saxy.

Breathing.
I found these exercises on line. i think they are pretty good.

1) Breath in 1 2 3 4 5 take as much air as can on the last one.
Then EXHALE same way with force.

2) Think / say – oh, ah, ee when you breath in.
Fills low, middle and top of lungs.

3) Count as breathing in and whilst blowing out. Shoot for 20. Then 30, 40, 50, 60.
You can do it.

4) Link –

8 Things You Can Do Today to Instantly Pump Up Your Saxophone Sound

[Anonymous]

Some good points there saxoharmonica!
Why not do an upload yourself, so we can hear the sounds
from down under! lol (i’m on the opposite side of the globe, unless
you subscribe to the flat earth society) . Only kidding sport.

[saxomonica]

You beaut @sxpoet –

Thou has finally inspired me to do my thang with a Youtube channel and i’ll take this opportunity, thanking you, for teaching me how to get my ears on with sax, and, mayhap in a flat earthed b flat fashion too, even jamming along with The Sports, say. Jammin’ with Jr Walker & The All Stars is better!

It’ll prob take a coupla weeks to get the channel moving.
Shaking, later.

I remain, honking on, yours ever about @antipodean_rednecks and whereupon the cosmic wavelength in a frequency spectrum near you, etc,

Again, thanking you.
Mark
🙂

[Author]

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