progress

[john]

Yes you’ll get over that little hump Kevin once you can get some good practicing in.
JB, yes, I don’t change my altissomo fingerings from sax to sax, they all work… sometimes you might have to sharpen a note slightly by adding another side key or something. the guy who wrote the first altissimo book back in 1941, Sigurd Rascher stated that he tried his fingerings on over 20 different makes of saxophones and found that all his fingerings worked.
like I mentioned in another post, the altissimo range is just made up of the natural overtones (harmonics) of the sax. this means that they are not real notes as in the regular range, but rather made up notes with “false” fingering. once we get control of these harmonics (overtones) we can make those notes sound with several different fingering positions, just like we can play the reveille bugle call while holding down the low Bb.
But, until you’re proficient on this high range your goal shouldn’t be to try these notes using a ton of different fingerings. I gave you 2 for each altissimo note in the course and most people will be able to get the note with both fingerings. the point of having an option is for ease of fingering, not so much that one will work and the other won’t.

[Michael]

KEVIN: I’m very happy for you! Don’t skip steps…take all the time you need to get it all right; no matter how long it takes. I’m convinced you’ll get there Kevin and like Johnny said, with consistent practice you’ll get it…you have such a warm, beautiful tone! I would imagine your tuner has really helped you hone in on that tone for your’s ? For myself, I know since I have stopped using A440 hz videos (they weren’t cutting it for me, my intonation as too sharp) and I’m using strictly my tuner, it has made a TREMENDOUS difference to say the least..wow. I’m already noticing massive improvements in my ear training and my tone is much, much more open, warm, whole, etc. Imagine that….a simple, inexpensive tool like a tuner making such a huge differene?!? It’s been a real eye opener for me and I simply won’t practice without it anymore. It has helped me to see where EXACTLY the note on the Tuner should be, if I start to waver sharp/flat, etc.. When that happens, I take note of it in my head, and this is helping me detect while playing/Improvising with the Blues if a note is sharp/flat here-and-there. I know I’ve only been using it for like a month, but I’ve looked back at recordings from just over a month ago and the difference is like night v.s. day. As you’ll see in Johnny’s Altissimo course, we have to hear the note in our head before we can play it…I certainly heard them before, but I’m noticing now that maybe I’m a little flat/sharp here and there, not due to placement of the MP but due to my embouchure, etc.. I will say, before using the Tuner, I make sure I do my warm-up of Chromatic Scales and all that fun stuff first because if we don’t warm up properly, I don’t think I’m going to get as accurate as a reading on my Tuner—without warming up, of course we’re going to be wavering slightly here-and-there, etc..
JB: What Johnny is saying it what I was saying too…I only use his 2 fingerings that I’ve learned from his course and that’s it; like I was saying when I went Saxophone shopping. All of the Saxophones I tried responded great to either fingering position 1 or 2. I became a believer in what Johnny teaches because I proved it to myself and stopped the never-ending search on youtube. In his lesson of Alt D# and beyond (I think he talks about it there) he mentions how there’s little things you can do here and there to sharpen a note up like he was saying…that’s not the same thing as Alternate fingerings by any means. For me, a good example is my Altissimo C. I comes out good, but I can sharpen it up a little by pressing the bottom key on the side that we use for F# (those stacks of 3 keys on the side of your sax..it’s the bottom key I’m talking about). In his fingering position No.1 for Altissimo G, Johnny talks about using the low Eb key. On my Trevor James it makes a difference and I use it, on my Selmer Bundy it makes no difference. Once you get the fundamentals that Johnny teaches under your belt, with time you’ll be able to determine very quickly those little things you can do here-and-there that he talks about in the course to make a note sounder cleaner. Sometimes, all it takes is just changing to a slightly harder reed, going to an MP with a slightly bigger tip opening, etc. like we’ve been talking about here. Before worrying about those things, make sure you have put in enough time/work on his lessons. Those things can help, but they may not even be necessary as you get better with his exercises.

[Anonymous]

Good for you Michael – glad to hear you can do the altissimo stuff as well.

I started JF’s altissimo course last year, if i remember right i could occasionaly hit an altissimo G last June, i’m now at the stage where i can play up to altissimo C. To be honest i haven’t bothered to go beyond altissimo c, as most of the stuff i play doesn’t have any altissimo in it.

I know all the stuff you’re telling me a year ago, i was just getting confused as to why you were changing positions on another sax, when there isn’t really any need to, when you can just add an extra key to sharpen/flatten it!

All good stuff, looking forward to your next upload, glad to see more people are doing the altiasimo course.

[Dazza]

I had some good practice yesterday and focussed only on the overtones and really started to nail the three Bb’s and the F but couldn’t go higher than the 3rd Bb no matter what I did. Against JF’s advice I grabbed the Berg Larsen 6* MP which I haven’t been using so much as yet as it requires so much more air that I can’t deliver right now to play low notes well, but man this thing has some projection!. What it did do was to immediately allow me to sound the Alt G and gave me so much more power and clarity on the palm key notes leading up to it. What a difference the change in equipment made. Although I could get the G it was more easily jumping to a way higher note with good power and when I looked at the tuner it was a D. I am guessing a 5th above the alt G. Quite interesting how the movement of throat and tongue position changes the ability to hone in and play these different harmonics that are contained within every note. Cant wait to get to the practice room again today!

[Michael]

There you go Dazza 🙂 A couple of days ago, you thought you were no where near an Altissimo G, and now look at your progress. Each and every day you pick up your Sax and practice, you’re one step closer to being able to play in this range. It’s good that you focused only on Overtones…that’s what you should be doing v.s. “pond hopping” LOL. While we should always go back and work on things we’ve learned before–we can never get too good at those things–we shouldn’t be jumping ahead and trying to do things that we’re not ready to do yet. Don’t be afraid to take a 1-2 steps back to make sure you’ve learned everything well before trying to take a step forward if you know what I mean. The better you get at everything Johnny teaches up to this point, the more control you’ll have of the Altissimo range. In terms of getting that 3rd Bb, make sure you get the note firmly fixed in your mind and you “hear” it first..the tendency is just to want to try and just hit it without hearing it. Remember like Johnny said in the ear training section, we have to be able to hear the notes in our minds before we play them. Play the regular high Bb over and over on your Sax and really get the note in your head…let it really sink in. then when you go to work on that particular Overtone it will really help you to hone in on that high Bb. If you were on a tuner in A440 hz on your Tenor, you were probably hitting something like Altissimo E..almost the fifth octave range LOL. Tuners don’t always measure Altissimo notes 100% accurately, so we have to rely on ear training as you get higher and higher. Don’t worry about it…before you know it you’ll have the ability to go instantly from a low Bb straight up to Altissimo A in the 5th Octave range–instantly and in a hearbeat–with total control and without even thinking about it. The solo for “Urgent” requires Altissimo G# in the 5th Octave and Altissimo F# in the 4th Octave, 1 semi-tone below the 5th Octave range. I’m just waiting patient for Johnny to release “Urgent”…I’m going to buy it the moment he releases it and start working on it immediately, I have my $ set aside for it already LOL I’m hoping, it possible, he’ll have it ready so I can learn it and play it at my audition in December 🙂 It required flutter tongue….if I growl super-aggressively it might be able to get by….then again maybe not LOL I am working on my flutter tongue though.

[Michael]

Looks like he IS getting ready to release “Urgent”…it’s on his song list of “coming soon” with a little logo on it! OHHHH YEAHHH 🙂 And so is Dean Martin’s “Sway”…GOOD STUFF. I’m jumping on them LOL

[Kevin]

Took a minute to make a comment- Over the last few weeks I made it a point to do at least 5-10min of learning the overtones (on about 6 practices), and I’m able to get 1,2,3 an occasional 4, 5(but only a few, more by luck that they came out) then it’s as if my reed shifts gears and out pops 6,7,8. Those are at least on the low Bb some of the easier ones to get to come out. Even on the Bb (I’m on my Alto) the first overtone is very difficult to get to clear up- it’s usually a mixture of the low Bb and the overtone giving this mysterious “dual-note” sound.
Yeah I jumped ahead to some of the altissimo fingerings before getting the overtones solid for curiosity sake, and alot of the notes are coming out. The A, Bb, B being the easier ones. I have only hit the G with Johnnies fingering a few times for a brief passing moment then it disappears.
I do only have a size 2 reed that I’m working with thus far, and will order some 2-1/2’s and 3’s to experiment with. I think my time on the 2’s is passing and it’s getting where they feel a bit soft and can “shut off” on me when I want to really push a low note.
Well back to work…

[Anonymous]

@Kevin – well done, to play an altissimo G briefly you’ve mastered 2 out of 3 things

1 – you know the fingering
2 – you’ve now got the correct embouchure

3 – you now need to get your breathing under controll to properly support the note – until then most of the higher altissimo notes will also fizzle out likewise.

try overfilling your stomach with a lot more air, release and you should start to make the sound last longer. Otherwise keep at the higher overtones and try and play each one for a count of 4

[jak Swift]

I reckon I’ll give the altissimo course a blast. Over years on different horns the fingerings change. Should have the new tenorsax in 10 days or so. Altissimo is not my weak point persay ; just be nice to have a definitive fingering. Up to now….trial and error; another guy will show you his way. It really depends on having a tight horn, but yeah let’s get the horn and I’m in !!! Jak

[jak Swift]

Haven’t been here for a while. Finally found a chart that is clear, concise and works. Of Im fitting altissimo \ overtones in each day. Possibly too much but I’ve been concerned about my 10M. Its underslung, ( ts ); seems to be functioning fine in that the 8 ve pips are working in synch. Fork E , F …etc. Nothing. Nada. ZILCH !!
Having to use my second tenor. Its nothing great, but those fork fingerings just pop out. Another trip to the tech, I guess. I’m just bemused. One day fine, one day gone. At least I can verify, its not my chops. Its just a nuisance…two tenors, one case. Which do I take to rehearsal. Kinda rhetoric, the one that works for now. Rough round the edges, but a great sound..!!
Thank goodness for bari. Altissimo on bari is effortless, a pleasure. I don’t bother much. I should but I want a full chromatic run ( altissimo ) on tenor first.
If any techs see this and could shed any light on the underslung business, I’d be really grateful.
Thanks….😕

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