tips on playing overtones

[Anonymous]

if you are familiar with overtones, then you will be familiar:

that if you play a low Bb then
1st overtone mid Bb
2nd overtone mid F
3rd overtone high Bb
4th overtone high D
5th overtone high F
6th overtone 1st Altissimo Ab
7th overtone 1st Altissimo Bb

When i was learning to play all 7 overtones on Low Bb, for some reason,
i couldn’t get the 4th overtone no matter how hard i tried, but a useful tip
JF advised was if you can play a higher note then try slurring down to the lower note to hit it.

The 7th & 6th overtones i found very easy to hit, so i started practicing slurring down from the 7th overtone to the 6th overtone, slurring down to the 5th overtone, and then finally i was able to slur down to the 4th overtone which was eluding me as i didn’t know what it felt like to hit it on is own.

A good exercise when you master all 7 overtones is to slur down from the 7th all the way down to the 1st overtone WITHOUT change in lip pressure – by only changing your larynx.

Another useful larynx exercise for anyone who hasn’t done overtones yet, just get the mouth piece out, put a reed on it, and play all 7 notes of the major scale (one complete octave). But slur from bottom note to top note and back down WITHOUT changing lip pressure, this way you can feel your larynx adjusting as you change pitches. You might notice a slight change in the position at the back of your tongue – but do not change your lip pressure and try to keep any Jaw movement to a minimum otherwise you won’t be using your larynx. Its a hard exercise to start off, but it does get easier after a few days, and pays dividends as you will find you have to get a good control of breathing in and out. This will also help when you start trying out overtones.

Finally if you can hit all 7 overtones, then try playing the 1st overtone on the palm keys –
for high D (palm key) play an Altissimo Bb
high Eb play an Altissimo B
high E play an Altissimo C
high F play an altissimo C#
high F# play an altissimo D

and if you can do that, try play the 2nd overtone on the palm keys, which will take you a major 9th above the palm keys (high D play Altissimo E etc..)

And better still – get JF’s altissimo course and learn some better altissimo fingering positions. Without which i would never have been able to play.

[Anonymous]

sorry should have said

Finally if you can hit all 7 overtones, then try playing the 1st overtone on the palm keys –
for high D (palm key) play an Altissimo B
high Eb play an Altissimo C
high E play an Altissimo C#
high F play an altissimo D
high F# play an altissimo Eb

[jake]

Great post sxpoet!!! very informative useful info. I have been so busy working 2 jobs past 3 months havent really picked up sax much! Finally got some time freein up so thats about to change. Got me a new tenor too!! will def be applying these exercise to my daily workout!
Thanks

[wayne wojnarowski]

Sounds like you know what your doing sx poet, I’m defiantly going to get the altissimo book, I do change the pitch with my throat
and I think a little bit of lip ?? When I blow a low Bb and raise it to the next pitch I think I use both.

[wayne wojnarowski]

Hey Sxpoet , Johnnie , or anybody out there enlighten me. In regards to overtones I can get to the third overtone by cheating I think, I push from my gut and get it sometimes, what should I be doing to get it properly. HELP SOMEBODY!

[Anonymous]

Hi Wayne – JF’s course is a good route to guide you through mastering the overtones.

To start off with you need to master the 1st overtone on Low Bb, Low B, Low C, Low C# and finaly Low D. Before moving onto the 2nd overtone and then the 3rd overtone etc.. Take a few days or weeks on each overtone to master it before going up to a higher overtone, its not a race.

If you have mastered the 1st overtone, you should be able to do the following exercises –
1 – play mid Bb and then slur down to the 1st overtone on Low Bb , adjusting your larynx to make the mid Bb sound like the 1st overtone on Low Bb. Then repeat the same thing for mid B, mid C, mid C# & mid D

2 – play Low Bb, then slur up to the 1st overtone, then slur to mid Bb, then slur down and up several times between the 1st overtone on Low Bb and the mid Bb, making the mid Bb sound like the 1st overtone, then slur back down to Low Bb and stop. repeat for Low B, Low C, Low C# & Low D

master these exercises before starting on the 2nd overtones.

As before use the larynx, try not to change lip pressure, allow the back of the tongue to move. Get a firm supply of air control to sustain the pitch – remember no change in lip pressure. the breath has to give the support.

If you start biting to change the pitch or changing lip pressure – then you aren’t using your larynx, and you will choke your voice box, you will have tons of issues later with intonation & keeping other notes in tune in the upper registers, not to mention shredded lips.

[Author]

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