Improving Saxopho Intonation by Jeremy S. Brown th century popularity ment. Although profes form with flue an ine duce heart of a band director. Into fone of the primary problen have when Poor saxophone intonation can be the result of an unsuitable mouthpiece or reed, a poor embouchure, or an align- c sm. Students should be ance of pulling their shoulders down and back to enable them to take in as much air as possible. The lower jaw should drop, the upper teeth should remain on the mouthpiece, and the throat should be in a yawn position for a large amount of air to fill the lungs. Students should sic with a straight back and feet on the floor. If the neck strap is ly adjusted the mouthpiece will fall directly in front of the mouth; stu dents should not have to moi head to the mouthpie M instruments, but the mouthpiece that come with them should not . Mouthpieces are manufactured with many different internal dimensions that the mouth: matched to cophone and the embouchure of Prthe student. Hard rubber mouthpieces for beginners are the and the Meyer 5MM. sd to project sound and ble for young players. -ed strength is important when tun- A reed th to bite down and produc than to increase the breath Students will have to compensa bad reed by adjusting the pla the mouthpiece and the°Sharp intonation in the ‘upper middle and igh registers must often be aearibued tothe students dese fora biliane tone Like mary bras player, the ‘sxophone stent may think this can be achieved ebsough application of fre "Not only s more ai then forced through the mouthpiece but i also under greater presue. The resulting fone isnot more brilane but i edgy, ering, and lacking in boy and modulacion.” ~ Sigurd Rascher only alters the pitch further. A beginner should generally start on a 2 strength reed and, as the embouchure muscles strengthen, move up to 24 strength. The larger the tip opening on the mouthpiece, the softer the reed should be. Because reeds from the same box vary in quality of sound, seudents should try several reeds and choose the one that sounds and feels best. Dynamic changes ‘often cause intonation problems because students make incorrect embouchure and breath support adjustments. For example, when playing loudly, players tend to relax the pressure of the lower lip and cause the tone to go flat. When playing softly, the tone tends to be sharp because students increase the pressure of the lower lip against the reed. Poor breath support exaggerates this ten- dency. To play in tune at a forte dynamic, players should drop the jaw slightly while increasing the pressure of the lower lip against the reed. In a piano section the abdominal pressure should remain the same as when playing forte, but the quantity of air should decrease. The comers of the lips should move toward the center of the mouthpiece so more of the reed vibrates, lowering the pitch. Practicing long tones with a tuner and piano can help improve intonation. Lome oS TPP PPI PP Lh OP The fit of mouthpieces on saxophones is not always the same. With young stu dents it helps to tune to an A = 440 and mark the position of the mouthpiece on the cork with a pencil. Although this is no guarantee of perfect intonation, it pro- vides students with a good starting point. 38 nmpeimnanerauor sarreeen 18: If ewo students with identical instru- ments and mouthpieces have to place the mouthpiece at different spots on the cork to play in tune, then one may have an incorrect embouchure. The saxo- phone embouchure is similar to. the shape of the lips when whistling. The top teeth contact the top of the mouth- piece, but the lower teeth do not touch the reed because the lower lip acts as a cushion. On the alto saxophone the contact is approximately a ¥2 inch from the tip; the soprano saxophone requires slightly less mouthpiece in the mouth, while the tenor and baritone require slightly more. If too little of the mouth- piece is used the pitch will be sharp and pinched, and if too much is used, the pitch will be flat and unfocused. A. stu- dent will be able to produce the follow- ing crow pitches on the mouthpiece alone if the embouchure pressure is cor- rect. Students should hold the mouth- piece with one hand, use normal breath support, and play a solid mezzo forte. oe Mes Spe A perfect octave can easily be played with a balanced embouchure and the octave key mechanism. The following study is a good exercise t0 improve embouchure pressure While a student plays the low F at a mezzo forte the teacher should press the octave key. If the note can be played an octave higher but does not sound at the lower octave, the embouchure is too tight and not enough of the mouth- piece is being used. If the F cannot be played an octave higher, the em- ouchure is too loose or the student may be using too much of the mouth- piece. Another frequent problem for stu- dents is an unstable jaw when playing ascending or descending passages Students are often convinced that this unstable embouchure is necessary for notes to sound, However, this habit can“Blow a sustained pitch on the mouthpiece alone at a fortssimo level, The approximate concert pitches whieh should be obtained are ‘A foralto saxophone: G for tenor saxophone; Eb for ‘baritone saxophone, Generally, the pitch obtained by students on the mouthpiece alone is t00 high, indicating an improper internal oral caviy. I this is the cate the student should review the embouchure check ist, then try t0 produce the correct cone on the mouthpiece alone. If the pitch is sil too high, he hould be encouraged t0 ‘open his mouth wider while still maintaining proper air suppor.” Eugene Rousseau be broken by having the student blow into the instrument while the teacher or another student fingers random melodic passages. The unexpected direction of the melody will demon- strate that an unchanged embouchure produces an improved tone in all regis- ters. Students should then practice full range major and minor scales and arpeggios slowly and slurred, concen- trating on keeping the embouchure consistent. Students can listen and blend easily when playing in small ensembles. Sax- ophone choir and quartet repertoire works well to help students develop J these skills. The Art of Saxophone by | Larry Teal suggests saxophone quartets for all levels. The studies in De la justesse dintonation pour tous les saxo- phones (Alphonse Leduc) by Jean- arie Londeix are effective ear train- ing studies for two saxophonists. Stu- dents should tune individually and across the group to perfect the pitch. ‘When the instruments are not in tune with each other, two or more sound waves of slightly different frequencies may be heard. Despite the best efforts of instrument manufacturers, saxophones tend t0 play sharper in some registers and flatter in oth- ers. Pitch tendencies also vary slightly between manufacturers and across the saxo- phone family. Students should make a char, similar to the one shown below, to leam the problem notes on their instru- ment. A chart such as the one from Improving Intonation in Band and Orchestra Performance by Robert Garofalo can also be useful In slow moving passages or while play- ing long notes, students can lear to adjust the embouchure and use alternate fingerings to improve the pitch. When using alternate fingerings, the em- bouchure position does not change and should preserve the tone quality. The following example contains out-of-tune Pitch Tendencies on the Alto Saxophone ih 40 nesenueniliit teins tes.ee eee Pa ie a ye ee Ml | “Tes exactly the same when. you hear an instrument and | “know what instrument it is (if you hear a door close, you know that i a door). Ie all. sound. Think about learning to see color. Someone S298, “This is red The next time you see that color (if you can remember the word), i red Perfecr pitch is just a variation of tefinement of ‘this; for example, you recognize peoples’ voices on the telephone that you have hheard only once before.” ~ Selma Guerra notes that may be improved with finger- ing changes depending on the tempo of a passage. ‘A. comprehensive listing of alternate fingerings for the saxophones is avail- able in two texts by French saxophonist Jean-Marie Londetx, De la justesse d'in- tonation pour tous les saxophones (Alphonse Leduc) and Exercises dinto- nation pour tous les saxophones et tous les niveaux (Alphonse Leduc). ‘The saxophone solo beginning in the third measure of Watchman, Tell Us of the Night by Mark Camphouse chal- lenges students to play in tune as sharp notes precede typically flat pitches. In the third measure the solo crosses the break from E2, which is a sharp note on many saxophones, to C42, which tends to be flat. To bring the E down the soloist should play with a full, vibrant sound, open the throat as in saying ho, and bring the comers of the lips in slightly. On quarter and half notes, per- formers can put the low C or B key down to lower the pitch of the E; the C key will drop the pitch more than the B key. For the Cf, a flat note on most sax- cophones, the pitch may be raised and the tone quality improved by putting the octave key (thumb, left hand) and the left hand third finger down. If the note is still flat, che side Bb or C key will raise the pitch. At [A] the saxophonist may have to depress the low B key on beat one and hold it down until the third beat of the fifth bar before [5] to play in tune with the flute soloist. The fourth movement of Suite Francaise by Darius Milhaud is prob- lematic for the two alto and tenor parts in measures 9 to 12 and again in mea- sures 44 through 47. Sa Pen Deiat "ReoShaoiem In measures 9 and 44 the first alto play- ers may pinch the ascending notes, which increases the lower jaw, pressure and raises the pitch on the C#, a note that is already naturally sharp. Correct intonation is particularly critical in measure 47 where the C¥ is in unison. with the first comet part, Students should keep the lip and jaw pressure the same while increasing the speed of the air through the line. The Cf can be lowered in pitch by putting the F key (index finger, right hand) down. On some saxophones the E key (middle fin- ger right hand) may be more effective. The accompanying half notes in the second alto and tenor parts alternate between sharp Ds to flat Cts. The tenor saxophone may only need to add the side C key to effectively raise the pitch for the Cts. By depressing the low B key to adjust the Ds and using the same alternate fingering on the C# as in Watchman Tell Us of the Night, the sec tion will be in tune. In Blue Shades by Frank Ticheli (Manhattan Beach) the first alto and tenor saxophone have troublesome notes at (Zig). The marcato marking encourages saxophonists to move their jaw of use too much tongue when"A good saxophone sound is ‘made up of several ‘interlocking techniques, among which are embouchure, rongue positon, correct breathing, ‘and vibrato, The instrumental teacher must teach these techniques independently, yee also teach, them as one. One should not become so fascinated by the mechanics and technical facets of the saxophone that the at of musie making is forgotten. The technical and the artistic aspects of saxophone playing are equally vita” Frederick L. Hemke articulating, which results in a scoop- ing or harsh sound. The first trumpet plays A's that also tend to be sharp. BA Suton Practice this passage slowly, saying too and isolating the motion of the tongue from that of jaw and lip. Improvement can be made through persistent practice with the tip of the tongue near the tip of the seed. Intonation can also be improved for the first alto by holding down the low B key for the repeated Es, and the tenor saxophone can add the side Bor C key to even out the pitch. the notes that are usually sharp for all saxophones can be lowered by bringing the comers of the lips to the center and pushing the airstream down, tea york Teh 44 we mstnuenTAUsT /sorrEseen 1999 Although vibrato is used to make music more expressive and colorful, it sometimes causes terrible pitch problems The most common vibrato among saxo- phonists isa jaw vibrato in which the jaw transmits small pulsating changes of pres- sure through the lip to slightly alter the pitch level. In Sinfonia Five by Timothy Broege (Manhattan, Beach Music) the ‘composer instructs the tenor saxophone to play with much vibrato at measure 54; however, too much vibrato distorts both, the pitch and tone. Broege suggests that usinga fast and narrow vibrato will make the notes sound clearer and will make it easier to play in tune with the hom and oboe. Although listening is arguably the most important skill to dev- lop for intonation, students will have a better chance of fixing the problems they hear if they leam the natural pitch tenden- cies of their instruments and use altemate fingerings to adjust notes. Jeremy S. Broun is an associate profesor of ‘music education at The University of Calgary thee he directs the symphonic band aa teaches saxophone. He was recently awarded the Student's Union Teaching Excellence Award by the Universey of Calgary. He eamed a bache- lor’ degree in music education from Washington State Universe, a master’s degre in woodwinds {from The Easoman School of Music, and a doe- tomate degree from Ohio State University. The author would like to thank Jonathan Helon of Northwestem University and James Hil of Ohio State University for their ideas and pedagogical suagestions for this aril