Description
Soprano Saxophone Sonority and CHOPS 3 are offered here as a bundle at a savings of $5.
Soprano Saxophone Sonority Description:
Soprano Saxophone Sonority is a complete method for finding your voice on the soprano saxophone and developing every fundamental area with ease and efficiency. After the Introductory discussion of soprano-specific concepts related to air, embouchure, voicing, hand position/posture, ergonomic equipment suggestions, fingering choice for the third octave, and diagnosing common issues; 20 Daily Exercises follow which specifically focus on:
- Tone Quality
- Efficient Voicing
- Intonation Stability
- Altissimo Development
- Multiple Articulation
- Air+Embouchure Efficiency
- Low Register Focus
- Extreme Register Connection
- Technical Routines
As most saxophonists begin their study of the soprano when they are already at an advanced level on other members of the saxophone family, this book is intended for the advanced high school through professional level saxophonist. This is not a classical or jazz-specific method, and all performers will benefit equally from these studies. It is recommended that you have completed some study of The Saxophone Manual in advance of this method, however, it is also suited for the student who has just picked up soprano for the first time.
Written by the author of The Saxophone Manual and the Chops trilogy of methods, this first of its kind resource for the soprano saxophone suits players of all playing styles and is drawn from the author’s decades of experience on the instrument, most notably as soprano chair of the world-renowned Sinta Quartet.
CHOPS 3: The Sinta Quartet Method Description:
Chops 3: The Sinta Quartet Method continues the mission of its 2 predecessors to modernize and update the fundamental areas of saxophone performance and study. This volume focuses entirely on the chamber music fundamentals needed to have a successful saxophone quartet experience and to develop effective rehearsal strategies. Of course, the bulk of your time in rehearsal will be spent on repertoire; however, the addition of warm-ups and fundamentals to the start – and perhaps end – of each rehearsal will allow for greater efficiency in achieving a unified approach to your music.
Saxophone quartet can be the most rewarding music-making you have during your studies as it focuses your attention on blend, intonation, group cohesiveness, and the shared formulation of an interpretation with friends and colleagues. However, it also likely requires that you practice on an instrument with which you’re not as familiar as your primary saxophone. Thus, some suggestions for getting acquainted with your new instrument’s tendencies are given at the outset. Doing some diligent individual work on making your quartet instrument as precisely practiced as your primary instrument will make for much more enjoyable rehearsals.
The main areas of focus for the ensemble exercises are intonation, cueing, uniformity, and blend. Knowing how to properly adjust each note of a chord is an important skill to develop aurally, as is the skill of reading a score and quickly deciphering which member of the chord you’re playing. As such, all exercises are written in full transposed score. Even if you are not yet familiar with transpositions, start with some of the “concert pitch” to saxophone pitch relationships you do know, and build from there while learning to read from a score. Since saxophone music requires that at some point, every member or occasionally the entire group cue together, cueing exercises focusing on developing this skill are included both individually and also in tandem with the aforementioned intonation exercises. Uniformity and Blend are the final areas and though frequently used interchangeably, they are specified here. Uniformity exercises focus on performing moving lines, articulating, using vibrato, beginning and releasing notes, and changing dynamics as a group. Blend exercises focus on timbre specifically and matching tone color across registers and instruments. As you can imagine, the two are linked but at various stages groups often find they need to focus. These exercises allow for that specific type of focus.
Features:
- Resources for developing awareness of your specific quartet instrument
- Full Score notation for all exercises
- A getting started chapter for young and new groups to make the most of their first rehearsals.
- Advanced and fun exercises for intonation, cueing, uniformity, and blend.
- Musical examples as a culminating study for all of the aforementioned areas.
By working with this volume, both students and quartet coaches will be able to employ an arsenal of exercises designed to address the most basic and the most advanced issues of saxophone chamber music. Upon completion the ensemble will have gained the ability to read from a transposed score as well as greater aural awareness of their timbre, intonation, chord qualities, and fundamentals impacting blend and uniformity. Through careful application of these exercises rehearsals will become much more fun and engaging, and performances will become much more cohesive and, as a result, more powerful.
