PRACTICE! I know what you’re thinking… not the ‘P’ word! Do NOT yawn or look away, please read on…
Sometimes I cannot believe how dumb I am! I believe this is a trap many musicians fall into….We look to our heroes, folks who we consider to be better players than us, folks who are where we would love to be with our own playing, and then we fall into the bear trap; we do anything rather than learn about their practice and preparation. We enquire as to what mouthpieces they play on, what reeds they use, what saxophones they play, what college they went to, who their teachers are, what they eat for breakfast…
I am SO guilty myself! I had a Selmer Mk VI because Junior Walker had one, I had the same tenor mouthpiece as Michael Brecker, the same alto mouthpiece as David Sanborn, the same reeds that those guys played on. I even bought an actual set of PA speakers because I heard a fellow sax player sound great through them; of course it was nothing to do with the speakers, as I discovered to my cost.
I recently heard a short radio documentary on Fred Astaire. It is so tempting when we see him dance so very beautifully to praise his ‘gift’, his ‘natural talent’, blah blah… I learned from this documentary however that he worked long long hours, tirelessly, that he was a perfectionist and would spend something like 350 hours practicing each of his routines for each movie.
It was a similar story with my former bass player Simon Goulding, who sadly passed recently, and I discovered only after the event from his wife about his practice routine. Relentless, exhaustive, thorough. She would often say to him “haven’t you practised enough?” He would reply “I can still get better, I need to get better.” Explains a lot.
What should we take from these rambled thoughts of mine? Well, I’m not saying don’t get lovely equipment, in fact do get nice equipment, you’ll appreciate the difference. And it IS a great idea to check what professional saxophonists are using because we’ve tried everything and done lots of research and experimentation. And I don’t mind people asking me ‘what reeds are you using?’, but the truth is, the ‘right’ gear ain’t gonna make you into a wonderful player overnight.
Practising regularly though, efficiently, with a plan, and being organised, that is definitely going to make a difference. Not overnight of course, but slowly and steadily. Sometimes it may not feel like you’re getting anywhere but many more times you WILL feel it, and teachers and friends and family WILL notice. As for the structure of the practice regime itself, well that’s for another time…
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