CLINICS AND MASTERCLASSES

Throughout the year it is a pleasure for me to travel to schools, colleges or universities and conduct clinics. One of the things I talk about is how to quickly go from rehearsal to performance mode.  An easily overlooked concept.  One of the ways to get from one to the other is to immediately find your mistakes and work through them.  What did you do wrong? How can you quickly fix it? Hearing the difference.  I have a set of guidelines I use in my own playing and teaching that get people from rehearsing to performing quickly. 

 My clinics can be divided into many categories: Woodwind Playing, Sight Reading Techniques, Jazz Studies, Ensemble Techniques and Concepts, Developing Practice Routines, and how everything ties together. My experience involves working with everything from a small group, chamber ensemble to an orchestra, concert band, woodwind ensemble and sax section.  Please contact me for more info.  I am a proud endorser of Selmer Saxophones and Vandoren Reeds.

Remember, anytime you hear of a professional musician conducting a clinic, try to attend.  You never what things you might pick up.  Sometimes it's great to hear ideas and thoughts from someone other than your teacher or band director. 

Schools that have featured Sal as a clinician and/or soloist:    

Chicago: John Hersey High School

Mt. Prospect High School

Batavia High School

Wisconsin:  Brookfield Central High

University of Wisconsin Eau Claire

Wheaton College

Washington:  Gonzaga University

California: Upland High

Caltech Jazz Bands

Northfield High

El Dorado High

Esperanza High

Los Alamitos High

Cal State Univ. Long Beach

Cal State Univ. Fullerton

Cal State Univ. Fresno

Orange Lutheran High School

Point Loma University

Lindero Middle School

San Clemente High School

Valhalla High School

UCLA

DIsney's All American College Band

For the past 17 years I have also been on staff at Disney's Magic Music Days which takes schools from across world and takes them a "recording session" of Disney Music.  Through this program I have dealt with hundreds of schools. 

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HORNS

SOPRANO SAXOPHONE

YAMAHA YSS 62 - SELMER HARD RUBBER - VANDOREN REEDS

ALTO SAXOPHONE

SELMER MARK VI 1959 - MEYER BROS. - VANDOREN

TENOR SAXOPHONE

SELMER MARK VI 1960 - OTTO LINK METAL - VANDOREN

BARITONE SAXOPHONE

SELMER MARK VI 1978 - BERG LARSEN HARD RUBBER - VANDOREN

FLUTE

POWELL C flute

JUPITER-DeMIDICI alto and bass flutes

PICCOLO

ZENTNER

CLARINET

BUFFET R13 Bb, A and Eb and Bass - VANDOREN

ASSORTED PENNY WHISTLES AND RECORDERS

EWI

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OTHER THINGS TO TALK ABOUT

Here are some thoughts on playing music as well as tips about practice techniques.

Check back often for more because I'm constantly adding different stuff.

"Doublers" take notice!

Try to rid yourselves of that title...DOUBLER. "Oh you're pretty good for a 'doubler'" (I hate that word). 

The goal is to become and to be recognized as a great saxophone player, flute player, clarinet player, oboe, piccolo, bassoon, or whatever it is you want to play. YOU CAN DO IT!  You're a WOODWIND PLAYER! NOT A DOUBLER!

Here are some ideas to get on track:

Flute: Long tones (you're going to hear a lot about these) from middle B on down

and then up as high as you can go. Take your time.

Practice Scales Long Tones and Arpeggios using a Metronome.

Suggested practice books:

P.Taffanel and Ph.Gaubert ---- Grands Exercises Journaliers de Mecanisme pour Flute

Trevor Wye ---- Practice Books for the Flute

Marcel Moyse---- Of The Sonoroussness Art and Technique

Thomas Filas---- Leger Domain High Note Studies (Open your eyes to the high note world)

From Warner Brothers Publications, the Young Artist Series has some books by flutist Jim Walker.  4 volumes in all these give beneficial insight on Flute performance with a play-along CD.

Summit Records has a series of Orchestral Excerpts.  The flute collection is performed and narrated by Jeanne Baxtresser of the New York Philharmonic.  A great way to learn repertoire. 

And yes, if you play the flute, practice the piccolo (if you can get a hold of one).  Mostly scales and arpeggios. Pay attention to connecting notes and phrases. One hint is to practice softly.

Clarinet: Long Tones (tough it out) Extremely important for developing control, pitch and phrasing. 

Hard work and worth every measure. 

Scales and Arpeggios using a metronome.

Suggested practice books:

Klose

RoseStudies

Carl Baermann 3^rd division

Summit Records has a series of Orchestral Excerpts.  The clarinet collection is performed and narrated by Larry Combs of the Chicago

Symphony.  Another great way to learn repertoire. 

Eddie Daniels  has just released a solo transcription through Warner Brothers Publications.  It is a wonderful study of his music.   

Saxophone: Pretty much anything you can get your hands on. From classical etudes and duets all the way to solo jazz transcriptions (even your own) of all the greats. Remember to play your scales and arpeggios with a metronome as this is important for saxophone and jazz Improvisation.  A good idea is to make them up rather than read them out of a book. This starts to develop ear training. If a student has to read them out of a book, they should eventually memorize them. The metronome will help with your inner rhythm(try them on 2 and 4).  Students will then start to develop musical ideas and the proper way to execute them. Try doing it with a sense of swing as well. 

      In jazz, I'm sure you've noticed that when practicing an exercise,there is a tendency for the ideas you're working on to take on a life of their own.  They branch off into directions that were not originally intended.  Do not resist this tendency. Let it lead you wherever it goes. This exploratory work will take you into surprising areas of self discovery.  At a later time you can always come back to the original idea you were working on.  Practicing then becomes more of a creative than mechanical process. 

Suggested practice books:

          Anything by Marcel Mule --- The most comprehensive is his Daily Exercises for All Saxophones

W.Ferling ---Famous Studies These were originally written as oboe studies and work well for saxophone

J.H. Luft---Duets

          Joe Viola's books are great.  Especially his duets for sight reading

My good friend and colleague, Eric Marienthal has a great book out entitled, Comprehensive Jazz  Studies      and Exercises. 

Link to his site to look for it.  Try the finger busters on page 182. 

          Saxophone Scales and Patterns by Dan Higgins.  A great study in the basics.  You can link to Dan's site to get   it. 

When sight reading in an ensemble, remember your basic skills.  Things like rushing rhythms, playing incomplete phrases, not listening to others in the band can ruin a 1st impression. You may lose that chair you've wanted or that audition.  Keep all this stuff in your head while you're playing.  Don't forget all the things you learned in those hours of study. 

Improvisation: WOW, it's a lifetime of study and enjoyment!  There is no limit to this language!

3 basics steps are PLAYING (alot) LISTENING (alot) and TRANSCRIBING (some).  Play every chance you get.  Find a one, two, ten or fifteen people and play with them.  Play along with the TV, radio, anything you can find.   Listen to every kind of music you can.  Live and on CD or tape or vinyl, anything.  Once you find a performance you like, absorb it.  Play along with it.  Trying to figure something out?  Write it down, practice it in as many keys as you can, eventually every key.  The play along CD's are great and so is just listening and playing along with everything else on CD.  Your melodies should make musical sense .You then start to develop your own language, your own style and no it isn't copying or emulating.  The study of theory, harmony and chord/scale relationships for jazz improvisation is something that often isn't stressed in music courses.  

Transcribing is great for technique and ear training. Try playing the solo along with the artist and cop that person's attitude. After the transcription is on paper, it's a good idea to take some of the phrases and write out different variations.  A good hint is to transcribe something you love because what you get out of transcribing is more important than what you are transcribing.

In my clinics, I get more into the attitude of the soloist as well as the roles every player has in a group.

Transposition is also important.  Not just knowing your instrument but also how it relates to all others.  There are many times in a working environment where I am given notes in concert key or asked to sight read something in another key and immediately transpose to whatever instrument I happen to have in my hand. For some reason, I started doing this in college using fake books written in C.  I didn't know it at the time but it is something I now view as priceless. 

Getting back to improvisation, I'm about to contradict what I said a few paragraphs ago:  I just said the following.........."Keep all this stuff in your head while you're playing.  Don't forget all the things you learned in those hours of study"........  Well ....sometimes when you're on the bandstand and it's your time for a solo, the best thing to do is to get let your instincts take over.  Look at that empty canvas and just start to create.  You are then free and able to draw from your creative side while reaching to your teachings and study for musical language skills. 

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  I'm always publishing thoughts about existing in the world I know as the music business as well as some ideas on playing.  There are many things that are not taught in school that frequently come up.  As thoughts come up I'll try to pass a few along.

AWAY FROM AND AROUND YOUR HORN

There is a lot more than just playing your horn. 

The following are some things to keep in mind in the music business:

BE PATIENT

SHOW UP

SHOW UP ON TIME

BE PATIENT

ALWAYS BE HAPPY TO BE THERE

THAT FIRST IMPRESSION CAN MAKE OR BREAK

AS A PLAYER, MAKE YOURSELF AVAILABLE FOR ANYTHING

BE PATIENT

BE PROMPT IN RETURNING PHONE CALLS

KEEP THE ATTITUDE IN CHECK

WHAT YOU DO CAN HAVE AN AFFECT ON THE WHOLE SECTION AND THE WHOLE BAND

THE LEADER (contractor, musical director, band leader, producer, etc.) IS NOT INTERESTED IN WHO TICKED YOU OFF THAT DAY. ALL THEY WANT IS A GOOD PERFORMANCE.

COUNT THE RESTS

You see an 8 bar rest? You think you can hear an 8 bar phrase?  When sight reading, count it!!  Listen for the phrase making sure it doesn't have an odd phrase in the middle (i.e. 2 1/2 bars and 5 1/2 bars).  It might be confusing and then you end up coming in wrong.  Embarrassing???

REMEMBER TO ALWAYS GO BACK TO THE WOODSHED!

Ok so you got a gig!  You're playing some show or a you're in a band playing in a club for a week, 3 weeks, 2 months.  You figure you have a chance to relax and make a little $$.  During the day, you don't do anything.  "Oh, I don't need to take my lessons or go play in that rehearsal band cuz I'm kinda busy now."  or, "Boy I'm tired. I played til late last night and I don't even want to look at my horn."  It's good to maybe take a day of rest but don't make this a habit. 

ALWAYS KEEP PRACTICING!  Warm up routines are of the utmost importance. 

Scales, etudes, play along CD's, whatever you normally practice. Go play in that rehearsal band.  Woodwind players, play through those reeds and find a good one. 

IT IS A GIVEN FACT YOU CAN PLAY YOUR INSTRUMENT. TRY TO AVOID PRACTICING (noodling) ON THE GIG.

WHEN YOU DO PRACTICE, USE A TUNER AND A METRONOME IN PART OF YOUR SESSION.

GET YOURSELF OUT OF REHEARSAL MODE AND INTO PERFORMANCE MODE

I can recall playing through 12 -15 pieces of music a semester in college.  Now it can be 12 -30 pieces a day.  I found out that I needed to get into a performance mode quickly.  This meant sight reading skills, awareness, ensemble practice, phrasing and hearing phrases, stylistic flexibility, etc.  All of this has to be addressed right away.  This sounds like much preparation but remember it's all about performing not rehearsing.  Even during rehearsal try to make music each time. 

FOR SIGHT READING , LEARN ALL SCALES AND ARPEGGIOS TO DEVELOP KEY CENTERS.  LISTEN TO CHORDS ON A PIANO TRANSCRIBE SOLOS THE MORE THE BETTER.

GET TOGETHER WITH FRIENDS AND COLEAGUES AND PLAY.  DUETS, TRIOS, ANY COMBINATION. A GOOD PRACTICE IS TO PLAY DUETS USING A METRONOME.

TRADE FOURS, CHORUSES

BE AWARE OF EVERYTHING AROUND YOU

           Practice this when sight reading. This is something that is often overlooked when performers are too busy with their own thing and don't pay  attention to what is going on in the rest of the ensemble.  Try to pick out another instrument and see if the part you have matches theirs.

           Use your ear to hear where you are in relationship to everything else. This seems easy, but always keep it in use. Not just with like instruments, but with all the instruments or vocals in the group. Try to create a sense of cooperation even if you have never met the person next to you. This probably means stepping up your performance level ( I know I already talked about this). Seeing something for the first time and reacting accordingly!!

TRY TO BE EXTREMELY FLEXIBLE

  Sometimes people don't really know what they want musically. If there seems to be communication gap, get the job done diplomatically .

Reputation is what people think of you. Character is what you think of you. Try to keep what you think of you and people think of you in line. Don't be surprised if what you perceive as right is different to other people. This sounds obvious but many people overlook it.

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