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Thoughts on playing jazz and classical saxophone...

6/1/2015

 
Some notes in preparation for a performance at the Open Mic for Classical Music on Sunday, June 21, 2015 at the Brewster Meeting House, created and hosted by clarinetist Monika Woods.

Jazz and folk musicians have always had the benefit of performing in "open mic" environments. Open mics give amateur as well as professional musicians something very important and essential - an opportunity to hone their performance skills in front of an audience of both musicians and non-musicians. The idea of creating a similar environment for classical music is fabulous and long overdue. It's like putting wheels on luggage: why didn't anyone ever think of this before?!?

I learned to play the saxophone thanks to one of my older brothers who played it during his high school years. When he left for college he tucked his tenor saxophone under his bed where it remained unplayed for a couple of years. Then one day when I was ten years old I came home with a notice from school that my hometown of Pawtucket, Rhode Island was offering free beginner music lessons during the summer. My mom signed me up and I've been playing ever since.

The saxophone and jazz are kind of like peanut butter and jelly - we don't think of one without thinking of the other. Although I began my music studies with a traditional conservatory based approach, because I played the saxophone I was naturally led to the world of jazz. The traditional lessons helped me develop a solid technique while the jazz experience fostered a creative, in-the-moment way of performing.

It wasn't until I began my college music studies that I truly became interested in trying to perform classical music. In my program at the University of Rhode Island I met other saxophonists who were interested in more than jazz and who inspired me to explore classical music. It was quite a challenge for me. I still remember playing with a fantastic classical pianist who kept stopping me in rehearsal because I was swinging the eighth notes (even though I could swear I wasn't!) She was right though. I had to work very hard to have less "jazz accent" in my musical voice and to sound more like a classical musician. But I loved the challenge, and I still do.

With jazz, if there's something I can't do, I just do something else. With classical music I don't have that luxury. I have to perform the music as written and attempt to realize the composer's intent. Yes, there's lots of room for expression and myriad other personal choices, but ultimately I must be true to the notes on the page, to the composition. The precision and discipline which that requires build musical character.

I like to think that for all of us musicians, when we are working on a composed piece of music, it's like we are exploring the mind of the composer. I'm sure it's the same for actors and their relationship with scripts and playwrights. There are pieces I've been playing for 30 or more years and it seems that each time I play them I learn something new about what the composer is seeking. It's as if each time I play a piece is the first time it's been played. That intrigues and energizes me and hopefully the listener as well!
Carol Thomas
10/23/2019 10:30:15 pm

Hi Bruce,
I finally got around to reading your blog, and I totally agree with you about classical music connecting us with the mind of the composer. In the movie Immortal Beloved, about the life of Beethoven, he says the same thing, although I doubt that he said it in real life. But it really is true, and you can hear all his emotions in his music. Same with Rachmaninoff. I also didn't care for classical, when I was a kid, and when you learn a keyboard instrument, like me, you wind up playing it. But I played popular songs and rock and roll, along with it still do, and my teacher didn't have a problem with it. I too, started to like classical in college, when I took a couple of music appreciation courses and learned about all the composers. At the same time I was big into prog rock, they did a fusion of classical and rock. I was in heaven. I even hired an organist to play the Promenade from Pictures At An Exhibition by Mussorgsky at my wedding, on organ, Keith Emerson style.It was originally written for piano, but I thought it sounded better on the organ. I hope I can come out to the Cape again in the near future to one of your shows, I'll let you know when. Take care.

Teresa (MEW) link
8/4/2022 01:57:17 am

The saxophone is appreciated by both jazz and classical musicians, but the standards demanded of the instrument are uncommon for each class. With jazz, the perfect instrument permits the players to be specific about their uniqueness, and so they prefer a saxophone with a grander taper (a high angle of graduation). The raspy tones and buzz of the instrument put up to the texture of the music. With classical music, the player must execute with the several other instruments in the orchestra, and so they like an instrument with a clean, lightly organized pitch. For correctness of pitch, a more continuous taper is better, and so the instrument can appear to be roughly as straight as a clarinet.


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