Warm-ups for sax players

"There are no difficult keys"”there are only keys you haven’t practiced enough." That is what my teacher, Emil Mangelsdorff, still one of the biggest stars on the German saxophone scene, used to say.Granted, playing a C-major scale where you only need to remove one finger at the time is probably easier than playing an F#-major scale that involves moving at least two fingers for each and every step. As a result, melodies and songs in C major are easier to play than in F#, Ab, Db or B major.Yet, the essence of my teacher’s statement is absolutely correct: we need to practice difficult keys just as thoroughly as easier keys. Most pieces performed by music societies, a saxophone quartet or a big band use keys that are easy on the players’ fingering, yet saxophone players venturing into rock or blues need to be able to play in the typical keys used there. Rock and blues are guitar genres"”and guitarists like to play in E major or A major. Translated into saxophone speak, this means playing in C#, F# or B major.

Let’s have a look at a fairly simple fingering exercise any saxophone player could use as warm-up for their daily practice sessions. Though I will show the exercise in C major, I encourage you to also play it in other keys. Let’s have a look at the first row. We need to play the first five notes of the C-major scale up and down. By repeating this several times (at least four times, but six or eight would be better still), we create the impression of a wave that keeps moving forward and backward, hence the term "wave exercise." Be sure to play legato, i.e. do not play each note separately, because doing so forces you to focus on the correct fingering. Start out with a tempo that feels comfortable"”what really counts here are the accuracy and precision with which the tone changes occur. This exercise also forces us to pay attention to our embouchure, provided we play it rather softly and with a beautiful sound (our neighbors will be grateful, too!).After completing the first system, we switch to the next note and play the exercise starting at the D. Continue this up to the highest note, F3. Be sure to practice this "warm-up" every day, because doing so automatically forces you to practice the ultra high notes.

After reaching the top, you can play the exercise starting from middle C downward. I haven’t written down all exercises, because all lines are based on the same principle. It would be a good idea to practice this wave exercise up to the lowest note (B or Bb, depending on the key), because that helps you strengthen the low register:.