How to Play Fast and Clean
One of the hallmarks of any professional musician is the clarity and evenness of the individual notes they play as part of a note-packed passage of music, such as a 16th or 32nd note run.
I recently came across a helpful discovery in this area while practicing my chromatic scale.
Cleanliness is Next to Godliness
Achieving that level of cleanliness is something that comes with years of practice, but I’ve found one concept that had an immediate result for the better in my technique.
I started listening for the “click” of each individual key or key combination as a gentle percussion hit as played by my fingers. The click-click of the keys coming down during, let’s say, a chromatic scale, can be perceived as though it were a perfectly even 16th or 32nd-note snare drum roll.
I describe the percussive effect here as gentle because if I were to think of the individual notes as being overly percussive in nature, then that would mean I’m using too much energy to achieve the nimbleness necessary to get all of those notes out with solid and deliberate-sounding precision.
Ultimately, whenever I’m playing anything, my goal is to embody the complete musical picture (melody, harmony, rhythm, tone quality, feeling, etc), but this is just another way to shake up my perception and get those fingers following the ears.
Attain Virtuosity While Enjoying the Jersey Shore
Some say real virtuosi are too busy practicing to watch TV (crazy talk, I tell ya). Practicing the fingering of scales, arpeggios, etc with perfect timing is indeed something you could, hypothetically, do while watching TV. As long as you hear those keys clicking down in clean and solid 8th or 16th-note rhythms with each note coming out as a singular click (as opposed to a sloppy flam of multiple keys coming down a few milliseconds apart from eachother), then this pastime, sub-optimal as it is, would probably help more than it would hurt.
Only Try This at Home
While practicing a percussive approach to saxophone technique may work for exercises at home, I’ve found that focusing on the rhythmic accuracy of the key-clicks while improvising is a massive distraction. The point here is to develop some solid muscle memory so that we can let loose while we’re being creative.
Let’s Practice
My former piano teacher once showed me an exercise that really applies to any instrument, and it involves modifying the rhythm of scales and other note-filled passages. I could try and explain it, but suffice to say that practicing this with one’s ear focused on the rhythmic clicking of the keys could be very helpful.
Download Sheet Music for Clean Playing Exercise (PDF)
In Action: Johnny Griffin, Champion of Clean Playing (Johnny’s solo at 3:48).
http://youtu.be/reqsR0HHz7s
jeff
December 2, 2010 @ 11:15 am
This method is good for somethings and bad for others. this is good for developing accuracy in keys that when they are depressed close a pad, however for the palm keys, and the Eb key, side keys, and similar keys this is not the best approach. other motions that require one key to be lifted precisely as another is depressed would not benefit form this kind of study.
some people can practice while they do something like watch tv, but others like myself cannot do this with out the practicing suffering.
Doron
December 2, 2010 @ 11:29 am
Hello Jeff,
You have a good point about the palm keys. And I agree about watching TV and practicing. My intention with the TV is that if you’re going to be watching TV anyhow, then why not use what would otherwise be totally wasted time doing something somewhat productive? But if that were to create bad playing habits, or rationalize laziness in the mind of the musician, then of course it would be a bad thing.
My point is that in practicing, it’s important for me to change things up so that I am constantly keeping my mind and body on point. It’s just like at the gym where it’s important to keep changing things up in order to “trick” your muscles into growing. So this is just another way to mix things up.
Thanks so much for your insights, it’s very much appreciated!
Doron
9 Tips for Practicing Saxophone Without Getting Shot by Your Neighbors | Best. Saxophone. Website. Ever.
September 23, 2011 @ 6:04 am
[…] Pimental offers the simple solution of practicing without blowing into the horn. The clinking and clanking as well as the pitch of the keys coming down can prove a very effective guide as to the accuracy of […]
Bob Gibson
August 24, 2013 @ 12:10 pm
Thanks for this article – great stuff!
I tried the video of Johnny Griffin, but itsaid the you tube account had been “terminated”
Do you know of another url for that cli[?
Thanks,
Bob
Doron Orenstein
August 25, 2013 @ 11:26 am
Good catch! I just put up a new video that captures Johnny’s virtuosic technique. Thanks!