Saxtalk.com Harmonic Etude "Addison Street"
Starting on Saturday January 30, 2021, all etudes on Saxtalk.com will be named after streets in my beloved hometown of Chicago, Illinois.
Addison Street Part 1 of 2 is an etude that goes through the major seventh chords in steps of 1 whole step (2 semi-tones). It starts with a B-flat major seventh chord with the root of the chord being the alto saxophone's bottom B-flat. It then proceeds through the major seventh chords 1 whole step at a time: B-flat major seventh, C major seventh, D major seventh, so on and so forth.
What does this etude build?
Practicing this etude will help you to develop good tone and good intonation. I recommend that when you play the etude, really try to articulate, "sing", and enunciate each note. When I play this etude, I think of the great enunciation and tone of the late great Phil Woods. When I play this etude, I have Phil Woods playing in this song in my mind: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XRBwOrxDrCs
Try to get every last drop of emotion out of each note.
This etude also goes into the altissimo register of the alto saxophone, so it will help to build your altissimo facility on your instrument.
Practice the etude slowly at first, and then increase the speed a little bit every day. If you can't play it all the way up to the top at first, don't worry, Rome wasn't built in a day. Keep believing in yourself, and try to go a little bit further every day.
What about Part 2 of 2?
Part 2 of this etude will go in reverse: it will start in the altissimo register, and walk back down in whole steps. I'll post Part 2 soon.
I will record Part 1 in the next few days on my alto sax, and I'll link to my version here so that you can hear how I hear this etude in my head.
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Download the Musecore score for this etude here.
Download the pdf version of this etude here.
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Thank you for visiting, and Happy Practicing!!!