The Hierarchy of Saxophone Mastery Tools: From Digital to Analog Saxophones
Executive Summary
My ultimate goal in life is to master playing expressively on the alto saxophone. Several years ago, I made one of the best decisions of my life: I bought a Yamaha YDS-150 digital saxophone. It completely expanded my horizons and it made me a much better player on my analog alto saxophone. The YDS-150 always plays perfectly in tune, so it subconsciously made me hear perfectly in tune. That trained my subconscious mind to make subtle adjustments to help me to better play the analog saxophone in tune. In this article, I'm going to share my discoveries about the hierarchy of saxophone mastery tools.
Keywords: Saxophone Mastery, Yamaha YDS-150, Digital Saxophone, Analog Saxophone, Music Practice, Intonation Training, SATB Saxophones, Soprano Saxophone, Alto Saxophone, Tenor Saxophone, Baritone Saxophone, SATB Strings, Violin, Viola, Cello, Double Bass, Musical Expression, Ear Training, Saxophone Etudes, Healing Music
Glossary
├── Acronyms
│ └── SATB: Soprano, Alto, Tenor, Baritone (standard voicing)
├── Concepts
│ ├── Etudes: Musical compositions designed for technical practice
│ └── Intonation: The accuracy of pitch (playing "in tune")
├── Digital Tools
│ ├── Digital Saxophone: Electronic wind instrument used for practice
│ └── Yamaha YDS-150: Specific digital saxophone model by Yamaha
├── Saxophones (Analog SATB)
│ ├── Alto: Medium-high voice, the author's primary instrument
│ ├── Baritone: Low voice
│ ├── Soprano: High voice
│ └── Tenor: Medium-low voice
└── Strings (Analog SATB)
├── Cello: Tenor/Bass string instrument
├── Double Bass: Lowest string instrument
├── Viola: Alto string instrument
└── Violin: Soprano string instrument
The Ultimate Primary Tool: The Analog Saxophone
The real analog saxophone will never be replaced as the primary tool that helps a saxophonist to achieve mastery. It is difficult to play it expressively and in tune in all 4 octaves. To do so consistently takes thousands of hours through many many years of dedicated practice. However, I've found that complementing your analog saxophone practice with practice on a digital saxophone helps to improve much more than playing the analog saxophone alone.
The digital saxophone always plays perfectly in tune, so it helps your mind to hear perfectly in tune, something that is almost impossible to do with analog instruments. As you move from the digital instrument to the analog one, you carry this perfectly in-tune hearing with you, and it makes your playing on the analog instrument better. The digital and analog saxophone greatly complement one another, and both of them should be part of your saxophone mastery arsenal.
The Secondary Tool: The Digital Saxophone
I would never play a Yamaha YDS-150 live before an audience: that's not its purpose. It's not a professional performance tool; it's a professional practice tool. In my opinion, it's a nearly perfect practice tool: it's very light and portable, it's relatively inexpensive, and it's intuitively simple so you don't have to spend a lot of time figuring out how to use it effectively. Because you can plug headphones and an external line in into the YDS-150, it becomes an incredible practice instrument that allows you to jam along to your favorite music. I also play along with and sight-read a lot of saxophone etudes using my YDS-150.
I'm certain that I'll play my YDS-150 for the rest of my life (and/or newer digital saxophones from Yamaha) because it has become such a comfortable tool in my saxophone mastery toolbox. In the future, I'll play the full SATB suite of saxophones: soprano, alto, tenor and baritone. When I've successfully acquired all 4 instruments, I'll expand my YDS-150 practice sessions to include all SATB saxophones.
Why Set the Goal of Analog Saxophone Mastery in the First Place?
In my opinion, there are two sets of analog instruments that I personally find to be the most expressive: the SATB saxophones and the SATB strings.
As I discussed before, the SATB saxophones are as follows:
1. soprano saxophone
2. alto saxophone
3. tenor saxophone
4. baritone saxophone
The SATB strings are as follows:
1. violin
2. viola
3. cello
4. double bass
I find both sets of instruments to be so highly expressive because they are both very similar to the human voice. For these reasons, saxophones and strings are both very effective instruments for moving human beings. One key element of the human condition that is universal regardless of your education level, your background, your nationality, or any other personal characteristic is human suffering. Everyone goes through things that are painful and our key mandate as musicians is to help them to heal. Our job, in my opinion, is to practice our instruments diligently so that we can communicate a very simple message to the people that listen to our songs: no matter what you're going through, everything is going to be okay.
Thank you for reading this article!
Article Structure: Hierarchy of Saxophone Mastery Tools
├── Executive Summary
│ ├── Goal: Master expressive playing on alto saxophone
│ ├── Key Tool: Yamaha YDS-150 (Digital Saxophone)
│ └── Discovery: Digital perfect tuning trains the subconscious for analog
├── The Primary Tool: Analog Saxophone
│ ├── Status: Irreplaceable foundation of mastery
│ ├── Challenge: Consistent intonation across 4 octaves
│ └── Relationship: Complemented by digital practice (Mind hears, body executes)
├── The Secondary Tool: Digital Saxophone
│ ├── Role: Professional Practice Tool (Not for live audience)
│ ├── Benefits: Portable, inexpensive, intuitive
│ ├── Usage: Headphones + Aux In for jamming/etudes
│ └── Future Plan: Expand YDS practice to full SATB suite
└── Philosophy: Why Mastery Matters?
├── Expressive Instruments (Human Voice analogs)
│ ├── SATB Saxophones: Soprano, Alto, Tenor, Baritone
│ └── SATB Strings: Violin, Viola, Cello, Double Bass
├── The Human Condition: Universal suffering
└── The Musician's Mandate: To heal and communicate "Everything is going to be okay"