Saxophone Tricks of the Trade 10.15.2020

This comprehensive collection of jazz and blues saxophone techniques offers valuable insights into advanced playing concepts. Award-winning saxophonist Mario Cerra (Boston, USA) provides detailed explanations and demonstrations of twenty essential musical elements that can be readily incorporated into your performance. These include techniques such as playing four against five, motivic development, applying pentatonic scales over altered chords, and many others.

The application features a variety of educational resources, including high-quality video tutorials and demonstrations, PDF transcriptions and practice charts, as well as audio tracks designed for effective practice. Covering topics from fundamental saxophone technique to improvisation, multiphonics, effects, and articulation, this resource aims to support ongoing musical development. Accessible content is provided in both English and Spanish, with materials suited for soprano, alto, tenor, and baritone saxophones.

Participants will learn how to produce growls, bend notes, execute rhythmic displacements, and explore sophisticated uses of scales such as pentatonics and blues. The curriculum includes detailed instruction on various advanced techniques and musical concepts.

Below is a selection of the topics addressed within the resource:

• Lester: Using overtones to create a variety of tonal colors
• Mix Them Up: Using overtones for tonal variation
• Side D: Exploring different fingerings for middle D
• Dexter: Effect for Bb-G trill
• John’s Way: An example of multiphonics
• The Wolf: Techniques for producing a growling sound on the horn
• Slide: Glissando and note bending techniques
• Ghosts: Articulating ghost notes with clarity and expression
• The “Cannon” Effect: Combining trills effectively
• S-S-P: Skip-step concept applied to pentatonic scales
• S-S-B: Skip-step approach on blues scales
• Jazz It Up: Producing essential accents characteristic of jazz improvisation
• Tension: Applying pentatonic scales over altered dominant chords
• Release: Using pentatonic scales over major seventh chords
• Blues and Motives: Developing compelling motives within blues scales
• Four and One: Incorporating rhythmic patterns with four eighth notes followed by a rest
• Three on Four: Rhythmic displacement with 3/4 over 4/4 time signature
• Five on Four: Rhythmic displacement involving five beats over four beat measures
• Flashy: Combining bends and trills for expressive effects
• Pure Expression: Techniques for practicing vibrato effectively