Tim Price Bloggin' For D'Addario Woodwinds- The sound is you. Sound and you!

SOUND AND BUILDING A BETTER SOUND.... Long tones should be the most important part of your practice routine. This fact is surprising to many beginner or intermediate saxophonists. Why Go Long? Long tones help you develop muscles and skills that are extremely important in most playing situations: • Embouchure. If the embouchure is correct throughout all of the long tones, then you will feel the burn as you reach the high notes. Make sure to really squeeze the corners in the high notes, and do not bite. If you feel the biting, stop, rest for a little while, and then continue when you feel ready. • Tonal quality. By playing long tones, you become subconsciously aware of the overtones and can develop a finer tone quality. How to Practice Long tones should be practiced the following way: 1. Begin with low Bb and play this note at a piano volume the best you can for 10 seconds. 2. If you need to, use a metronome and set it to 60 beats per minute. 3. Go up chromatically and play each note in the range of the instrument. With correct lower lip and breath support as well as well-developed control of the muscles involved, you should be able to keep the intonation even. 4. Be conscious of tone quality, intonation, breath support and embouchure. 5. Use a mirror to see your embouchure. Long tones must be practiced for about 15 minutes at a time. In the first session, start at low Bb and ascend to the highest note you can play correctly. In the second session, start at the highest note you can play correctly, and descend to low Bb. Try your best to practice long tones as much as you can.

The experience of creating space – within your body, your life, and with others – is incredibly liberating. I know that the more space I give myself, the more grounded I feel within who I am. And the more space I create the deeper connection I experience in my music and life. This isn’t really about physical ‘space’, but about creating space in the way you communicate and interact with others. This means not letting thoughts interrupt the connection that’s being created between you and the other person. It’s a feeling of spaciousness that exists within your body and inner self. It’s an experience of being clear, present and grounded in who you truly are – and using that connection as the foundation for relating to others from a more authentic and meaningful place. Connecting with others authentically takes a conscious commitment in the moment. In my own experience, when I make that commitment, I find I’m rewarded many times over. Rewarded – not because I’ve been able to ‘contribute’ through my words – but because the experience of being truly present provides a much deeper, fulfilling sense of connection between everything. Beyond music, life and anything. Internal joy.



The ability to create space with others in this way has deepened and aware within my own self , I’m naturally able to be more present with others without loosing that inner connection to myself. Being present to someone in this way may not always seem ‘easy’. If you let yourself, you can easily become distracted by your thinking: including devising what you’ll say next; mulling over your judgements about the other person (or worrying about what they think of you); feeling a need to interrupt their speaking with your own opinion; or thinking about something else entirely.  It's something to think about as a performer and artist as well as a student.

Be positive. Always believe that you will achieve your goal. As soon as you stop believing, you have already failed.BUT- Keep trying. as Phil Woods once told me - " If you don't try you die." Don't forget the words of Lao-Tze: "A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step." Put Lao and Phil's words together in your mind...you can't loose! Till next week.. keep on the path- Tim