Jazz Articulation | how to tongue bebop on sax

Summary

In his saxophone instructional video, Dr. Wally Wallace discusses key concepts for jazz articulation and tonguing. He identifies core techniques like tonguing the offbeat and slurring to the downbeat, as well as tonguing the highest notes of motives. Wallace stresses the importance of listening to jazz masters, stating it's the 'master key' for learning proper articulation, phrasing and style.

Takeaways

• 🎷 La transcripción de big band a menudo no incluye articulaciones, lo que requiere interpretación del músico.
• 🎵 Es crucial saber cuándo usar el ligado y cuándo la articulación con la lengua en el saxofón.
• 📚 Se utiliza un método inductivo de enseñanza, comenzando con ejemplos pequeños y expandiéndose a más material.
• 🎶 Para un estilo bebop, se mantienen las corcheas generalmente rectas sin mucho balanceo, dependiendo del tempo.
• 👅 La articulación en el jazz incluye acentuar los tiempos débiles con la lengua y ligar hacia los tiempos fuertes.
• 💡 Es importante evitar cortar las notas largas al aplicar la articulación correcta.
• 🎼 En arpegios descendentes, se recomienda acentuar y articular la primera nota y ligar las siguientes tres.
• 🔑 La clave maestra para aprender articulación es la escucha activa de grabaciones de jazz, especialmente bebop.
• 📖 La tradición oral del jazz es rica y compleja, haciendo indispensable la escucha para una interpretación auténtica.
• 🏋️ Practicar la articulación sin marcarla en la partitura fomenta el aprendizaje y la escucha activa.

Q & A

What is the main topic discussed in the transcript?

The main topic is jazz articulation and techniques for tonguing and slurring.

What is the 'master key' that is important for learning jazz articulation?

The 'master key' is listening closely to recordings of jazz masters like Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie.

What is the first core concept discussed for jazz articulation?

The first concept is tonguing the offbeats and slurring to the downbeats.

What common mistake do beginners make when trying to apply this concept?

Beginners often clip or cut off the downbeats when tonguing the offbeats.

What exercise is given to fix this mistake?

The fix is to first slur all the notes smoothly, then add light tonguing on the offbeats without changing the air stream.

What is the second core concept discussed?

The second concept is to tongue and slightly accent the tops of motives or musical ideas.

When would we tongue 1 note and slur 3?

We use this pattern frequently in bebop over arpeggios or falling musical lines.

What is 'ghosting' a note?

Ghosting means to back off on a note dynamically without fully omitting the note.

Why is listening more important than written articulation markings?

Jazz is an oral tradition that can't be fully captured through notation - you have to listen to native speakers.

How much more should you spend listening versus playing?

You should spend about twice as much time listening than playing.