In The Park - Lesson
With
James RaeJames Rae works through "In the Park" on the saxophone, focusing on crisp, clean finger action and smooth legato playing between notes.
Copyright © 2023 Universal Edition (London) Ltd., All compositions by James Rae except where otherwise indicated.
What's in the course
30 lessons (0h 35m) · 1 free
01. The Note E - Fingering and Exercises
3:00
02. Go For It! - Lesson
0:30
03. Go For It! - Performance
0:36
04. Little Waltz - Lesson
1:15
05. Little Waltz - Performance
0:33
06. In The Park - Lesson
You are here1:39
07. In The Park - Performance
0:42
08. Being There - Lesson
0:38
09. Being There - Performance
0:30
Lesson transcript
Music Lesson: Finger Technique and Smooth Playing
In the park, back into four.
Smooth Finger Action
- Four for this piece involves smooth finger action from the D to the E.
- Aim to make the next phrase equally smooth.
Although it is technically harder because you have to move more fingers, the first bit is easy. So, all the fingers have to move crisply. As I said before, it's like a light switch:
- It's either on or it's off.
- On, off, on, off.
Not like a dimmer, which is more gradual. If you drag your fingers, you get a horrible effect. You want clean finger action.
Legato Playing
Playing smoothly is called legato, and in woodwind music, it's indicated by the old slur, which signifies smoothness. The Italian word legato means smooth.
- Slur is an English word meaning smooth in music, but it can be misleading.
- If you slur your speech, it sounds a bit vague and not concise.
However, when you slur in music, your fingers have to be very concise in order to achieve a smooth connection between the notes.
30 lessons
0h 35m of structured video lessons
Advanced video features
Slow down, loop a passage, follow along
Mobile, tablet & desktop
Practise wherever you are
100% satisfaction guarantee
30-day money-back guarantee
Meet your guru
Meet your guru
James Rae was born on Tyneside in 1957. He studied clarinet, bass clarinet, piano and composition at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama from 1975 to 1979, under professors Yona Ettlinger, Stephen Trier, Meriel Jefferson and Patric Standford respectively. Since leaving the Guildhall, he has pursued a highly successful and varied career across three areas: performing, writing and teaching.
James Rae has worked in many West End and Royal National Theatre productions, including Sir Peter Hall's award-winning Oresteia with music by Sir Harrison Birtwistle, and has received many freelance engagements with some of the country's leading orchestras and ensembles. He is the leader of the Phoenix Saxophone Quartet, who over the years have given many recitals and BBC broadcasts, and have recorded the complete works of Carey Blyton on two albums, 'The Return of Bulgy Gogo' and 'Sherlock Holmes meets Dr Who'.
As a composer, James Rae is one of Europe's most published writers of educational wind music, with over 250 publications to his credit, mainly published by Universal Edition. His music includes instrumental study books, sonatas, tutors, baroque, classical and jazz transcriptions, plus many volumes of duets, many of which feature on all the major wind examination syllabuses worldwide. He has also written four musicals for schools with Mike Cornick, and his larger commissions include The Turn of a Wheel, a major work for concert band that premiered in November 1999 for the North Tyneside Concert Band, of which he was a founder member as a boy, and the overture Moving On in 2012.
James Rae has worked extensively as a syllabus consultant and composer for both the Associated Board and Trinity College London, and has been highly involved in developing the woodwind sight-reading requirements for both exam boards. As a teacher, he has held many posts in both the state and independent sectors, and currently works at King's College School Wimbledon, where he directs the Wind Orchestra and Concert Band, and Shrewsbury House School in Surbiton, where he coaches three large bands and a chamber group. That teaching experience runs right through his saxophone series for MusicGurus, which takes you step by step from your very first notes to a confident, stylish player: First Notes, New Keys & Low Notes, Expanding Your Range, Scales & High Notes, Extended Range & Rhythm, and Polish & Style.
