Slurs - Introduction and Exercises
With
James RaeJames Rae introduces slurs on the saxophone, moving smoothly between notes without tonguing, with exercises to practise.
Copyright © 2023 Universal Edition (London) Ltd. All compositions by James Rae except where otherwise indicated.
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Lesson transcript
Understanding Slurs in Music
This next section introduces what we call slurs.
Slurred vs. Tongued Notes
Up to now, we've been playing tongued notes. As well as tongued notes, we have slurred notes.
- Slurs are curved lines that connect different notes.
- Unlike ties, which can only connect two notes at a time, slurs can be over any amount of notes. You can even have a slur over an entire page of music. While this is very unusual, it could happen.
What a Slur Means for Woodwind Players
For a woodwind player, such as a saxophone, flute, or clarinet, a slur means that you move your fingers from one note to the next without tonguing.
- Instead of playing ta, ta, you play just ta.
- This creates a smooth movement from one note to the next.
However, the tongue is still involved because every slur starts with a tongued note.
Exercises for Practicing Slurs
Exercise 1
In this exercise, the first note of every bar is tongued, and the others are slurred. As you can hear, this approach creates a much smoother sound than just tonguing every note, which is how most music we play sounds, a mixture of slurred and tongued notes.
Exercise 2
This exercise follows a similar concept.
Exercise 3
Here, we maintain the same pattern but make it harder. You'll be moving from B to C, which involves a see-saw action. As one key goes down, the other comes up.
- Just like piano technique, this can be harder to get even.
- Listen again, and be careful not to accidentally catch the A.
Exercise 4
In this exercise, you'll be going up and down a hill while waggling your fingers about.
Tips:
- Don't forget the old relaxed throat position.
- Avoid getting tense, and remember: don't bite the mouthpiece. Just rest your teeth on top and blow.
- If you start to bite, the sound will begin to cut out.
Common Pitfalls
As I mentioned before, don't take in too much air; otherwise, you'll produce a honky sound.
The Goal
What we want is a nice, smooth sound.
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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.
