Blue Boogie - Lesson
With
James RaeJames Rae shows how to give Blue Boogie its raucous edge with strong top Fs, fast vibrato and the growl technique used in rock and pop sax.
Copyright © 2023 Universal Edition (London) Ltd., All compositions by James Rae except where otherwise indicated.
What's in the course
20 lessons (0h 46m) · 1 free
Lesson transcript
Blue Boogie
Now you can let your hair down with this.
- Don't be afraid to razz it.
- Really play those top Fs strongly, almost like an electric guitar with a distortion pedal.
You achieve this by blowing hard and using a bit of fast vibrato. If you're feeling really good, you can put in what we call a growl.
"It's not in the book, but this is an effect where we put dirt into the sound."
By singing and playing at the same time, it gives it a really dirty sound. This creates a raucous, saxophone screamy sound often used in rocket pop music, a type of device.
- You don't have to sing the exact note you're playing;
- Just sing somewhere in the region of it, which will give the dirty quality.
This is a standard practice in rock and pop sax playing. Yes, that's called growling, that's where you sing.
Or you can actually growl like a dog too. It adds dirt, but I find that by singing, it's very effective.
So, you can add as much dirt as you like. Even if you split the note, which I did there, it's effective.
"But don't do that too often."
20 lessons
0h 46m of structured video lessons
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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.
