Tim Price on How To Find Your Saxophone Sound

My good friend, Tim Price authored a comprehensive set of Jazz Lessons and Etudes for my web site, Sax on the Web.

Tim is a Selmer Clinician, professional musician, jazz journalist and author. He teaches in New York City and Pennsylvania.

While at Berklee, he studied with Charlie Mariano, as well as with Andy McGhee, Joe Viola, and Nick Ciazza. After Berklee he studied saxophone and improvisation with Sal Nistico, Fred Lipsius, Jimmy Lyons, Ray Pizzi, Sonny Stitt, and Ronnie Cuber; flute with Harold Jones; clarinet with Kal Opperman and bassoon with Karen Borca.

Tim Price's web site.

In the following video Tim is addressing the eternal question: How to develop your saxophone sound?

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Q & A #1: Developing your own saxophone sound

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Ogul Koker from Turkey wrote on May 24, 2009:

I've started to play sax 1,5 years ago. But at the same time I've started to study musicology. So I had no time to play sax and after this one big year I can't ever properly blow my sax :(

So my plan to learn how to play sax for this year is to practice all major, minor scales and modes, arpeggios and to learn how to do vibrato...

I also want to study some jazz, but dunno where to start :( I thought I could start with trying to imitate a player that I liked. I really like Mark Turner, Kenny Garrett, J. Coltrane and a lot of guys, but they sound to me hard to play... I think I should try to imitate a player from an early era? But who will that be?
I've got an alto sax btw.

Sorry for my bad English and greetings from Turkey! =)

Dear Ogul,

thanks for your note.

About developing your jazz sound; If you are not sure whom to imitate, no one else cannot really tell it to you. My suggestion is to listen to music a lot. Kind of jazz you like, players you admire. Then gradually (over the years) your saxophone sound will develop toward the direction of your liking.

Keep practicing and listening. Good luck,


-Harri

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