Ben Wendel’s EXERCISE for FAST Technique

[@martincommunications5381]

I really love how you conduct your interviews. There's always something we get that we can use for our craft.

[@calkig]

Jay, these interviews are absolute gems of information. Thank you so much for posting these!

[@PlatinumDestroyer]

very interesting how his response to the "play faster practice" question was to completely focus on the core technique to allow yourself to play fast easily rather than focus on anything in particular

[@TrentJacobs]

I like how he considers these intense and brutal exercises (if they're done right they're intense and brutal) as games. Tells you the mindset you need to have when you really want to develop the technique to the kind of level players like Ben develop. If you view it as a fun game, and not "work" it changes how you do it.

[@UnbeBleeder]

Had the pleasure of seeing Ben live. Truly a stellar artist.

[@jplpagan]

i love his constant use of the word "game" to describe what we most of us would call an "exercise" or something like that.

[@c.mccool1123]

you can really hear how this exercise influences his writing. It has a very unique tonality when he speeds it up and puts it all together.

[@xcal123]

15:50 David Liebman agrees. He says "it's all inter-related and part of the whole". not sure exactly where I got this quote from, but I wrote it and put up on my motivation-wall in my study

[@garymelhaff9327]

Such simple but focused practice technique - love switching between pentatonics, what a great idea....lot more challenging than I expected

[@georgebutler3477]

I wouldn't just do it with pentatonics. You can (and probably should) take this to tunes and pick somewhere that you're having difficulty improvising and then work out how you can voicelead with this kind of technique to build lines you haven't thought of yet.

[@frinaanting]

Experienced Ben Wendel + band last night at the Village Vanguard. Wow, what a performance!

[@bettersax]

yes I was there too. Very special night of amazing music!

[@frinaanting]

@@bettersax Cool, too bad I didn’t see you :) I really like what you’re doing with BetterSax. Still working on my blues scales …

[@eapeartree]

Thanks Jay and Ben… I’ll make that my next exercise scales going up, then come down a 1/2 step up, then do it slurring, then add in swing variations like don’t start on beat one start on the and of 4….

[@JamesExcell-InterJex]

These interviews are absolute GOLD. 💯 🔥

[@lisalowell2545]

Hey Jay- thanks so much for all the different perspectives of different players. It helps a lot to know such details of how to carry our mouth on the mouth piece and exercises that help!

[@xtracheeze1140]

this gave me soooo many new ideas to practice

[@CrisFerrerYT]

10.00 that's true. Also you see that on Coltrane's videos. Now, I have to say to my surprise, I've seen videos about great sax players who have their fingers very far from the keys and still the manage to play very, very fast and clean. Thanks Jay for another well-informative video.

[@billiongenius]

Love Ben Wendel. Such a great person. Very personable and a great teacher.

[@robm667]

Great to have block elements reinforced, not to technical, but "nerdy" enough with the focus still being artistry. Music like photography is one of those rare disciplines that stimulates excellence in aesthetics and analytics.

[@angusramsay6485]

Great interview. Loads of good stuff to work on in here.

[@bettersax]

thanks Angus

[@ugo1174]

I haven't even watched half way and I love it. Thanks Jay for making these interviews

[@pierreashba]

Thanks Ben for the ideas. Jay, i love the interview format. It's always great to hear the insights of these great artists.

[@pabezem]

man this is gold in powder, thank you very much both!

[@elenamatteo7208]

Terrific thanks! My 2 cents: there's so many intermediate level players underestimating the importance of correct breathing for speed and accuracy. One can have a full rich complex deep sound in all registers but still not using air pressure and speed correctly. This will break fluency no matter how fast fingers are.

[@trainguy4265]

Awesome interview! Ben sounded pretty good on those exercises and techniques.

[@JS-dt1tn]

Thank you!

[@David.pianomann]

I love these kind of videos, also your studio looks so awesome

[@robstevens9590]

Thanks for this interview!

[@bettersax]

Thanks for watching Rob

[@gerrysmith9794]

That is the best and most useful explanation of a practice routine. 👍

[@jean-philipperiant5517]

Jay you’re such a great teacher and a great content editor. I saw Ben in Paris in a club and now I see him in front of me motivating me to play in front of my wife mirror. Great video moment. Thanks to your work and all the wonderful free content you bring to us.

[@pianotationsystem]

Also please make a video about the music business a lot of us are clueless about this very important subject.

[@LorenzHargassner]

Great interview! Great questions, great answers. Thanks a lot! Watching this is inspiring, motivating and really informative!

[@officialkensonmusicworld1246]

Wow Nice Job Better Sax! ❤

[@lejazz6938]

Hi Jay, thank you for this interview!!! You hardly interfered, which is really cool I think, for this is the absolute super lesson for beginning ànd advanced saxophone players ...

[@raseshgandhi6702]

Beautiful information 🎉🎉🎉

[@YannsKitchenUK]

Another superb interview with plenty for others to furnish from. I'm just going to say this as i dont think anyone else has yet and so i wanted to be the first, .... Jay is becoming the Joe Rogan of sax lol. "Jay Rogan" 🤣 If channels like this were around in the 80s when i was a kid starting out, I would've have been so content. Top work folks.

[@hansmathiasthjomoe4817]

This video was very useful for me. Thank you for posting.

[@roanmccormick7923]

Great advice!

[@claireflute2]

He’s such a nerd. I love it.

[@fabiofasciolo]

Invaluable! Thanks!

[@youngandrew66]

Great advise. I play guitar also and always tell students to watch their guitar heroes - watch how their hands barely move from the frets and the strings

[@niagarafallstechnician9029]

Hey jay I like your new video can should do a video with Lenny Pickett he a American saxophonist and he also a music director from Saturday night live snl

[@geraldheidel8523]

Jay, this may have nothing to do with the “playing fast” video but maybe a comment about equipment setup is valid. I play a new (year old) Yani WO20 alto. I’ve never had a pro setup done to the horn and at times feel that the action in terms of key tension seems stiff. I’m thinking that a pro adjustment of the stack key springs is needed. I know you play Yani’s and wondered if you had your horns adjusted to a more relaxed tension so you can “play fast”?

[@bettersax]

Gerald, I will loosen spring tension on my horns if they are too tight. A good repair tech can do this for you. Some players like the extra resistance. You don't want it too light either though because the keys do need to snap back fast and without any bounce.

[@luisruizliriano]

Excelente. Bravo.

[@hincapiej4]

I need to transcribe what he played because I didn't quite catch it just listening

[@sorenfuhrer401]

He plays lines up the horn and then (half a tone higher) plays them down again, e.g. in his 5 note example: g,a,b,d,e, e#,d#,c,a#,g#. Hope that helped

[@hincapiej4]

@@sorenfuhrer401 if that's the case I been doing that for years lol thanks ;) tell me why I over thought that one.

[@sorenfuhrer401]

@@hincapiej4 sometimes the most obvious option is the hardest to see ;)

[@FruityPebbles-420]

I think one thing that makes me mess up at times is caffeine consumption, if I have too much coffee. Obviously this makes me rush. Trying to work this one out.

[@sax-jaz]

The same here.

[@ainazarov3851]

4:39, 6:13, 7:25, 14:20

[@kwootamuckbear9294]

I always felt metronomes were more for drummers…? Thanks for the interview ✌🏽🎵🎶🎷

[@havidztoo7979]

I’ve been playing for thirty three years…..wish I had a clue what he’s talking about. Haven’t a clue what keys I play, or what a pentatonic scale is. My approach is listening to the best and breaking it down to copy some of the riffs, slowly speeding up to gain the muscle memory.

[@cmacdhon]

3:32 I can play something Ben Wendel can play!

[@Dionpr1]

Thank you - great. Tom Cruise of the sax.

[@zvonimirtosic6171]

A suggestion; being a Better Sax channel, perhaps Jay could invite a few classical saxophonists too? For variety sake? They could share training methods and practice approaches in that genre, which is extremely demanding. (Some exercises Ben has mentioned are part of the classical playing approach, but there are more).

[@bettersax]

Who would you suggest?

[@zvonimirtosic6171]

@@bettersax Amy Dickson. She is brilliant. She had arranged a violin concerto by Philip Glass on a saxophone, which in theory sounds like a mission impossible. Because it must be done with a nonstop circular breathing, while at the same time the player must deliver impeccable phrasing and beautiful, commanding tone. She also teaches young ones breathing exercises, and supports a program of donating old saxophones for kids who would like to play music, but have no means. Please check her out.

[@q12aw50]

Nah

[@zvonimirtosic6171]

​@@q12aw50 To his credit, Jay did it, and interviewed a young British classical saxophonist. Thank you Jay.

[@MrGuto]

What’s wrong with SLOW technique?

[@sax-jaz]

Sax Nerding..!😅

[@davewray9909]

Can't he afford a Selmer Supreme? xxx

[@JeffreySaxophoneTallNewton]

I can outrun my Mark VI ... so what? I made a woman cry in Paris on a ballad ... THAT's where it's at!

[@rayfraser1773]

Why is it that I never understand what anyone is talking about ?

[@sax-jaz]

What I've learned to do is switch my mind into Sax Realm.Its like ,I'm in the world- yet all other things are just props and unimportant( even People, money,) In this real you sort of become a Sax understanding it from the inside out.Unfortunately, When I walk in stores singing patterns, Intervals, etc..Security, Clerks, Couples look at me as if I'm a mass shooter.Also, I often notice 2 guys with these Straight Jackets following between 4-6 feet behind me...😅😮😂

[@hincapiej4]

First :)