Lone Saxophonist? You Better Know These 6 COOL HACKS!

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In this week's lesson you'll learn the best tactics for playing in a band when you're the only horn player.
🎬 Shoulda Had A Sax Solo, Right? Playlist
• Shoulda Had A Sax Solo...
🎬 The Greatest Pop Sax Solos Ever Playlist
• The Greatest Pop Sax S...
Chapters
00:00 Intro
00:17 Tactic #1 - Play The Main Hooks Of The Song
03:18 Tactic #2 - Work Stuff Out With The Keys Player
05:04 Tactic #3 - Take The Horn Out Your Mouth
07:24 Tactic #4 - Make Your Own Lines Up
08:34 Tactic #5 - Mix Up Your Horns
09:18 The Inner Circle
09:56 - Tactic #6 - Play Something Else!
11:14 Last Thing...
11:59 End Music & Bloopers
Get Your Sax Together is a fun and informative channel, packed with free online saxophone lessons. My name’s Jamie Anderson and I’ve been a pro saxophonist since 1996. I release new content every Sunday at 7am UK so you can Sax Up Your Sunday! Subscribe and 🔔 click the bell icon (set to ALL) to get notified when new content is released. Thanks for watching! Jamie 🎷
✅ I offer individual 1-2-1 saxophone lessons on Zoom👉www.getyoursaxtogether.com/te...
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#getyoursaxtogether #onlinesaxlessons #jamieanderson

[@GetYourSaxTogether]

Break through to a new level with YOUR sax playing with this free masterclass👉🏻 www.getyoursaxtogether.com/masterclass👈🏻

[@newscrews11]

You've been watching me on stage, haven't you?! :) Another genius redemption by Jamie. I used to go to church Sunday morning, now I wait for his video to drop.

[@GetYourSaxTogether]

🙏

[@cheknfaks]

That's me, tryin to cram 10 sax solos in one song I get so excited

[@GetYourSaxTogether]

🤣

[@MarkPeotter]

During those moments when you want to play something to build up the dynamic of the song, but there is nothing obvious that you should play, and you don't want to sound like you are taking a solo, I often play simple Motown Bass/Guitar lines. Stuff that sounds like the bass part of "Can't Turn You Loose", or the opening guitar riff in "Come and Get Your Love". That 5 , 6 , 1 stuff works for major and 5 , b7 , 1 works for minor.

[@GetYourSaxTogether]

Cool

[@danpinsonsax]

Cool selections! Here’s a few for you: James Carter w/Phil Collins BB on Pick Up the Pieces. Dolphy/Mingus-Take the A Train, Dolphy-Out to Lunch, Eclipse. Roland Kirk-Inflated Tear.

[@GetYourSaxTogether]

Thanks! 👍

[@saxcowboy]

Great advice! I use all of these tips because I am the only horn in variety bands.

[@GetYourSaxTogether]

Great

[@bryandickerson5365]

Great overview, Jamie! Those are all things I’ve figured out over the years and it’s nice having them here in one place. I especially appreciate you bringing up “stage craft”! That’s a great term for the thing that a lot of horn players ignore. Audience members listen with their eyes and it’s such a drag seeing horn players on stage looking bored or distracted by their effing cell phones! Clarence Clemons with Springsteen, Johnny Colla with Huey Lewis and Mark Rivera with Billy Joel are/were all masters of the single horn gig!

[@GetYourSaxTogether]

Great comment

[@davidsmookler9730]

"The last thing anyone wants to hear is you vomiting pentatonic scales or worse over the whole song." I just replayed that three times to burn that into my brain forever; sounds like there's a world of wisdom in that bit of (graphic, disgusting, evocative, funny) advice.

[@mprenn1547]

I confess my guilt, but must say "pentatonic vomit" is a great name for a punk rock band.

[@GetYourSaxTogether]

Hope it helps!

[@williamkneisel2442]

Things learned over years of playing... rest of the band thanks you

[@GetYourSaxTogether]

🙏

[@TeddyTed808]

As a developing trumpeter/flugelhornist, this video has been helpful. Thank you.

[@GetYourSaxTogether]

You're very welcome!

[@suziepearson9082]

Useful tips! I'm fortunate to be part of a horn section but there ARE occasions when it's just me, so it's good to have some ideas 😊

[@GetYourSaxTogether]

Glad it was helpful Sooz!

[@Louisejames23]

Spare part going “parp parp” sums up my sax career to date 😊

[@shirleyfrancis4515]

😢

[@GetYourSaxTogether]

🤣🙏

[@Jonny51982]

I don’t know where you stand on effects pedals, and they won’t apply for all gigs, particularly in small venues where the sax might not even get a mic, but it is a way to bring some additional flavor and fill.

[@GetYourSaxTogether]

Yeh. It's something different!

[@roywilkes8139]

"quid's in" and "Caterwauling" 🙂 love it, great video, hope it translates to other regions. Cheers Jamie

[@GetYourSaxTogether]

Thanks!

[@fratavc5305]

This part was soooooo useful!! Thanks, mate. There should be more video series on this. As a sax player, I've played many different genres and my rule of thumb was to play the original, however, this gives more fun to play the same songs again and again.

[@GetYourSaxTogether]

Great. Glad it helps

[@ph2738]

My band really likes James Hunter Six because of the cool sound they get out of a horn section of just a tenor and bari. They are a UK combo.

[@GetYourSaxTogether]

👍

[@recycledvinyl8767]

Great Advice ! Thanks so much. Currently in exactly this situation and your tips are just what I need Wow

[@GetYourSaxTogether]

Great. Hope it helps

[@shipsahoy1793]

👏Good video, great advice.. 🤔Thanks for the motivational reminders..😉

[@GetYourSaxTogether]

Thanks. You're welcome

[@melb5996]

Great topic, much overlooked. After many years gigging in soul bands 'sections' I found myself in a 'pop' band on my own and eventually took up the role of main vocalist with a few sax numbers. Still had a lot of fun

[@GetYourSaxTogether]

Thanks

[@rickbennettartmusicvideo7720]

Thanks, this is great! I'm in this situation in several bands and haven't heard anyone really talk about it until now :)

[@GetYourSaxTogether]

Glad I could help!

[@helengordon-saxophone]

Great tips! Thank you.......😀

[@GetYourSaxTogether]

You are welcome

[@olivierherment1188]

thank you for these valuable tips

[@GetYourSaxTogether]

My pleasure!

[@grandesax]

This is so relevant!

[@GetYourSaxTogether]

👍🏻

[@ph2738]

I just heard Stevie Wonder’s “Uptight” on a playlist, and despaired that the horn section intro was something I shouldn’t try with a single horn.

[@GetYourSaxTogether]

🙏

[@ComputerCentralInc]

Love the tips, I have found myself in this situation as the only horn 😆 thanks a bunch 😅

[@GetYourSaxTogether]

Hope it helps

[@DolphScreamingSax]

Nice subject and well impressed with your skill to make up these fills. Wish there was some more meat on this subject.🙂

[@GetYourSaxTogether]

Thanks 🙏

[@evelioroque3706]

Been there, Done that! Thank you for the advice, brother! After the pandemic I've been the only horn (tenor sax) for a while. Even with a salsa and latin jazz band of 6 pieces. The good thing is that the band leader write me all the horn parts in one chart so I can play also the Trombon and the trumpet in one chart. Thank you again, Jamie! Great help, brother! 🎶🎷

[@GetYourSaxTogether]

Thanks so much.

[@ph2738]

Great stuff! I’m the only horn in my six piece band, and I have discovered many of your points. When I first moved to this area 5 years ago, there were just too many local bands local bands with one or two or even three singing guitar players, bass, and drums. I disrupted the neighborhood by showing them that adding a horn could really separate them from the crowd. I got picked up by a four piece group, the Grateful Growlers, who was playing mainly Grateful Dead covers, and propelled them into more R&B, and Boomer Rock kind of sound. With a keyboard player now who also has a steel drum, we are now known as The Growlerzz. To change up our sound, I pack in both a tenor and a bari. I have the tenor rigged to play bright and the bari to play dark. I haven’t taken my flute for a long time. There wasn’t much call for flute, and I don’t play it as well as I did in the 70s. However, I sometimes play long tones behind the rest of the parts. My thought was I could add in something of the synth or piano part of the song. Maybe now that we have a regular keyboard guy, I will drop this practice. I once sat in with a band that had a star keyboard player. He was surrounded with keys. They got a request for Rolling Stones “Missing You”, and I was thinking “I got this. I can approximate any of those Bobby Keys solos”. Held back, maybe added a little to the counter melody with low notes, supported the bridge with long descending tones, then waited for the next set of hoo-hoos, then the sax is supposed to come in. But the keyboard guy just punched a “sax” button on one of his keyboard, and took the solo. So I sat that out.

[@GetYourSaxTogether]

😮

[@Shihan-4708]

Very solid advice

[@GetYourSaxTogether]

Thanks

[@marklangsax1168]

Great advice as ever Jamie.

[@GetYourSaxTogether]

Thanks!

[@pavelpatsenkov]

Great hacks, Mr Anderson. Thanks a lot! It's very useful at this moment.

[@GetYourSaxTogether]

You're welcome. Glad to help

[@robstevens9590]

Good tips!

[@GetYourSaxTogether]

Thanks

[@kdmossman]

This is one of my main challenges! We're covering stuff like "Would I Lie to You" by the Eurythmics which has a 6-piece horn section. My current hack is to try out a harmonizer pedal (Boss PS-6), which brings a whole whack of its own issues. (The gear you accumulate...) The main issue is that when you want those "stabby" hits for pop tunes, it's actually the BRASS sound you want -- a bunch of trumpets and a trombone. Oh well. Time to head off at a 90 degree angle as Jamie says and play the riff but make it your own.

[@GetYourSaxTogether]

👍

[@edusaxflauta]

Great ideas! I use to play with the same ideas at my gigs

[@GetYourSaxTogether]

Thanks. Great!

[@donkalescky3235]

VPS "vomiting pentatonic scales"...LOL...Great point. Love Love Love you videos...Thank you!!

[@GetYourSaxTogether]

Thanks. You're welcome!

[@barzdotas_saksofonistas]

Hi Jamie, are you starting and stoping playback by clicking the pedal? What gear do you use for that? Thanks 🙂

[@GetYourSaxTogether]

Not playback. It’s a foot pedal mic switcher.

[@spiketaterman5181]

I don't know about long notes--worked damn well for Clarence Clemons in Jungleland! Do you agree?

[@GetYourSaxTogether]

One thing I know for sure is this - there’s always someone to contradict what I say in every video with an exception or whatever, so fair play for keeping that fine tradition going! Sure - Jungleland. Long notes are good. I stand corrected.

[@mprenn1547]

@@GetYourSaxTogether well you are correct about the long notes 99.99% of the time! Yet there was only one Clarence...:)

[@craigmmiller35]

This is really timely. I’m a solo sax player. In a band that has decided they want to cover Sole Man by the Blues Bros. I’ve struggled before to explain to the other members that a single tenor sax Ames not a horn section.

[@GetYourSaxTogether]

🙏

[@gasthilbert3136]

Hello, What sax mic and IEM do you recommend? Have you made any comparison? Thank you

[@GetYourSaxTogether]

I usually use DPA 4099.

[@joesweeting1746]

Hi Jamie can u learn the sax solo on m people moving on up. Is it on alto or tenor please help

[@GetYourSaxTogether]

Thanks for the suggestion

[@chrisparker5372]

So fun! Why can't I give this one fifty likes!!

[@GetYourSaxTogether]

🙏

[@lucy77772]

Hello! I’m a new subscriber :) and I have a question I was hoping you would respond to. I’ve been playing the tuba for 5 years now, and decided to start learning the sax so I could join the jazz band (they need people badly and we’ve had a bunch of students starting on the sax for it). My problem is, when I play low notes, I squeak. Anything you’d recommend for exercises?

[@GetYourSaxTogether]

I do all that stuff in my inner circle membership. See the description 😀

[@lucy77772]

@@GetYourSaxTogetherI just watched your masterclass video and it was super helpful! Just wondering where I can find a more in depth video for tone??

[@ph2738]

I’m conflicted by the horn section part in the Paul Simon tune “Late in the Evening”. I’m the only horn in my band, and can’t decide if I should take that part on solo or not.

[@MarkPeotter]

@ph2738 My suggestion is to play the horn lines just like the recording, or as close as you can get. Play something that reminds people of the song.

[@GetYourSaxTogether]

Yeh I think you gotta play that. Get the keys player on it.

[@danielnavarodrigues9175]

Great video, Jamie. Sometimes less js more! Do you ever play the flute?

[@GetYourSaxTogether]

Yes I do!

[@robfriedrich2822]

What about using vocal harmony on the saxophone?

[@GetYourSaxTogether]

Yeh could do.

[@travlak]

Would the stabby stuff sound okay on a solo trumpet or trombone?

[@GetYourSaxTogether]

Not really tbh.

[@oreodog]

5:12 im not really getting why this is bad. Sure it’s not melodic, but adding that texture at the right times, or harmonizing in general improves how everyone else can sound, no?

[@shipsahoy1793]

The stabs he did on "I will survive" probably would've sounded better if recessed in the mix, but when they stand way out front on one horn, they tend to sound goofy. I believe that was his point.

[@GetYourSaxTogether]

It can do, depends on the situation I guess

[@benoittissier58]

Are you growling all the way through September or is it your natural killer sound ?

[@GetYourSaxTogether]

Em…killer sound?? 🤣

[@kwootamuckbear9294]

Now what do we do with the drummer 🥁🤔🎶🎵🎶🎷

[@GetYourSaxTogether]

No comment!

[@spidermansmum]

I’m a one man band 😂

[@GetYourSaxTogether]

🤣

[@ericmalone3213]

This video is not about hacks, aka, applications, it is a video containing suggestions for musicians who aspire to be hacks. Imagine if John Zorn had set out to be a wedding band or cocktail lounge background music schlubbo, instead of becoming the brilliantly original musician and composer he aspired to be. And of course, when you think of John Zorn, you think of "stagecraft"! Not!

[@krulwurld1791]

Wouldn’t agree. We’re entertainers always and have to deliver on this. Some people find quiet venues and somber performances entertaining (I often do), others like a lively stage with plenty movement and others just want to dance and could care less about the music. Equally valid expectations. They come to see as well as hear and have a right to have expectations met. If you tap dance playing a concerto or stand stock still playing a bar gig the same thing happens - you won’t be back. Hence stagecraft. It’s about context.

[@ericmalone3213]

@@krulwurld1791 "somber performances"? Are you referring to funeral gigs? The great cats such as Steve Lacy, Lol Coxhill, Evan Parker, John Zorn, John Butcher, Mette Rasmussen, et al, didn't bother and don't bother with entertainment, hacks, or stagecraft, they're all about the music. "They come to see as well as hear and have a right to have expectations met." OY! "Most audiences are deaf. Why are they deaf? Because they show up with expectations, and they know what they want to hear."--Robert Fripp.

[@GetYourSaxTogether]

Thanks for the suggestion

[@pedroramos6472]

Do you Skype or zoom Jamie we need to talk cause you da man if I could talk one on one I know it would be life changing

[@GetYourSaxTogether]

www.getyoursaxtogether.com/teaching