When I'm fed up with my playing (this helps) // VLOG

[@jazzbrew68]

YES! Law & Order... my binge weakness. I'll sit and watch episodes of that even if I've seen them 10 times. AND it's on just about every station 24 hours a day. Sounding great Bob.

[@brittanyatterberry]

Yessss!!! That drummers feel is Life 🙌🏾😩 . Wonderful post. 🤘🏾😃

[@bcmsax]

I feel ya Bob. The struggle is real. I guess it's duality of being a musician with regards to feeling great about our playing one day to find a day later the uncontrollable urge to throw the horn at a wall. Phalanx sounded beautiful. 👍

[@blaisedangeac3130]

Really had fun listening to you speaking over the sound of the metronome, i guess it would be interesting to transcribe it for rythmic vocabulary!

[@linkinpark3184]

Bob, there is a small screw/bolt that you can tighten to keep that piece in place on your stand. It holds pretty well when you tighten it.

[@jrgreiner]

That's true Cameron, but that screw only prevents that piece from sliding up and down (from alto to tenor position), not necessarily from flipping up. Having said that, I have three of the exact same Hercules stands and love them. Have never had the problem Bob is having. I'd wager it's more about how you remove the horn from the stand. Unless you get a stand with a fixed bell brace (unlike the Herc's), there's a chance......again, depending on how you remove the horn from the stand....of that happening.

[@merlin55man]

Bob - I have the same neck strap and used Sugru to prevent the hook from scratching my 1938 Martin Handcraft tenor.

[@tommyt7566]

WRT to the Hercules Stand, a rubber band placed around any of the three legs could be used to keep that moveable lower base mount in place from collapsing. I hope that helps!

[@songswithryan]

I love that Peddlers tune, sloppy drum break and all! First saw it in Breaking Bad and grabbed it off iTunes immediately. Great sightreading on that Law & Order tune!

[@stxxcrisler]

My first thought when I heard the fill was, "I hate that! But, I love that! What the hell?!"

[@Ravenwings1234]

Hope you won't be offended but Your sound and phrasing in "on a clear day" was very reminiscent of Stan Getz to me, really lovely.

[@bobreynolds]

+Ian Page Getz is my hero

[@brianmatthews7607]

Have used Hercules stands for few years & love them. Had more instances of horns falling from flimsy stands. The Herc packs up great too to minimal size, mega durable. Also the stand accommodates alto or tenor. An elastic band from the lower feet to the lower support should prevent it flipping up?

[@apinnix627]

Check out those K&M sax stands. The "saxxy" stand specifically. They fit right into the bell and that's perfect for those little BAM cases.

[@bobreynolds]

Yeah, I gotta get one. Every time I tour with Snarky I'm reminded cuz Chris Bullock uses.

[@RGGifford]

I had a Herc stand and had the same issue. I ended up with the K&M Saxxy stand.

[@PhrygianPhrog]

Rascher is the man for those tip-toppy tones! One rash of crispy Rascher on my morning practice, please!

[@gangofgreenhorns2672]

I switched out my hercules stand's nut on the part mentioned in the video with a wing nut. My assumption is that they're made to be tightened down in the alto or tenor position, but if you need to go somewhere with it you want that to be movable.

[@n7275]

Just bought the new album. Love it!

[@bobreynolds]

+Matthew Hume sweet!

[@DaveSalvator]

Bob, this is a constant struggle for me. For a long time I'd just learn more licks (12 keys, using in major/minor/tritone-away contexts), which gives my brain something new to chew on. But more recently, I've been looking into interval-based patterns, especially around things that move in minor thirds, which can sound hip on dom7 chords. Barry Harris calls these "relative dominants". I think you've done a video related to this on your teaching site. Also been studying Bergonzi's pentatonic stuff, which is pretty interesting, especially how he expands the definition of pentatonic to be ANY five-note scale. But more specifically, he starts with a minor pentatonic, and shows derivative scales that involve flatting one note in the scale to produce a new one, and gets some other colors in there. Anyway, thanks for posting.

[@roy9226]

Bob - thank you for another great vlog. Do you use your octave key when you practice overtones?

[@MrSmoothvideos]

I had that problem with my Hercules stand but I just tightened the hex screw slightly, problem solved!

[@Shawn-hs8qk]

Bob, what are some strategies and exercises for improving my time feel for swing. guitar player btw. thanks!

[@bubanksy]

I'm also a guitarist, some things I've done and still do is: put the metronome on 2&4 (first step), focus on straightening out my 8th notes and accenting the off-beats so as to not overaccentuate the triplet feel (check out Adam Rogers for a great example of straight 8th notes in swing) and about the last week or so, I've started to try and play with the metronome on just 2, so that all the time is dependent on me. Bob probably has some great tips for time, but I thought I'd share some stuff that I've done.

[@drewinsley7463]

Phalanx has a bit of a Jaco Pastorius "Domingo" vibe.

[@zebozi]

Hello Bob, are you going to perform with SyPy @CINEJOIA in SAO PAULO - Brazil next December?

[@samondaatje3604]

Im 3 and i have the same overtone book

[@brianmatthews7607]

Also could slightly tighten the bolt and it will make it firmer and not flip.

[@shirishmalhotra]

It's actually "Somewhere" from WSS... Maria has the tritone :)

[@JulianChanSax]

Hey Bob, if you haven't already, check out the K&M Sax stands. Been using them for a while for both alto and tenor.

[@russthesaxman]

Bob, I agree with Julian. Especially the K&M Jazz sax stands. They fit in the bell and come with a bag so it doesn't scratch the inside of the sax.

[@chrispotter3190]

Hey bob what do you think of Donny mcaslin

[@misterurbanist]

Cole Parker God level IMO.

[@matteodeste]

It's funny though, most players (and their neighbors:)) would say that long tones and harmonics are the most boring part of practice... However I understand what you mean. Nice Vlog as usual, thanks for sharing. Ah, sounds great btw

[@MostUnik]

Hi Bob, First of all thanks for your VLOG it's awesome. A question for you: about articulation. I have been playing the saxophone for about a decade now, but i still can't articulate decently... especially when dealing with bebop lines (usually too staccato, accents not always at the good place, etc), and especially when dealing with ghost notes. My teacher taught me a way to ghost notes using a jaw movement, but i feel it's impossible to do for me. It seems that some saxophone players use their tongue to ghost notes. Which method do you use? Do you have a learning / working method to improve jazz articulation ? Thanks !

[@chadchapman9641]

Bob - a bit of a different equipment question. Ref 5513 or 14060? Nice one either way...

[@lafayettegunter292]

hey Bob what happened to your Mark 6 tenor sax?

[@jonathanprawira2022]

Is that AT2020 mic you were using on Phalanx excerpt?

[@themrtestdummy]

Hey Bob. I recently turned down a gig becuase during rehersal I was the only guy who didn't get stoned, as pot isn't my thing. I'm curious how often you run into this kind of thing (people getting stoned/drunk during rehersal) and how you handle it. Also, do you think that having a reputation for being a straihgt edge guy can be a hurdle for you getting work elsewhere? Thanks! p.s. These vlogs really help me as I have a lot of the same impediments to practice that you do, and it's cool to see someone else working through it

[@TzionCannon]

Spencer can say as a gigging musician it's always gonna be a problem. I don't smoke either and sometimes you'll lose gigs because of it. Just make a name for yourself in the way YOU want to be known.

[@themrtestdummy]

Makes sense. Thanks man!

[@keaganwall8178]

I can say from experience that you won’t ever lose gigs for being a sober guy, because if you play really well that’s what people actually care about. I actually know a killer sax player here in the pnw whom everyone wants when they need a horn and he’s very well known as a straight arrow guy. He goes to mass and never smokes and occasionally has a hard cider at gigs but I’ve never seen him drunk or anything. People respect him though because he’s quite honestly a bad ass player. Seriously. I can almost guarantee you that in the real world, any self respecting player worth their salt in this day and age won’t fire you for turning down a joint. I will say though, definitely stick to your morals, those guys you spoke of sounded like losers, but if you find yourself on a gig where people are smoking or whatever but the gig is amazing and the players are in control, etc, don’t quit the gig just because of the pot in my opinion. It’s going to be everywhere I’ll tell you that much. I’m in Oregon so I can’t walk five feet without smelling it these days haha!

[@MrSmoothvideos]

Phalanx sounds very Kenny Garret to me, in particular sing a song of song, great job :) Amazing tune you've made, just to clarify I'm not being sarcastic, I really like it.

[@bobreynolds]

+MrSmoothvideos Thanks :) definitely has that vibe.

[@xasma]

Maria is a tritone by the way.

[@MarcKellerSax]

Yeah one of the few songs that start with that interval, thats why I always think of that song when doing ear training.

[@DaveSalvator]

The tune he was thinking of is called Somewhere. A really pretty tune.

[@DaveSalvator]

Maria starts with a tritone, also a rare kickoff interval, but another pretty tune.

[@dalenelson3216]

I notice that when you play your long tones you usually do not use vibrato. Obviously you do not need to practice this, but I would welcome your take on it. I have a couple of students and use long tones as an obvious platform to teach them vibrato. Egads, I have two of those Hercules stands (too late I know) for alto and tenor and I like it that they are interchangeable. I have had your problem happen occasionally, have to be careful I guess. Thanks for great VLOG (again).

[@jeffreywilliams61]

And the SBA is out in the wild.

[@tonhueb]

That face at 4:42 though.

[@adamgilbert8602]

For the Hercules Stand problem, I recommend taking a small strip of double sided velcro and wrapping it around the bottom horn rest (the peg part). Problem solved. I had the same problem on gigs. Here is the link for the brand of velcro that you can cut into smaller pieces and wrap around that area. I can send you a picture too if that helps. Link to the velcro: www.amazon.com/VELCRO-Brand-ONE-WRAP-Double-Sided-Multi-Purpose/dp/B000078CUB Here is the picture of the velcro sax stand fix: facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10159479317470051&set=pcb.10159479318485051&type=3&theater

[@adamgilbert8602]

picture of the velcro sax stand fix: facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10159479317470051&set=pcb.10159479318485051&type=3&theater

[@DojoOfCool]

Hercules guitar stands are a pain for the same reason.

[@zu0832]

What venue are you playing?

[@MrBoybergs]

So just how good a payer do you need to be before the 'bored/frustrated with my own sound' goes away for ever. I'm not at your level but when I'm at rehearsals or gigging people pay my playing compliments regularly.......to me however it all feels a bit like the same old ideas and cliches rehashed. Do people ever get to that nirvana when fresh ideas constantly fill their head and they can spontaneously play them through the horn as instinctively as if they were singing?

[@jordanhendrick7848]

Im 14 and have the same overtone book

[@johnf.hebert1409]

If you're fed up with your playing, then you're not improvising.