I have been learning tenor for about 3 years and admit that when i practice overtones for 5 mins or so and then start playing songs or exercises it all becomes easier and the tonal quality is stronger . I have to force myself to do the overtones , it sounds boring ( overtones), but like everything else it creates strength in developing a better tone...
I have started a 30 day challenge with my brother and this is the perfect thing to add as my warm-up. I have had trouble with the higher overtones with very similar practicing methods. I think hearing you play it helped my succeed better than I have before. Thanks for sharing this lesson.
Hello I'm glad to meet you here , I started watching you now I savings money to buy saxophone for my own . To continue to practice thank you . God bless you 😇
Hi Nigel. I've been practicing overtones a bit and find that they vary depending on reed strength and between alto and tenor. I must say, though, that I have seen improvement as originally I could only get 1 or 2 overtones but now am able to hit 4 or 5 (at least on my tenor). I am excited to try out your exercises. Thanks for the tips.
Sorry to make another comment, but the F and D are quite easy for me on the low Bb, but I can’t get the first overtone (but it comes for other notes). I know this is a weakness and will practice practice practice. Thanks Nigel!!! Actually when I hold it up to the light and look into the text bell I can see slivers of light at the B and C keys. It’s an old horn and could use an overhaul for sure.
I do that switching down exercise a lot. Besides that I just play the harmonics I can, and make sure they sound good. Sometimes I play chromatically from the Low Bb starting an octave up (can get up to the high F without the octave), and sometimes an octave + a fifth for as high as I can. I'm stuck at the third overtone though in the series for the lowest notes.
I agree on the Rasher book being some what hard. For a beginning person. What I did when I started, I went, top to bottom on my horn using the fingering chart in my first lesson book doing long tones I think that's how I learned to read music. Got all of the fingerings for the notes. Never sat down to study how to read music. Is there a book for that? Oh, I'm sure there is. Too late, I did it myself. HA. Tim
Hi Nigel, I started learning sax (by ear) about three or four weeks ago. I do lots of long tones and overtones. I didn’t think to use a gliss or to start with air. Thanks! I see that is challenging and can’t wait to try it. One question is I find it easy to play the upper octave notes without using the octave key up until about the palm keys. Is this ok or a bad habit I should break? As a beginner I find it much more fiddly to engage the octave key on some fingerings. One thing I find hardest is to play the lower notes on the horn (using the pinky keys) an octave up, (or the lowest notes clearly without having to blast them). It is sometimes easier to finger them but harder to sound them and they’re not as powerful and bright and I wonder in general when to use the “break” and play the notes high on the horn instead. Actually, your third example is to work on that. It’s interesting that your second overtones were a lot clearer than the first overtones for those notes, and that’s what I find too-those first overtones are hard! Thanks for the great content!
Cheers Craig - glad you found this helpful. Also great to hear you can do theses overtones already. Definitely a good idea though to get in the habit of using your octave key for regular playing - this will be important as you begin to play more complicated music.
Hi Nigel hows it going mate hope you and the family are safe. Great vid, havnt played in two years but kept watching the vids. As ive started up again, sax school and this vid helped as i was struggling with my tones as im abit rusty. Quick request for a sax school lesson/ tune (probably get asked a lot for requests lol) Against all odds by Phil Collins and his sax player Gerald Albright think its an awesome tune for the sax as u probably already knew. could also look into the John Tesh version as well. Dont mind if its a no "no harm in asking" as the saying goes. Great work as usual mate
Hello, Nigel. I have been practicing overtones, mostly in n the methods you present. I am interested, though, on the mathematical relationship between the fundamental and the overtones. I know low C goes to middle C (overtone 1) then G (?) and then C again (?) I am a member and found this lesson very helpful. Greetings
I can get hit high D and altissimo F and very occasionally the G# from the low Bb. I have been practising overtones for about 3 years. At first all I could get was high Bb and sometimes high D, I practice doing bugle calls now and see how fast I can do them. I started doing a similar thing to Leo P about 6 months ago in order to be able to drop to low Bb or low B from higher up the horn.
HI Nigel, I do practice overtones - but like many, not every day. I really struggle to get the high D as an overtone of bottom B-Flat . I guess it is just practice x 100 times rinse and repeat!
It does take practice Stephen but go through the steps here and it should make it easier. Once you crack that D you’ll be well setup for the Altissimo. I find singing the note first really helps.
G’day Nigel, I’ve been working on overtones for a while now on the tenor sax from low Bb and can’t get above the F with the octave key. Any help appreciated mate. My teacher says to keep trying, I have reached the high Bb once.
This. I can easily play altissimo G, and I still can't consistently get out the 3rd overtone/4th harmonic. Have done it like 3/4 times. The most success I had, was doing long tones on high Bb, and then switching immediately to the low Bb. Then I was tonguing it, and really trying to memorize my throat position and stuff, but no luck really long term. I still play overtones a lot, but that's such a hurdle for some reason. Everything sounds totally fine, tone-wise, but I'm at a wall too.
I was stuck at the same spot, getting easily up to F from a low Bb, but rarely ever got to a high Bb. What helped for me was to practice altissimo and multuphonic fingerings, and fiddle around with my embouchure, and my tongue and throat positioning until I got a clean altissimo note/multuphonic. Then I applied that embouchure, tongue and throat positioning to my overtone exercises, and I could reach many more notes in the overtone series after that.
All good advice here guys. Consistency and experimentation is the key. Also I’ve found the best thing for me is actually playing long tones and even simple melodies using these overtone notes so you really build your strength and control with them.
Hello, Thank for the tutorials. I am about the jump into the Saxophone world, and i would like some advice on the sax to buy. as a beginner do you think the Jean Paul AS-400GP Student Alto (at about 600 US Dollars) is suitable for me? if not what would suggest Thank you
Hi thanks for this video! I find the 2nd overtone I.e the f on the b flat easy but find the one that’s just an octave up difficult. Any tips to help with this.
Hi Nigel. I can get to high Bb on my tenor but really struggle to pitch the palm key D using the low Bb fingering. Just cant break through. Any tips? I can play up to altissimo F# at the moment. Should I work on altissimo G to see if that helps?
So I have practiced overtones. I’ll admit I don’t practice them as much as I should. I start with low Bb and do middle Bb and F with the low Bb fingering. Can’t ever get high Bb to sound properly. No idea what I’m doing wrong.
It does take time Joseph. A couple things to try: first it’s important to play your overtones as nice long tones just like you would practice any other “long tones”. Consistency is super important. Second experiment with different reed sizes to see if this helps. Good luck!
Overtone scales are my latest Nigel, using Bb - E overtones. Downloaded a free sheet from the internet. Quite challenging to play but feels like you have achieved something when you do it and not so hard on the family's ears!!!
This is me as well. I can sustain the middle B flat if I tap the side B flat key whilst fingering the low B flat, but finding it without that little cheat has been elusive. Curious as to whether there are any secrets or if it's just practice practice practice.
![[#2024MAMA] BIGBANG (빅뱅) - 뱅뱅뱅 (BANG BANG BANG) + FANTASTIC BABY | Mnet 241123 방송](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/EQsYfiPR9uM/mqdefault.jpg)
I have never played a Saxophone.However, I am willing to learn.
I have been learning tenor for about 3 years and admit that when i practice overtones for 5 mins or so and then start playing songs or exercises it all becomes easier and the tonal quality is stronger . I have to force myself to do the overtones , it sounds boring ( overtones), but like everything else it creates strength in developing a better tone...
I will definitely find a warm up to use for several minutes at the beginning of my practice!
I have started a 30 day challenge with my brother and this is the perfect thing to add as my warm-up. I have had trouble with the higher overtones with very similar practicing methods. I think hearing you play it helped my succeed better than I have before. Thanks for sharing this lesson.
Hey
Hey
Thank you it took so long for me to find a video actually explaining how to do this
Hello I'm glad to meet you here , I started watching you now I savings money to buy saxophone for my own . To continue to practice thank you . God bless you 😇
Thanks. Hope you get your sax soon.
I got a massive improvement after practicing this :)
The D overtone comes natural for me. I will try the rest to see how l do. Thanks Nigel.
Thanks a lot for the super lesson MacGill I am getting there each time sir
Awesome. Great to hear that!
Hi Nigel. I've been practicing overtones a bit and find that they vary depending on reed strength and between alto and tenor. I must say, though, that I have seen improvement as originally I could only get 1 or 2 overtones but now am able to hit 4 or 5 (at least on my tenor). I am excited to try out your exercises. Thanks for the tips.
Sorry to make another comment, but the F and D are quite easy for me on the low Bb, but I can’t get the first overtone (but it comes for other notes). I know this is a weakness and will practice practice practice. Thanks Nigel!!!
Actually when I hold it up to the light and look into the text bell I can see slivers of light at the B and C keys. It’s an old horn and could use an overhaul for sure.
I have been able to do octave jumps without the octave key for a while, but this is the first time I've gotten the F with the Bb fingering.
Cool, well done!
I do that switching down exercise a lot. Besides that I just play the harmonics I can, and make sure they sound good. Sometimes I play chromatically from the Low Bb starting an octave up (can get up to the high F without the octave), and sometimes an octave + a fifth for as high as I can. I'm stuck at the third overtone though in the series for the lowest notes.
Cool, great to hear that you are using lots of variations. I think treating those overtones like long tones in your practice really helps.
I agree on the Rasher book being some what hard. For a beginning person. What I did when I started, I went, top to bottom on my horn using the fingering chart in my first lesson book doing long tones I think that's how I learned to read music. Got all of the fingerings for the notes. Never sat down to study how to read music. Is there a book for that? Oh, I'm sure there is. Too late, I did it myself. HA. Tim
Most helpful
Glad to hear that 👍
Hi Nigel,
I started learning sax (by ear) about three or four weeks ago. I do lots of long tones and overtones. I didn’t think to use a gliss or to start with air. Thanks! I see that is challenging and can’t wait to try it.
One question is I find it easy to play the upper octave notes without using the octave key up until about the palm keys. Is this ok or a bad habit I should break? As a beginner I find it much more fiddly to engage the octave key on some fingerings.
One thing I find hardest is to play the lower notes on the horn (using the pinky keys) an octave up, (or the lowest notes clearly without having to blast them). It is sometimes easier to finger them but harder to sound them and they’re not as powerful and bright and I wonder in general when to use the “break” and play the notes high on the horn instead. Actually, your third example is to work on that. It’s interesting that your second overtones were a lot clearer than the first overtones for those notes, and that’s what I find too-those first overtones are hard!
Thanks for the great content!
Cheers Craig - glad you found this helpful. Also great to hear you can do theses overtones already. Definitely a good idea though to get in the habit of using your octave key for regular playing - this will be important as you begin to play more complicated music.
Ah, thats the Excersise from Roxy Coss.. Love that one
It was a great session with Roxy wasn’t it Angela!
Never practiced overtones (or even really heard of this) but I will now!
Love this guy 👍
Hi Nigel, is it ossible to download notes for this lesson? It seems to be taking me straight ti scholl join programms instead. Thank you.
Hi Nigel hows it going mate hope you and the family are safe. Great vid, havnt played in two years but kept watching the vids. As ive started up again, sax school and this vid helped as i was struggling with my tones as im abit rusty. Quick request for a sax school lesson/ tune (probably get asked a lot for requests lol) Against all odds by Phil Collins and his sax player Gerald Albright think its an awesome tune for the sax as u probably already knew. could also look into the John Tesh version as well. Dont mind if its a no "no harm in asking" as the saying goes. Great work as usual mate
Hello, Nigel. I have been practicing overtones, mostly in n the methods you present. I am interested, though, on the mathematical relationship between the fundamental and the overtones. I know low C goes to middle C (overtone 1) then G (?) and then C again (?)
I am a member and found this lesson very helpful.
Greetings
I can get hit high D and altissimo F and very occasionally the G# from the low Bb. I have been practising overtones for about 3 years. At first all I could get was high Bb and sometimes high D, I practice doing bugle calls now and see how fast I can do them. I started doing a similar thing to Leo P about 6 months ago in order to be able to drop to low Bb or low B from higher up the horn.
HI Nigel, I do practice overtones - but like many, not every day. I really struggle to get the high D as an overtone of bottom B-Flat . I guess it is just practice x 100 times rinse and repeat!
It does take practice Stephen but go through the steps here and it should make it easier. Once you crack that D you’ll be well setup for the Altissimo. I find singing the note first really helps.
Hi Nagel, again, is it possible to exclude low B flat just yet, as my finger does not reachh out to the key. Thank you.
Another informative video. On a different note (no pun intended), are you still using the Roland Aerophone? How are you getting on with it?
Seriously expecting to know how to play saxophone
We can help you. Best place to start is our free 14 day trial at SaxSchoolOnline.com. 🎷
Need to know for a beginner, is an alto or tenner sax better to learn on?
G’day Nigel, I’ve been working on overtones for a while now on the tenor sax from low Bb and can’t get above the F with the octave key.
Any help appreciated mate. My teacher says to keep trying, I have reached the high Bb once.
This. I can easily play altissimo G, and I still can't consistently get out the 3rd overtone/4th harmonic. Have done it like 3/4 times. The most success I had, was doing long tones on high Bb, and then switching immediately to the low Bb. Then I was tonguing it, and really trying to memorize my throat position and stuff, but no luck really long term. I still play overtones a lot, but that's such a hurdle for some reason. Everything sounds totally fine, tone-wise, but I'm at a wall too.
I was stuck at the same spot, getting easily up to F from a low Bb, but rarely ever got to a high Bb. What helped for me was to practice altissimo and multuphonic fingerings, and fiddle around with my embouchure, and my tongue and throat positioning until I got a clean altissimo note/multuphonic. Then I applied that embouchure, tongue and throat positioning to my overtone exercises, and I could reach many more notes in the overtone series after that.
All good advice here guys. Consistency and experimentation is the key. Also I’ve found the best thing for me is actually playing long tones and even simple melodies using these overtone notes so you really build your strength and control with them.
I want to learn altissimo fingering and my embouchure settings what are your rates?
Do you think overtone octaves are easier for me because I played flute and whistle all those years? No octave key on those.
Could be although we make overtones on sax a bit differently to flute. I’ll bet the concepts from those instruments helped though.
Hello, Thank for the tutorials. I am about the jump into the Saxophone world, and i would like some advice on the sax to buy. as a beginner do you think the Jean Paul AS-400GP Student Alto (at about 600 US Dollars) is suitable for me? if not what would suggest Thank you
Nigel- Great lesson! But I don't see the link for the worksheet. Thanks.
Sorry Jeff, I’ve added it now. Here’s the link: www.mcgillmusic.com/articles/how-to-play-overtones-on-saxophone
Hi thanks for this video! I find the 2nd overtone I.e the f on the b flat easy but find the one that’s just an octave up difficult. Any tips to help with this.
Nigel. I have been using, Rashers, Top Tones, page 12. I know, not enough though. Tim
That is such a classic book and full of great exercises (although a lot are pretty frustrating!)
You make it look easy, I can’t even get a sound, only a squeak. What am I doing wrong?
Overtones can take a while to get, but start with the easiest ones - middle Bb played with your low Bb fingers. Hope that helps.
Hi Nigel. I can get to high Bb on my tenor but really struggle to pitch the palm key D using the low Bb fingering. Just cant break through. Any tips? I can play up to altissimo F# at the moment. Should I work on altissimo G to see if that helps?
Bugle calls. That's a tough overtone exercise.
For sure.
You are a great teacher!
Thanks Calvin!
Sorry Nigel, there's no link for the worksheet.
Use the imbedded link at 2:20.
Ahh thanks, I missed that.
I do overtones..can t get that High D when fingering low b. Can do the others but it drives me crazy that i m not able to get this one. I keep at it.
Is it right if i get the octave note without the key by pressing the reeds with my lips hardly?
I’m playing alto.
So when I’m playing Bb my overtone is consistently F. No Bb in there. What am I doing wrong?
So I have practiced overtones. I’ll admit I don’t practice them as much as I should. I start with low Bb and do middle Bb and F with the low Bb fingering. Can’t ever get high Bb to sound properly. No idea what I’m doing wrong.
It does take time Joseph. A couple things to try: first it’s important to play your overtones as nice long tones just like you would practice any other “long tones”. Consistency is super important. Second experiment with different reed sizes to see if this helps. Good luck!
McGill Music Sax School thanks for the tips. I’ll keep trying. I’ve only been playing a couple of years consistently and it’s getting there.
Is that overtone became harder in cheep sax more than pro one
Depends on the sax really. If it’s a less expensive sax but still made and setup well, then overtones should still be easy enough.
Overtone scales are my latest Nigel, using Bb - E overtones. Downloaded a free sheet from the internet. Quite challenging to play but feels like you have achieved something when you do it and not so hard on the family's ears!!!
Great to hear that Ang - I have some lessons in Sax School where I show melodies using the overtones and they are a great challenge too.
How can I learn sofa note on saxophone
Nice
If I don’t do anything else in my daily practice, I do overtones. Fast bugle calls etc.
On my baritone sax, I just can't get out high d with the low b flat overtone. How do i get those higher overtones?
Hi, exactly the same principle but I think overtones are harder to get out on Bari.
I can't seem to download the worksheet.
Hi Graham. You can get it from my blog here: www.mcgillmusic.com/articles/how-to-play-overtones-on-saxophone
I use montiphonics a different way to play over tones
This look so hard
I’m playing alto.
So when I’m playing Bb my overtone is consistently F. No Bb in there. What am I doing wrong?
This is me as well. I can sustain the middle B flat if I tap the side B flat key whilst fingering the low B flat, but finding it without that little cheat has been elusive.
Curious as to whether there are any secrets or if it's just practice practice practice.