- When finishing a piece, it is important to engage with the score and hear your ideal music in your mind before practicing on the instrument
- By focusing on how to ideally bring the composer's written notes to life—free from the constraints of the instrument—you can deliver a performance that truly communicates music to the listener
- On a monophonic instrument, expressiveness improves by infusing each note with a sense of harmony
- By playing the piano part and feeling the harmony, you can understand the information underlying the single melodic line
Finishing a Piece on Saxophone: The Importance of Hearing Your Ideal in Your Mind
When you set out to finish a piece, the first important thing is to form an ideal of how you want to shape it. Unlike etudes or fundamental exercises, when finishing a work, it is essential that you and the score become one-on-one. Engage with the score the composer has written, and hear in your mind what kind of music you want to create. This is the first step in finishing a piece.
The reason this process is so important is that when you practice on the instrument, you inevitably become constrained by the instrument's limitations, and your practice tends to focus solely on operating the instrument. Practicing difficult passages by playing them on the instrument is certainly important, but before that, you need to consider how to ideally bring the composer's written notes to life and how to recreate them as music. By studying the score intently and hearing the music in your mind—deciding things like maybe this section should go like this, or maybe slow down a bit more here—by doing this work first, you make it possible to deliver a performance that truly communicates music to the listener.
Ineffective vs. Effective Approaches: Performances Constrained by the Instrument vs. Performances That Pursue the Ideal
Let's compare an ineffective approach with an effective one when finishing a piece. In the ineffective approach, starting by practicing on the instrument leads to being constrained by the instrument's limitations, and practice ends up focused solely on operating the instrument. In contrast, the effective approach involves engaging with the score and hearing your ideal in your mind first, then realizing it on the instrument, making it possible to deliver a performance that truly communicates music to the listener.
Infusing Harmony into the Saxophone as a Monophonic Instrument
The saxophone is a monophonic instrument. It is an instrument that plays a single melodic line and cannot play chords like a piano. However, the challenge lies in how much harmonic information you can infuse into each single note of this monophonic instrument. By sensing what lies behind your melody—the piano's harmony and other elements—and playing with that awareness, you can achieve expressively rich performances.
Practice Steps
To finish a piece, it is important to follow a step-by-step practice process. By engaging with the score and hearing your ideal music in your mind, then considering how to realize it on the instrument, you can deliver a performance that truly communicates music to the listener.
Step 1: Engage with the Score and Hear Your Ideal in Your Mind
First, it is important to study the score intently and hear the music in your mind. You and the composer's score become one-on-one, and you hear in your mind what kind of music you want to create. Maybe this section should go like this, maybe slow down a bit more here—you do this work first. If you do this work on the instrument, you inevitably become constrained by the instrument's limitations, and practice ends up focused solely on operating the instrument. By engaging with the score and determining your ideal, you can consider how to ideally bring the composer's written notes to life.
Step 2: Realize Your Ideal on the Instrument
Once you have heard your ideal in your mind, consider how to realize it on the instrument. The reason this process is important is to avoid ending up with a sound that merely sounds like an instrument. By aiming for a beautiful sound where you cannot tell what instrument it is, you can deliver a performance that truly communicates music to the listener. To achieve a performance free from the instrument's constraints, the sequence of hearing your ideal in your mind first, then realizing it on the instrument is essential.
Step 3: Feel the Harmony and Play the Melodic Line
On a monophonic instrument, the challenge lies in how much harmonic information you can infuse into each single note. When you frequently perform duos with piano, playing the piano part yourself allows you to feel the harmony of the piece. Take it slowly, slowly—feeling that this was the harmony, this is what the harmony is—and playing a melodic line with that awareness versus simply playing only your own written part are completely different things. By sensing what lies behind your melody—the piano's harmony and other elements—and playing with that awareness, you can convey the beauty of the work and the beauty of the music to the listener.
- Study the score intently and hear the music in your mind, determining what kind of music you want to create
- After hearing your ideal in your mind, consider how to realize it on the instrument
- Free yourself from the constraints of the instrument and aim for a performance that truly communicates music to the listener
- Play the piano part slowly to feel the harmony and understand what lies behind your melodic line
- Look beyond your written part and grasp the information that lies even further within the score
Conclusion: Engage with the Score and Pursue Your Ideal
When finishing a piece, it is essential to engage with the score and hear your ideal music in your mind before practicing on the instrument. By focusing on how to ideally bring the composer's written notes to life—free from the constraints of the instrument—you can deliver a performance that truly communicates music to the listener. On a monophonic instrument, infusing each note with a sense of harmony enables expressively rich performances. By looking beyond your written part and grasping what lies even further within the score, you can convey the beauty of the work and the beauty of the music to the listener.
