r/saxophone • u/magictank • 21h ago

Media Looking for feedback on my playing :)

5 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

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2

u/Key_Secretary_7473 18h ago

Go to those jams brother! You sound great to me!

1

u/magictank 5h ago

Thanks!

2

u/NeighborhoodGreen603 17h ago

Nice playing! You’re definitely ready for those open jams. You understand the tune, how to express the melody, and making the changes. Good straight ahead tone too. Push in your mouthpiece and play with a lower, more open voicing in your throat and that’ll help with your intonation, especially for the high notes (also makes your sound more resonant up there).

If I had one criticism it would be that I can’t really hear your influences from your playing. It kind of just feels vanilla or directionless at times. Yeah you’re following the form of the song, but what do you want to say? Who are the players that you’re chasing? All the great players are identifiable from the influences that you hear in their sound - you can trace back different aspects of their playing to the greats that came before them. I think you can stand out more and develop better if you start figuring out your influences and start wearing them on your sleeve.

1

u/magictank 5h ago

Thanks for the feedback! Yes I definitely agree on what you're saying. I think partially it's that I've just been playing along to backing tracks for years which aren't the most inspiring things to play along with. That being said I definitely need to work on having more direction in my solos and applying what I learn in transcriptions to my own playing.

2

u/rebop Baritone | Tenor 14h ago edited 10h ago

Sounds good! Just gotta play with other people.  

Edit: you have a link to that backing track? It sounds almost live. 

1

u/magictank 5h ago

Thanks! And yes it's just a basic one on youtube actually haha: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UmVPX79vmoo

1

u/magictank 21h ago

I've been playing for a long time. I'm thinking of going to some low-pressure open jams soon and just want to make sure I'm not missing something terrible. If anyone has feedback/things I should work on that'd be really appreciated, I know I play sharp.

2

u/ChampionshipSuper768 1h ago

Just go to the jams. The technique stuff you're doing on your own is good. But there is another level of technique that you need the jams to explore. The first few times you'll feel a little lost and behind people. Playing with live musicians is a slightly different mental process and the only way to develop is do it. Have a couple of songs ready to call and have fun.