Graham English

Posts Tagged ‘technique’

The Holy Six

My saxophone teacher at the University Of Pittsburgh, Dr. Nathan Davis, developed a series of exercises he called, “The Holy Six.” Each exercise has a practical musical application and also builds fundamental technique.

Holy Six #1 is a series of major arpeggios weaving up and down a half step at a time. For variation, try different [...]

Top Secret Patterns (shhh, they’re free!)

Patterns are a great way of putting scales to work. Not only do they get you out of any do-re-mi rut, they expand your musical vocabulary. They also expand your mind by forcing you to think about systems within systems—and sometimes within other systems. For example, this diminished pattern is a three note system:

within another [...]

Turbocharge Your Practicing

A practice schedule is an important part of your musical development.
My sax teacher, Nathan Davis, used to tell me, “Go without practicing one day, and you know. Go without practicing two days, your friends will know. Go without three days, and everyone knows.” Good advice.
When you implement a practice schedule, here are some critical points [...]