ALTO SAXOPHONE MOUTHPIECE PITCH AND ITS RELATION TO JAZZ AND CLASSICAL TONE QUALITIES BY VANESSA RAE HASBROOK B.M., University of Idaho-Moscow, 1996 M.M., Baylor University-Waco, 1998 DOCTORAL PROJECT Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Musical Arts in Music in the Graduate College of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2005 Urbana, Illinois © Copyright by Vanessa Rae Hasbrook, 2005 i To Mom and Dad ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to extend my gratitude to Professor Debra Richtmeyer for her guidance and support, not only during this project but also throughout my studies with her. Thanks to Professor Erik Lund for his time and support as well. I would also like to acknowledge Luca Cazzanti and Maya Gupta of the University of Washington for their help with the scientific data, as well as my recording engineer, Christopher Plummer. Thanks to Dr. Robert Miller and Dr. Michael Jacobson for helping me to arrive at this stage of my musical development. Finally, thanks to my husband, family and friends who have stood by me throughout this process. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION.........................................................................................1 Jazz and Classical tone Qualities.............................................................................2 Statement of the Problem.........................................................................................3 Mouthpiece Pitch.....................................................................................................4 The Experiment........................................................................................................6 CHAPTER 2 REVIEW OF PEDAGOGY...........................................................................8 Tonal Concept..........................................................................................................9 Embouchure Formation.........................................................................................11 Oral Cavity Manipulation......................................................................................13 Mouthpiece Pitch...................................................................................................15 Mouthpiece and Reed Selection.............................................................................16 The Difference Between a Classical and Jazz Tone Quality.................................17 Conclusions............................................................................................................18 CHAPTER 3 METHODOLOGY......................................................................................20 Materials................................................................................................................20 Subjects..................................................................................................................21 Reference Subjects.................................................................................................21 Procedures..............................................................................................................22 Statistical Analysis.................................................................................................24 CHAPTER 4 PRESENTATION OF DATA.....................................................................31 Classical vs. Jazz Tone Quality.............................................................................31 Comparison of Voicing..........................................................................................36 Errors......................................................................................................................40 Classical Errors......................................................................................................41 Jazz Errors..............................................................................................................45 CHAPTER 5 CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS........................................46 Limitations.............................................................................................................47 Recommendations for Further Research................................................................49 REFERENCE LIST...........................................................................................................53 SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY.........................................................................................54 APPENDIX A SPECTRAL ANALYSIS OF REFERENCE PITCHES...........................56 APPENDIX B SPECTRAL ANALYSIS OF SAXOPHONE TONE QUALITY USING SELMER S80 MOUTHPIECE AT PITCH LEVEL OF A5.................................63 iv APPENDIX C SPECTRAL ANALYSIS OF SAXOPHONE TONE QUALITY USING SELMER S90 MOUTHPIECE AT PITCH LEVEL OF A5.................................73 APPENDIX D SPECTRAL ANALYSIS OF SAXOPHONE TONE QUALITY USING MEYER 6M MOUTHPIECE AT PITCH LEVEL OF A5....................................83 APPENDIX E SPECTRAL ANALYSIS OF SAXOPHONE TONE QUALITY USING CLAUDE LAKEY 4*4 MOUTHPIECE AT PITCH LEVEL OF A5..................94 APPENDIX F SPECTRAL ANALYSIS OF SAXOPHONE TONE QUALITY USING SELMER S80 MOUTHPIECE AT PITCH LEVEL OF Eb5..............................107 APPENDIX G SPECTRAL ANALYSIS OF SAXOPHONE TONE QUALITY USING SELMER S90 MOUTHPIECE AT PITCH LEVEL OF Eb5..............................118 APPENDIX H SPECTRAL ANALYSIS OF SAXOPHONE TONE QUALITY USING MEYER 6M MOUTHPIECE AT PITCH LEVEL OF Eb5................................129 APPENDIX I SPECTRAL ANALYSIS OF SAXOPHONE TONE QUALITY USING CLAUDE LAKEY 4*4 MOUTHPIECE AT PITCH LEVEL OF Eb5...............143 APPENDIX J ITAKURA-SAITO DISTANCES OF SAXOPHONE TONE QUALITIES AT MOUTHPIECE PITCH LEVEL OF A5.......................................................158 APPENDIX K ITAKURA-SAITO DISTANCES OF SAXOPHONE TONE QUALITIES AT MOUTHPIECE PITCH LEVEL OF Eb5......................................................161 APPENDIX L CLOSEST ITAKURA-SAITO DISTANCE OF SAXOPHONE TONE QUALITIES AT MOUTHPIECE PITCH LEVEL OF A5.................................164 APPENDIX M CLOSEST ITAKURA-SAITO DISTANCE OF SAXOPHONE TONE QUALITIES AT MOUTHPIECE PITCH LEVEL OF Eb5................................167 VITA ..............................................................................................................................170 v CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION Since its invention in the mid-nineteenth century, the saxophone has been utilized in a wide array of musical settings. The instrument has become an accepted member of the classical woodwind section, as well as a highly employed solo voice within the traditional orchestra and wind ensemble. The technical virtuosity of the saxophone is often exploited in both classical solo and saxophone quartet works. In addition, it continues to thrive in other genres, especially jazz. The saxophone section functions as a primary component of the big band, and saxophonists are commonly found in small group and solo jazz performance. The contemporary saxophonist needs to be able to function in a variety of musical situations. There is an increasing demand put upon saxophonists to perform in both the classical and jazz idioms. Because of the saxophone’s infrequent employment in the traditional orchestra, often the working classical saxophonist will also be required to play jazz to make a living. This demand requires that saxophone instructors teach in both styles. There are several aspects of performance practice that are inherently different between the classical and jazz saxophone. These aspects include but are not limited to notation, articulation and improvisation. The aforementioned areas of performance practice are definite. Classical and jazz tone quality, on the other hand, remains an area that is much less defined, and a frequent point of discussion. Probably more so than any wind instrument, the saxophone employs a vast spectrum of acceptable tone qualities. What some might consider an acceptable classical tone quality may be dismissed as a jazz tone quality, and vice versa. In the matter of tone production, classical saxophonist Eugene Rousseau (1978, 7) documents that a characteristic alto saxophone tone quality will be produced if, when playing on the saxophone mouthpiece alone, an A5 (A=880) is produced. A5 refers to the A between C5 and C6. The alto saxophone mouthpiece alone has a playable range of approximately one octave, from C5 to C6. This being said, A5 is a relatively high pitch within the available range. Producing a jazz tone quality is somewhat more elusive. Oftentimes, students are simply told that if they are able to ‘hear’ the desired tone quality in their head, they will be able to produce it. They are told to listen to recorded models that have great sounds, and to try to reproduce the sound that they desire. Most certainly, there is no substitute for listening to professional musicians for the fine-tuning of tone quality, capturing nuance, and style. However, in many cases, establishing a more basic starting point is necessary. Jazz and Classical Tone Qualities As stated earlier, the spectrum of acceptable jazz tone quality is quite broad. This may be in part due to the way in which jazz developed. Unlike the classical saxophone tradition, which mainly developed in the conservatory and university systems, jazz had its beginnings outside of the classrooms. Many early jazz saxophonists were self-taught or learned through an apprentice/mentor model. The young jazz musician was expected to learn solely through listening and emulating. With the inclusion of jazz education in the university or college setting, it has become necessary to analyze methods and procedures more carefully. Classical saxophone tone quality is somewhat narrower in its acceptable range. Words to describe a classical tone quality may be focused, consistent, round and warm. While jazz saxophone tone quality may have some of the same descriptors, generally the spectrum begins at a classical tone quality and moves toward one that is richer in harmonic content. This can be perceived as edgier, brasher, more colorful, having more buzz and perhaps even louder. Statement of the Problem Teachers of young saxophonists starting to play jazz commonly encounter the following problem. Usually, the student will purchase a jazz mouthpiece thinking that it will magically create a jazz tone. They think that if they approach the mouthpiece the same way as they do their classical mouthpiece (or mouthpiece that came with the instrument), that it should produce an acceptable tone quality. Students are often surprised when instead they produce a thin tone quality and random squeaks. Teachers can frequently address this problem by having the student remove the mouthpiece from their instrument and play on the mouthpiece alone. As mentioned earlier, the technique of having a student play an A5 on the mouthpiece alone is commonly used in teaching classical tone quality. Frequently, a student who is squeaking randomly on the mouthpiece will be playing at a pitch level that is higher than the A5 desired for a classical tone quality. Remember that the alto saxophone mouthpiece alone has a practical range of one octave, from a C5 to C6. Therefore, the jazz student who is getting a pitch that is higher than an A5 is actually playing on the uppermost extreme of the mouthpiece range. Quite often, by lowering the mouthpiece pitch the student will put an end to the squeaks, and gain more control over the mouthpiece. This has been a topic of several recent conversations among saxophonists. In fact, it has been a point discussed by saxophonists on the listserv of the North American Saxophone Alliance. However, insufficient scientific documentation exists relative to mouthpiece pitch and characteristic jazz tone quality. One of the reasons for this may be that the range of acceptable jazz tone qualities is much broader than the range of acceptable classical tone qualities. Nevertheless, creating a general guideline will be beneficial. By doing so, a studio teacher can establish a starting point from which a student can develop their own jazz tone quality. Mouthpiece Pitch Mouthpiece pitch is manipulated by a combination of embouchure and tongue placement. To a certain extent, simply loosening and tightening the embouchure’s hold on the mouthpiece will lower and raise the resulting pitch. However, loosening the embouchure alone will not allow the saxophonist to achieve the full octave of available pitches. Tongue placement becomes of great importance in the overall pitch manipulation. Raising and lowering the front quarter of the tongue, much in the same way as one does to change pitch while whistling, will change the mouthpiece pitch. By combining these two techniques, the full octave of pitches can be produced. As the embouchure is loosened and the tongue position is lowered, more air must be used to produce a steady tone. The lessening of pressure used to make the reed vibrate is in turn