SPOTLIGHT ON WOODWINDS
REPAIR BENCH
H
ello, and thank you for tuning in again. I hope that your
year was musical and free of too many repair surprises.
Ah, I am ever the optimist… Stuck mouthpieces, broken
clarinet joints, flutes that someone sat on, etc., etc. I opened a
bass clarinet case the other day that was full of mud. Really. You
know, the dried pieces that fall off your boots when you bang them
together? Lots of it. I can’t possibly imagine how or why, and
quite frankly, I don’t think I want to know. I only hope that no one
was badly injured. And then there was the dented flute that little
Billy dropped...Well, you get the idea. Summer repairs are always
entertaining. By the time you are reading this, it will be fall, so I
should muse less and enlighten (hopefully) more.
Stuck French horn rotors and broken strings – the two go hand-in-
hand. If the rotor on a horn is seized up and you continue to press
the lever down in an Arnold Schwarzenegger fashion, the lever will
eventually go down; it will not, however, come back up. You have
now broken the string and quite possibly bent the lever. Before
continuing on this path of destruction, STOP. Use your fingers or
some pliers and try to turn the rotor arm (the part on the end of the
rotor underneath the large screw). You may have to rotate it back and
forth a few times to free it up. Put a couple of drops of valve oil
under the rotor arm and under the cap on the other end. Pull the
slides out of that rotor and squirt a shot of oil into each tube down
towards the rotor. Keep turning the rotor until it spins freely. The
best way to oil them is to remove them, but I wouldn’t recommend
that unless you have taken a few horns apart before. Make sure there
are two rubber or cork bumpers on each rotor. Those determine how
the rotor lines up with the rotor casing.
Hopefully you will have four nicely turning rotors when you are
done this part. Now, what to do with all the broken strings? A
heavy braided fishing line does a nice job on a horn. (If you can’t
fix the horn, you could troll with it and maybe
catch a nice four-valve tuba.) Don’t use the clear
nylon string; it is too flexible and breaks easily. I
know, real French horn players will scoff at my
fishing line advice, but it works pretty well and it
has a little bit of flex to it so it won’t break as
easily – perfect for school French horns.
Hopefully there is one intact string left on the
horn for you to use as an example because it is
really tough to explain how to re-string a rotor.
An example is worth a thousand words. Use a
lighter to melt the end of the string or you will
never get it through those little holes. Make sure
the string is snug when you are done and the rotor
moves freely from stop to stop.
You can adjust the lever height by loosening the
small screw on the stop arm (the one that the
string is wrapped around), moving the lever up or
down and then tightening the screw. If you
36 Autumn 2003 • Canadian Winds • Vents Canadiens
“accidentally” take all the rotors out of the horn, make sure you
keep the rotor arm with the rotor it came off. They are not all
interchangeable. The rotors and back bearings are always marked
with numbers or punch marks, as they are a matched set for a
specific casing.
There, four restrung rotors. It’s not that hard if you look carefully
at a good example. The first person to play the horn will have
valve oil drip onto their lap, but such is the life of a horn player.
On most double horns the larger set of slides goes on the outside
closest to the rotor caps. We see a lot of horns with the slides in
all the wrong places. It’s hard enough to pitch a note on horn
when the slides are in the right places. Use lots of slide grease and
oil and you should have fewer problems.
Have a great fall. ’Bye for now.
Scott MacMillan
The Wind Shoppe
780-465-2269 1-800-267-1279
E-mail: windshop@telusplanet.net
Improved Saxophone
Intonation Through
Altissimo Exercises
Jeremy Brown
T
he bright, coarse tone and erratic intonation of
inexperienced saxophonists are often difficult to blend in a
band, especially in the upper register. Many of the
problems are caused by lack of embouchure control or poor
equipment.
Whistle-tone exercises, such as the following, test a student’s
Although the high or altissimo register is difficult for beginners to
ability to hear and play harmonic tones. To begin the sequence of
play well, I have found that as they work on exercises in that
exercises, finger low Bb (under the first ledger line below the
register, their control of tone and intonation in all ranges
treble staff) and slowly blow into the instrument, not enough to
increases. The altissimo register lies above the normal written
play a low note, but several harmonics (see the notes in brackets
range of the saxophone, beginning just above the highest written
below) should be audible. Choose one, increase the airflow, and
F or F# (3 ledger lines above the treble staff) on most student-
change the embouchure until this harmonic emerges. Practice this
model saxophones and F# or G on professional-model
exercise twice on every note from low Bb to low Eb for several
saxophones, and extending upwards for approximately one
weeks.
octave.
Simply stated, the altissimo register is played by overblowing
lower notes with an adjusted embouchure and air stream, and a
distinct set of fingerings. A reed of 21/2 or 3 strength, a
mouthpiece with medium face and chamber, and a good ligature
will help as students work on this register. Among the reference
books, Voicing, an Approach to the Saxophone’s Third Register by
Sinta and Dabney (see Bibliography for publication details) gives
a sequence of exercises that help students learn to control and
change the shape of the mouth to master the altissimo register.
The front F key is an alternate to the typical F fingering (played
using side keys) and is often used for fast arpeggiated passages.
To practice this technique, detach the mouthpiece from the neck
This key can be used in practicing glissandos to strengthen the
of the instrument and, holding the mouthpiece in your hand, play
embouchure. Practice bending the pitch down as far as possible,
the A one ledger-line above the treble staff (as seen below; do not
eventually reaching an octave.
transpose) with a normal embouchure while matching a concert A
pitch. Manipulating the embouchure and shape of the oral cavity,
lower the pitch and play a descending chromatic scale.
Vents canadiens • Canadian Winds • Autumn 2003 13
 SAXOPHONE ALTISSIMO EXERCISES
After working on these exercises, a student is ready for exercises
using harmonics, which require a slightly firmer embouchure and
a faster air stream. For overtones, the tongue should be arched
close to the top of the mouth cavity. Play a low Bb to Eb with a
full tone while matching a tuner.
Next, bypass the low note (or fundamental) and play the first
harmonic (an octave above the fundamental) by beginning with a
hard K sound as the initial articulation, rather than using the
tongue. Experiment with various syllables to find the one that
works best.
Higher overtones are more difficult to play and sustain. For the
second harmonic above low Bb (a twelfth above the fundamental),
first play the top-line F with the normal fingering, then slur to the
low Bb fingering while sounding the F harmonic. Ascend
chromatically to the A above the treble staff, starting with the
regular fingering for each pitch and slurring to the fundamental
fingering (given below) while sounding the harmonic.
14 Autumn 2003 • Canadian Winds • Vents canadiens
Next, move on to matching tones by slurring a regular third-line
Bb (played with the index fingers of both hands) to the low Bb
fingering, keeping the upper Bb sounding as a harmonic, and
adjusting its often sharp pitch with a tuner.
Work slowly and gradually crescendo and decrescendo as control
improves. Follow the same procedure with the second harmonics,
beginning on the top-line F (as in the lower staff line immediately
above).
At this point a student should begin playing random harmonics,
adjusting the air, embouchure, and shape of the oral cavity for
each.
Another exercise is to finger the desired pitch and slur to the
harmonic fingering while sustaining the pitch. With broken-
octave exercises, working to adjust the pitch on chronically sharp
or flat notes is less difficult with a flexible embouchure. The
process of adjusting the pitch on broken-octave exercises will
develop embouchure flexibility.
IN REVIEW
The Tipbook Series by Hugo Pinksterboer (Netherlands: Tipbook with interest but would not find it a systematic guide to learning a
Co., 2001-02); distributed by Hal Leonard Corporation, brass instrument.
Milwaukee, WI.
Reviewed by Jeffrey Reynolds The style is conversational but the headings (“Three Buttons and
a Slide,” “Just Your Instrument”) are catchy rather than
The Tipbook Series is a set of guides to the most commonly played informative in many cases, and far too frequent: up to eight
instruments. Included in the review package were Tipbook headings per page, with only two or three sentences in each
Saxophone, Tipbook Clarinet, Tipbook Flute and Piccolo, Tipbook paragraph. And although there is a glossary and an index, many
Drums and, all in one volume, Tipbook Trumpet and Trombone, topics are not included, and using these books as a reference tool
Flugelhorn and Cornet. There is also an Internet component; would be difficult.
links in each book, called “Tipcodes,” give additional information
such as short movies, soundtracks, and photos. The books are Overall, this series contains useful information and the books are
compact in size (4 by 8 inches), approximately 130 pages, with a quite readable, albeit with some off-putting typos. The material
combined glossary and index, and are priced at about $10 US. could be more clearly and systematically presented and the style
They are available in French under the title Indispensables smoothed out, with longer, better-organized paragraphs and fewer,
Musicaux. more informative headings. The Tipbook Series bills itself as
“The best guide to your instrument.” It certainly is not that, but
Tipbooks are intended as a reference for beginners and advanced it might be a useful addition to the library of an adult beginner, or
players, for people contemplating starting an instrument, and for a generalist musician.
players who want to learn more about their own and other
instruments. The tables of contents list ten or more chapters,
varying somewhat from one book to another. The clarinet
volume, for example, contains the following chapter headings: A
Clarinetist?; A Quick Tour; Learning to Play; Buying a Clarinet;
A Good Clarinet; Mouthpieces, Ligatures, and
Barrels; Reeds; Before and After [everything you
need to do before and after playing];
Maintenance; Back in Time [a brief history of the
clarinet]; The Family; How They’re Made;
Brands [a list of the most important makers]; and,
Groups and Orchestras [examples of the different
ensembles in which clarinetists play]. The
glossary at the end of each volume is also an index
of many of the important terms.
These books are full of information, some of it
central to playing an instrument and some of it
peripheral. The handy size and reasonable price
make them attractive, as does the internet link.
What is less successful is the organization of the
material. The books are easy to read but finding
information or systematically using the book as a
learning and teaching tool is made difficult by the
rather arbitrary headings, short paragraphs, and
choppy ordering of the material. For example, as
mentioned above, the trumpet and trombone
volume also contains information on the
flugelhorn and the cornet. These four
instruments, along with the alto, bass, and valve
trombone, are grouped together throughout rather
than the material being arranged by instrument.
A brass player seeking general information about
other instruments could read through this book
Vents canadiens • Canadian Winds • Autumn 2003 35
 REHEARSAL STRUCTURES SAXOPHONE ALTISSIMO EXERCISES

instructional methods may be further dependent on an ensemble’s
performance schedule. For example, a director may use more
performance instruction and less verbal instruction in the final
rehearsal preceding a concert, but may employ a higher amount of
group performance instruction during the macro-rehearsal,3 and
an increased amount of section performance instruction during the
micro-rehearsal.4
Similarities
Structural approaches utilized in correcting and rehearsing
musical details of the repertoire were very similar among all the
directors. The preferred method of improving a musical concept
was to use traditional music-terminology instruction followed by
the use of instructional analogies. All directors presented some
musical instruction by means of singing with their ensembles, and
by modeling musical concepts through singing to the ensemble.
The members appeared very comfortable with this aural practice,
which indicates singing to be a frequent rehearsal method.
Observations also indicated that different directors use differing
rehearsal structures, but that all styles work equally well.
Regardless of the amount of time allocated between verbal and
performance instruction, all directors were effectively prepared to
rehearse the ensemble with a pre-determined objective and a
prepared rehearsal plan to achieve such objectives.
Food for Thought
Many music educators have sometimes struggled to reproduce the
style of a successful conductor/teacher whom they have
previously observed. Although the carbon copy approach may be
successful for some, for others it is not. Observation of several
teaching styles and rehearsal structures throughout the course of
this study clearly showed that musical success comes from the
genuine spirit of each educator and not from a contrived emulation
of someone else’s style. Sincere rehearsal instruction from the
podium cannot be imitated, but it can be innovative if the music
educator uses the style that best suits his personality. It would
seem, then, that a director is best served by designing a rehearsal
structure that fits naturally with his or her individual teaching
style, as long as one brings studied knowledge to the podium, and
insures that quality musical results are never compromised.

1 Examples of traditional music terminology instruction used by the
conductors: “Staccato must be played lighter at measure 23,” or “Play
with more energy at letter H.”
2 Example of analogy instruction used by the conductors: “Staccato
References Play the G immediately above top-line F with the normal If the saxophone has an F# key, the palm keys and the high F# key
Anson, David. “Music listening processes as revealed through verbal
embouchure pressure and fingering (the first, second and third are best for the high F#. If not, experiment with a tuner to decide
reports of wind instrumentalists during rehearsal.” Unpublished Ph.D.
dissertation, Northwestern University, 1997; 259 pp. fingers of the left hand plus the octave key), then release the which fingering is best.
octave key, allowing the pitch to fall an octave. Depress the
octave key again, but this time hold the lower G with tongue and
Bauer, William I. “The relationship between rehearsal procedures
and contest ratings for high school bands.” Contributions to embouchure changes to keep the pitch from falling. This
Music Education, 1993; 20, 32-44. exaggerated position improves embouchure control.
Blanton, Frank Lee. “The relationships among band director
rehearsal behaviors and subjective evaluations by panels of
differing musical backgrounds.” Unpublished Ed.D. dissertation,
University of Alabama, 1994; 111 pp.
Blocher, Larry; Greenwood, Richard; and Shellahamer, Bentley.
“Teaching behaviors of middle school and high school band To play the third harmonic above the fundamental, Sinta and
directors in the rehearsal setting.” Journal of Research in Music Dabney suggest in Voicing, an Approach to the Saxophone’s Third An altissimo sequence often comes in the midst of a difficult
Education, 45/3, 1997, 457-469. Register, to use a “kah” or “ger” articulation and slowly slur with passage, as in Dance One by Dmitri Shostakovich. (Amstel
full tone. Use only the fundamental fingering on these exercises. Music)
Cox, James. “Rehearsal organizational structures used by
successful high school choral directors.” Journal of Research in
Music Education, 37/3, 1989, 201-219.
Duke, Robert A. “Bringing the art of rehearsing into focus: the
rehearsal frame as a model for prescriptive analysis of rehearsal
conducting.” Journal of Band Research, 30/1, 1994, 78-95.
Francisco, James Michael. “Conductor communication in the
ensemble rehearsal: The relative effects of verbal communication, Practice forte scales slurring slowly on harmonics, but finger the
visual communication, and modeling on performance fundamental notes while sounding the harmonics. Work through
improvement of high school bands.” Unpublished D.M.E. all major and minor keys. The front key fingerings smooth the transition to the altissimo
dissertation, Indiana University, 1994, 281 pp.
register one measure before C. The high G fingering uses fewer
Garafalo, Robert and Whaley, Garwood. “Comparison of the unit keys than others and helps in the difficult passage. Practice the
study and traditional approaches for teaching music concepts and passage slowly and repeat to memorize the fingerings and shape
skills through school band performance.” Journal of Research in of the mouth.
Music Education, 27/3, 1979, 137-142.
Jachens, Darryl L. “The pedagogical approaches of eight
important midwestern band conductors during the late 1920’s and Clare Grundman’s Concertante for solo alto saxophone and band
1930’s.” Journal of Band Research, 22/2, 1984, 44-54. (Boosey and Hawkes) includes A and D in the altissimo register at
measures 69-73.
Jones, John William. “Collegiate wind band musicianship: Effects
of using tonal and rhythm patterns in rehearsal.” Unpublished
D.M.A. dissertation, Temple University, 1994, 166 pp.
Taylor, John Williams. “The effect of conductor sensitization on A similar passage occurs at measures 218-219 in Die Druiden-1
ensemble response to articulation styles in high school bands.” Nemeton by Rolf Rudin (Erlensee).
Unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, Ohio State University, 1989, 154 pp.

must sound like popcorn popping at measure 23,” or “Sound like
insects flying at letter H.”
3 Macro-rehearsal is defined as the process of rehearsing the whole of
a work. In other words, the rehearsal has an all-inclusive approach
without detailed attention to smaller musical units.
4 Micro-rehearsal is defined as the process of rehearsing the smaller
parts that make up the whole of a work. In other words, the rehearsal
has a detailed approach with greater attention to smaller musical units.
SHELLEY M. JAGOW serves as Associate Director of
Bands and Saxophone Instructor at Wright State University in
Dayton, Ohio. She has published research and articles in the
College Music Symposium Journal, TRIAD, NACWPI, and the
Canadian Band Journal. She has presented clinics and
performances at OMEA, MENC, and NASA, and is currently a
doctoral candidate at The Union Institute and University
(Cincinnati) where Colonel Timothy Foley and Frank Battisti
serve as her mentors. (e-mail: shelley.jagow@wright.edu)
La Fiesta Mexicana by H. Owen Reed (Mills Music) includes this
passage:
Because the passage ends slowly and does not extend beyond the
high F#, the more awkward but better-sounding fingering should
be used. The high F# and palm keys are recommended for this
passage. If the saxophone lacks a high F# key, use the front F with
side Bb.

34 Autumn 2003 • Canadian Winds • Vents canadiens Vents canadiens • Canadian Winds • Autumn 2003 15
 SAXOPHONE ALTISSIMO EXERCISES REHEARSAL STRUCTURES

B. Verbal Instruction Ensemble-Rehearsal Time Requirements

Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana, arranged by John Krance (Schott),
should be performed at measure 18 with front E and F with side
Bb on saxophones with no high F# key.
On saxophones with a high F# key, palm keys and high F# key
have a fuller sound.
Working in the altissimo register will improve the ear,
embouchure, and air control of any student even though it takes
years to play beautifully in this register.

Bibliography
Beginning Studies in the Altissimo Register by Rosemary Lang
(Indianapolis: Lang Music Publications, 1978.
Saxophone Altissimo: High Note Development for the
Contemporary Player by Robert A. Lucky (Lafayette, LA:
Olympia Music Publishing, 1992).
Ted Nash’s Studies in High Harmonics, for Alto and Tenor
Saxophone by Ted Nash, (Melville, NY: Universal-MCA Music
Publishing, 1946).
Saxophone High Tones by Eugene Rousseau (Bloomington, IN:
MMB Music Inc., 1978).
Voicing, An Approach to the Saxophone’s Third Register by
Donald J. Sinta and Denise Dabney, (Laurel, MD: Sintafest Musical Information: Analytical-Historical Information:
Music Co., 1992). Individual Section
The Art of Saxophone Playing by Larry Teal (Evanston, IL: School A 35% 9%
Summy-Birchard, Inc., 1963). School B 41% 5%
School C 28% 0%
Guide to Teaching Woodwinds by Frederick Westphal (Dubuque, School D 37% 1%
IA: W.C. Brown Publishers, 1990). School E 18% 6%
Top Tones for the Saxophone by Sigurd M. Rascher (Boston: Carl ____________________________________________________
Fischer, Inc., 1962).
At no time was one rehearsal activity dominating in a less-than-
This article is published with permission of The Instrumentalist effective manner. As a result, each ensemble always appeared to
magazine, where it appeared in the November, 2000 issue. be involved and on task. The dominant structural method was
group rehearsal, followed by section and individual rehearsal,
respectively.
JEREMY S. BROWN is Professor
Pacing
of Music at the University of A pre-determined amount of rehearsal time was selected for each
Calgary where he is chairman of the piece of repertoire and communicated to the musicians by posting
music education division, instructor the titles of the musical selections on a bulletin board with
of saxophone, conducts the allocated rehearsal times. Two of the five conductors exhibited a
Symphonic Band, and teaches more energetic, excitable, and intense instructional pace, which
courses in music education. seemed a very natural outgrowth of individual personality and
Widely recognized as an author, thus worked well in rehearsal. Three of the conductors exhibited
performer, and conductor, he was a more relaxed, soft-spoken, and comfortable demeanour with the
awarded the 1999 University of ensemble, yet managed the pacing of instruction equally well.
Calgary Student’s Union “Teaching Excellence Award” for the With either style, it was observed that the players remained on
Faculty of Fine Arts at the University of Calgary. He is also a task and that all rehearsal objectives were addressed.
“Yamaha Performing Artist.” He earned the Doctor of Musical
Arts degree from The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio Sequencing
where he studied principally with James Hill and Craig Kirchhoff Rehearsal sequence was a skill effectively demonstrated by all
in saxophone and conducting. five directors. In each case, repertoire order was posted in
advance of the actual rehearsal. All directors also appeared to
support the general philosophy of bringing a clear sense of closure
to rehearsal. Each director concluded with more familiar
repertoire and/or repertoire that displayed a more technical versus
entirely lyrical quality, to end on a more energetic note. Such
sequencing of repertoire tends to send the players away with a
sense of energy, enthusiasm, and accomplishment.
Instructional Style
Instructional strategies included using a blend of music
terminology1 and analogy.2 Descriptive music terminology was
the most widely used method of instruction. It was also noted that
The discerning director’s choice for a sense of humour during rehearsal instruction appeared to be
quality applied effectively by all conductors. Several of the conductors
concert / jazz band music, supplies, agreed that the timely application of an appropriate sense of
humour was a very important strategy to employ during the
service.
rehearsal process.
e
Phon 403.287.7787
& Fax
Toll free 877.387.7787
musicdir@telus.net www.musicdirectltd.com
The amount of rehearsal time scheduled by different ensembles
varied greatly among the schools. Table 5 illustrates the length
and frequency of rehearsals at each school, with the totals
calculated on a weekly basis. There was a difference of as much
as 150 minutes per week between the two institutions with the
most and least rehearsal time.
Table 5
Total Weekly Ensemble Rehearsal Time
____________________________________________________
Quantity (in minutes) X Frequency = Total Minutes per Week
School A 130 3 390
School B 110 4 330
School C 90 3 270
School D 90 3 270
School E 120 2 240
____________________________________________________
Sectional-Rehearsal Time Requirements
Only one director required sectionals via the course syllabus and
calculated sectional rehearsals in the weighting of the students’ final
evaluations. Although the remaining institutions indicated that no
sectional requirement was mandated by the course syllabus, the
conductors indicated that it is expected that students meet for
sectional rehearsals as part of their ensemble responsibility.
Summary
Differences
Results indicate that conductors of higher-education institutions
plan a similar rehearsal structure with ensembles, yet vary in the
amount of time allocated to each identified rehearsal element and
activity. Rehearsal observations indicated three areas where
approaches appeared to vary the most: 1) warm-ups, 2) tuning,
and 3) verbal and performance instruction. Three of the directors
mentioned that they rarely prepare a warm-up for the ensemble,
while two said that they often commence rehearsal with some
planned warm-up to help the ensemble relax and focus before
concentrating on the repertoire.
Tuning procedures vary depending on the experience level of the
ensemble and the director’s preferences. As indicated earlier,
some of the directors prefer to tune to concert A to keep aligned
with the practice of professional orchestras. Others prefer to
select two pitches: concert A for the woodwinds and Bb for the
brass, with the understanding that these selected pitches are
generally the “best” notes to tune each instrumental choir.
With regard to instruction, the two schools with the most weekly
rehearsal minutes were also the two that use a greater percentage
of rehearsal time for verbal instruction. Having more time at their
disposal may make these directors comfortable devoting more of
each rehearsal to verbal instruction than do those with a more
limited amount of rehearsal time. Variance in preferred

16 Autumn 2003 • Canadian Winds • Vents canadiens Vents canadiens • Canadian Winds • Autumn 2003 33
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.