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You already know what "voicing" is. You use it every day. You likely just haven't thought about it, as it relates to the saxophone.

Voicing refers to the shapes your throat forms when you are talking (or playing saxophone).

Each vowel and consonant sound has a unique throat shape.

Just to get used to this concept, place your thumb and first finger on either side of your wind pipe and say some random words.

Feel it moving?

Since you do this naturally to talk, all we need to do is apply it to the saxophone.

But why is it important: voicing plus air = efficienct saxophone playing. Once you master voicing (and breath support), you can play the full range of the horn without biting or moving your lips/jaws around. This means there's no tension and the reed will always be able to vibrate freely.

IMPORTANT WARNING: You should NEVER feel pain while practicing this. Your throat is fragile and really important, so if you feel any discomfort, stop immediately.

The importance of visualization: Before we get into specifics, think about this: Since all this is going on inside your throat, you can't actually SEE anything. Therefore, you need to rely on feel and visualization when practicing this.

To get started, think about the saxophone as having three ranges, or registers:

1. low register Low Bb to G without the octave key
2. middle register G without the octave key to G with the octave key
3. upper register G with the octave key and above

You apply a different voicing shape to each register.

The low register: think about the voicing "AHH", like you're yawning or "Saying Ahh" at the doctor's office.

The middle register: Think about the shape "OOO", like you're saying the word "BOO!"

The high register: Think about the shape "EEE", like you're saying the word "WEEK."

These are just guidelines. Every notes voicing is unique. Think about it like "home base."

The only way to figure these for every note is to play really slow long tones.

EXAMPLE: Let's say the note you're experimenting with is in the middle register. Play that note starting with an "OOO" voicing. Then, move your throat around, changing shapes, without moving your jaw or face.

Once you've found the sweet spot where the note resonates the best, hold it there. Then pick a new note and repeat.

This is a long process, but you WILL remember every single notes' specific voicing. This will work wonders for your sound.

Once you're somewhat comfortable with the throat shapes, you can also try large interval jumps, making sure your jaw doesn't move. You can also slur intervals and do overtones.

What are overtones?

There is a full video lesson on overtones, but the short version is:

You hold down a fingering for one note (this low note is called the fundamental) and using your voicing and air column, you make a different note sound.

There is a full overtone series but for now just try to get the first overtone. The first overtone sounds one octave above the fundamental.

For example: You finger low Bb but Bb (no octave key sounds).

Here's how to get started with overtones:

1. Play the fundamental
2. Play the overtone (regular fingering)
3. Sing the overtone
4. Play the overtone again (regular fingering)
(You do steps 2, 3, and 4 so you can REALLY HEAR the note you're going to be trying to play in your inner ear. And you sing it so you can feel where it lies in your throat.)
5. Finger the fundamental but sound the overtone.

Hope you find this helpful!

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