The June 2026 warmups for saxophone are offered to focus on one’s tone. As I mentioned in the flute warmups for June 2026, practicing long tone studies are very worthwhile but to really improve one’s sound on any woodwind instrument, I feel it is most beneficial to play great melodies that are attractive to the player, regardless of the musical style. While the two excerpts below are from the orchestral saxophone literature, playing beautiful tunes from the Great American Songbook as Charlie Parker did on Bird with Strings and John Coltrane did on the Ballads album can help one achieve the tone that one imagines in the inner ear.
Georges Bizet’s L’Arlésienne Suite No. 1 was written as incidental music to a play in 1872. The composer later created an orchestral suite out of his music that along with the 2nd suite comprise some of the earliest saxophone solos within an orchestral context. The alto saxophone solo that is in the latter part of the first movement is one of the most beautiful solos in all the standard orchestra repertoire for saxophone. It requires a judicious use of vibrato (where to apply it and at what intensity) and long line legato phrasing. There is a general arc to the solo with the most intense point reached at m.14 on the “C” and then diminishing to a pianissimo in m.17. Uniformity of tone throughout the registers is necessary along with subtle tone color changes.
Ravel’s Bolero (1928) includes two saxophone solos in addition to tutti parts. Originally scored for a tenor saxophone player doubling on sopranino saxophone and a soprano saxophone player, today it is commonly performed without the sopranino. The excerpted solo shown below represents the initial entrances for each saxophonist, with the tenor saxophone entering first followed immediately by the soprano. The underlying repetitive rhythms played by the snare drum and trumpet mandate that the saxophonists play in strict time and match the overall phrasing of the instruments that play this same melody previously. Uniformity of tone is required throughout the two octaves plus the need to clearly enunciate the repeated semi-staccato, semi-legato notes. The breath marks in mm.11 & 13 must be taken quickly and not interrupt the scalar line of this melody. Finally, the notes on the bottom of the horn need to be played with a full, resonant sound and not sub-toned.
While this solo and the Bizet might look simple, trust me, THEY ARE NOT. No bumps allowed! And both excerpts are played louder than the indicated dynamics in actual performance because they are solos within the context of a large orchestra.