Gerald Albright - Developing Altissimo part 2 - Cannonball Saxophones

[Carsonsaxplayer]

Thanks for the tips!

[tymcull]

Hi!

Thank you for the demonstration. What fingerings do you for altissimo in all of the keys? I noticed you moved your tigers around to a lot of keys during the altissimo in your solo. Thanks again! :)

[porge97]

i need to know a good fingering for high B the one he demonstrates

[11johnnyc]

That solo was funky azz hell!

[SaxMaster922]

How long did it take you to learn altissimo? I'm just curious because I want to make sure I'm doing everything right and that I continue doing it if I become impatient. I figured i'd ask a pro and go off of that, lol

[DelaneyHF]

GERALD ALBRIGHT!!!!!!!!!! 3:49

[originalmusicworks]

On that C scale, that's amazing he can keep his volume levels so even.

One thing about G.A. ... his Tenor sound is just awesome. I wish I could hammer a tone like that on a tenor!

[caveworm]

Excellent Gerald find your videos really easy to understand and follow thanks Paul England.

[soulgriot]

thanks, bro!!

[Phreeze06]

Do Gerald have a model practice schedule?

[musicmanson]

He forgot to mention practice with a tuner...

[luisitosax]

Silly..but sounds out of tune for me...

[LORASVIISI]

My fav kinds of saxes are made by cannonball...

[dmcdaniel9]

This is a solid way to work on the upper range, I do the octave jumps often. For all the people looking for a good altissimo book, one of the standards in this topic is Rousseau's High Tones book. It's about $30 bucks at major bookstores. As a jazz and classical player, I have been using this book for a few years and I finally got my long tone range up to G above altissimo G.

If anyone wants to PM me, I can explain the actual mechanics behind the instrument and playing altissimo

[dmcdaniel9]

Cannonball Adderley right there @4:00

[all4joy43]

Gerald Albright is, more than likely, the best sax player of our time at present.

[pyannaguy]

Yikes! I just double on sax (tenor), but well enough that it helped me get paid and work steadily as a keyboardist who could bring the sax/flute flavor along. BUT, except for high C, C#, D and the G right above the normal top of the range (I have the high F# key) I've never been able to confidently own the altissimo stuff, despite books and what I thought was a pretty sustained, intelligent effort. THIS might really get me there. We'll see, Eh? Thanks a lot for this. It's inspiring!

[davidludman1]

@pyannaguy the real key to developing altissimo is developing control of the larynx....its not about embouchure pressure as much as throat position...practice playing harmonic overtones starting on low Bb....without changing your fingers at all, climb the overtone series taking care to check tuning against the "regular" fingering for each note...then do the same for low B, C, and C#....then try different altissimo fingerings to see which work for you....any questions, PM me...good luck!

[pyannaguy]

@davidludman1 Hey, David, Thanks for your time and the good info. I'll start incorporating your suggestions later today. I sure wish I could get a nice A I could count on, the one a minor third up from the F# (with the F# key). Fingerings in books never seem to work, but I'll start with awareness of the larynx you stress.

Thanks, again! I'll let you know if I can get things going using your

[Ryosuke324]

i would like to know the names of the sax books he study.

[Davidxx63]

Gerald,

glad to find you here.. hopefully I can reach you through this.

I was listening to one of your cd, Sax for Stax, and wondered if it was possible to obtain some music sheets of the songs you played on that cd. Is it possible? how (buying)?

Thanks

David

Tenor Sax player

[jcsgroove]

Are you guys serious with the cracks on Gerald's sound? I'd like to see any of you with the negative comments put up your own video to show us all how it's "supposed" to be done! Hmmmm....it's mighty quiet in the room now! haha!

[everget]

what is the highest note on alto sax?

[havanatlc]

You are amazing your tone is sweet, it is amazing how good you sound in real life. Every note sounds like a solo. I have learnt alot from listening to yr cds. You killed winelight. Thank you for this video.

[BUBB6697]

ok, i want someones opinion, is a student yamaha a good enough horn for this? im lookin for some new notes to throw in some gigs, my sax dont got a high f# key though..... oh and by the way, dont hate on his tone, it doesnt matter for this vid, just be happy a pro is willing to take his own time to do this. Just goes to show not everyone on a pro level lets it go to there head, your a beast sax and a good man albright. hope one day im good enough to jam with you.

[gamwizrd1]

i dont understand the negative comments on this video. Any tone quality defficiencies can clearly be attributed to the obviously crappy medium being used to record him. You shouldn't assume the sound you hear coming out of your speakers is the exact sound he created. Despite this, he still manages to show his mastery of control over the range of the instrument and amazing musicianship. You must not play saxophone, because as a sax player I find this extremely impressive.

[monocledsardine]

@gamwizrd1 get a tuner. He's way off relative to himself.

[musicmanson]

@gamwizrd1 Video quality doesn't make him inconsistently sharp throughout the registers. Just saying.

[EuphonySquared]

@gamwizrd1 Sadly, I believe it's because of his race. I'm not being silly; It's just the only explanation I can think of.

[newtonsgroove]

@gamwizrd1 I think it's really important to note altissimo is not just about the range, but also the intonation. Gerald if fantastic, but also does not tune the octaves in his demonstration. In the first example, Gerald plays 4 B naturals in 4 different octaves - but all 4 are in different enough in intonation to hear. The exercises he recommends are all accurate and good to practice for your altissimo range. When you do them, you should (a) use a tuner and (b) different fingerings to tune

[fasaxify]

well, gerald is an amazing player... but having said that... this video is crap... whatever... and his intonation is out.... maby becouse of the saxophones... dam i miss his Selmer sII

[mrhobnob]

Seriously out of tune there...the low notes have an awful tone. I'm surprised...

[vithaj92]

@mrhobnob Well, he is not using good recording equipment, so his sound is kinda altered.

[mrhobnob]

@vithaj92 Recording equipment doesn't alter the pitch of a note...

[vithaj92]

@mrhobnob I didnt say that, I meant it alters his tonal quality overall.

[mrkandyman1911]

WTF thats amazing @.@

[GRACIEJIUJITSU100]

i have seen him live he is flawless, incredible

[michaelteter]

People asking for altissimo fingerings, surely you can find charts online. They're not secret :)

[dan1880712125847]

where can i find the fingering for the altissimo register? thank you!

[CannonballVideo]

You can find altissimo fingering charts on our website under the "Education" tab.

[GWFKing]

@CannonballVideo what education tab?

[BlueBurryPimp]

what fingerings are you using

[michaelteter]

Anyway, yeah he's sharp on the altissimos in this video, but if you listen to him live you will hear that he has complete control of his pitch at any level. Why he doesn't seem to care on this video is beyond me.

[BlueBurryPimp]

it could be the camera

[scrillanilla]

it's probably a combination of a few things. first of the recording equipment he's using. it sounds way different in that room i guarantee you. 2nd he prolly didnt tune b4 he made this video like you would tune with a band b4 a show. its not that serious, its just a lesson. lastly, he prolly cares a lot more during a gig how sharp or flat he is. it's gerald albright. he's at the top of the smooth jazz sax world as far as altissimo goes right now. trust me, he knows if he's sharp of flat

[drumstyx6464]

@scrillanilla Not to mention, when playing with others, a good sax player will automatically adjust if he/she is sharp/flat

[jburdine]

I stopped playing for many years but lately I have been really making moves to get back at it. I plan to get a Cannonball... I love the sound and flexibility the instrument provides. Gerald is a favorite of mine... as is the late Grover Washington, Jr. For years I looked ways to play altissimo notes... this video and Cannonball's website has given me something to reference.

[rafitosax]

hello, I like the sound of the master gerald, but I wonder what type of mounthpiece used in the alto saxophone, is that it is a diamond but bleechler number. if you could give me ea te agradeceria information, thank you very much. excellent video

[jimmysax]

Oh and the fingering chart for altissimo can be found on the cannonball website

[jimmysax]

Hi guys, Cannonball saxes are great, I've got his signature series alto and tenor and they sound so great. I've found the best mouthpiece to match with them are beechler. A becchler bellite (metal) for tenor, and a beechler custom jazz (rubber) for alto

[jacky0896]

i still dont know the fingerings to play altissimo

[hanzelmania]

do you have the finger chart for the altissimo notes

[FunkyFreshKid22]

AMAZING !

[Warmachine48235]

Does anyone know if the Gerald Albright Signiture Cannonball sax is a good sax for working on Altissimos?

[milkmann62]

man this is what ive been waitng for some Gerald Albright Lessons I talked to him at the concert in houston Texas alone with Kirk Whalem and asked him to do this as a joke but i gues it got through I wanna See More Vids I will even Pay for them

[Vapor419]

You are WAYYYY too sharp when you do the altissimo exercises. But besides that, nicely done.  The funk solo was great!

[johnnysax93]

you are fourteen. you have NOOOOOOOO room to talk. once you can play altissimo better than him THEN you can comment untill then shuuuuuuuuuuut it

[TYLERKLING]

just because he's fourteen doesn't mean he's not good! for all you know, he might have been playing since he was in diapers! i , for one, plan to start my kids playing instruments at a very young age.

[royallighting7]

I don't know what the deal is. Albright, as great a sax player he is, was very sharp on the altissimo. His comment on Albright wasn't a personal attack on you or him.

[silkjag]

Who are you and how many CDs have YOU sold again? Just curious. It doesn't matter if he was sharp or not. That wasn't the point. The point of the video was to demonstrate warm-ups to develop altissimo. So don't try to critique someone who's been making hits before you were even a thought.

[Vapor419]

Actually I've sold many more CDs than Gerald Albright.

[mafatu69]

@Vapor419 - ROFL!!! Thanks for the laugh.

[michaelteter]

Grace us with your stage name so we can verify. Forgive me for doubting. :P

[semplang05]

@silkjag i think HE IS FAR BETTER THAN KENNY G..... HE PLAYS WELL COMPARED FROM HIM... REALLY PROFESSIONAL SAX PLAYER...

It doesnt mean that if a musician sells a lot of album he is already good... Compare them with their potential.. Albright is a lot better than other sax players. The sound quality and all!!!

[MyLinkedinPowerForum]

Very, very nicely done, Gerald. As someone who grew up working on Sigurd Rascher's Top Tones for Saxophone, it's really good to see a contemporary professional bringing this to a vehicle such as YouTube. Very much appreciated. (Coincidentally: I've been a fan of yours for years -! :-) )

[MrSaxy09]

where can i find a good altissimo fingering chart and that solo is OMG

[AMillionStreets]

This is a great video, helps to develop altissimo notes and develop that "muscle memory", which is so important for hitting the notes during a solo.

[etdejazz]

What about the whole issue about training the larynx? No? It is important to understand that.

[Neojulian8]

Your voice is really nice to listen to.

More importantly, I think that it's too general. You don't talk about how getting these altissmos out.

Which, I think, is the common problem to everyone discovering them.

For example, someone said to me that if I said "Ku",

My Bb overtone, coming from the low Bb, would get out easier, which was the case.

So these kind of advice are pretty useful.

Yet, maybe I'm going in a wrong direction by wanting this ^^

[gerrysaxman1]

thanks gerry this is very helpful