07/13/2013 (12 Moons Solo Project Day 194

12 Moons Solo Saxophone Project Day 194

Date: 07/13/2013
Instrument: Tenor saxophone
Location: Home studio in Clinton, WA (Whidbey Island)

Notes:

My improvisation today consisted of continuous rhythmic cycles in 4 beats, with three variations on the same core fingering action. I modeled this improvisation off a similar concept explored in a composition from a few years ago. In the composed piece and in my improvisation today, I pair three fingering actions with three tempos: slow, medium, and fast. Built off the initial fingering system, the three total fingering actions each have their own characteristic sound. They vary in actual pitch structure, but most importantly they vary in the natural rhythmic cycles which emerge as a result of the fingerings themselves.

During this piece I followed a structure which presented each of the three actions independently for some time. I continuously followed the pattern of Slow (Fingering 1) Medium (Fingering 2) Fast (Fingering 3). As they were repeated, I gradually began to shorten the amount of time between actions, until each was played only once before moving on to the other. Finally, in the end of the improvisation I began to stretch the length of each series once again to add a feeling of space to the overall composition. The fingering actions were as follows:

Slow (Fingering 1)
(Left Hand) B-A-G // (Right Hand) F-E, Low C
(Left Hand) B-A-G // (Right Hand) F-E
(Left Hand) B-A // (Right Hand) F-E
(Left Hand) B-A-G // (Right Hand) F-E

(Left Hand) B-A-G // (Right Hand) F-E, Side F#
(Left Hand) B-A-G // (Right Hand) F-E
(Left Hand) B-A // (Right Hand) F-E
(Left Hand) B-A-G // (Right Hand) F-E

(Left Hand) B-A-G // (Right Hand) F-E, Side C
(Left Hand) B-A-G // (Right Hand) F-E
(Left Hand) B-A // (Right Hand) F-E
(Left Hand) B-A-G // (Right Hand) F-E

(Left Hand) B-A-G // (Right Hand) F-E, Side F#
(Left Hand) B-A-G // (Right Hand) F-E
(Left Hand) B-A // (Right Hand) F-E
(Left Hand) B-A-G // (Right Hand) F-E

Medium (Fingering 2)
Same series as above, but on each third cycle (within the 4 finger groupings) lift the C key up in the left hand instead of the G

Fast (Fingering 3)
Same series as above, but on each third cycle (within the 4 finger groupings) lift the B key up in the left hand instead of the G

-Neil

The image “Passage I” accompanying today’s post by Jasper Johns (1966)