Hey. This is the situation, I need to practice my saxophone lots in preperation for grade 8 which I will be entered for in 4 weeks. I would spend the whole Easter Holidays practising for hours a day. The problem is that I am away for both weeks in the easter holiday, the first spent skiing in Austria and the second in Paris. During this two week period I will be without my sax! So I am loosing out on 2 weeks worth of major practice. Is there anyway I can practice without the sax which would benefit my playing? I don't want to spend two weeks doing nothing.

Cheers

Ben

Definitely. It's called 'silent practice' and many musicians do it when they don't have access to their instrument for whatever reason.

If you're playing a piece by ear, hear the music mentally in your head and move your fingers around in the exact positions they would take on the instrument. It can be virtually as effective as practising on your instrument as far as fingering is concerned; this is because so much of fingering is about remembering finger patterns - it's a mental thing as much as a physical thing.

If you're playing a piece from music, do the same thing but with the sheet music in front of you. I'm telling you, it works! I do it a lot - on the bus or just at odd moments when I don't have the violin with me. You don't even have to move your fingers around (a bit embarrassing when you're in company ) - you can just imagine them doing what they're supposed to do - it works just as well.

Violinia

In addition, whether you're performing with or without the music, put it on your ipod (or equivalent) and spend time listening to it with the score in front of you, really getting to know the notes and the relationship of your part to the rest of it.

Or just have a break!!

Relaxation is important when preparing for, well, for anything!!

I'm inclined to agree with Manek - sometimes a break away is really good for us and you come back refreshed and ready to pick up the instrument and see the music through a different perspective.

If you're not happy doing that then the idea of listening to the pieces is a good one (though not all the time ) and I think you can do a lot of "silent" work on music by taking the scores with you and imagining you are playing the music, rehearsing the finger patterns and so on. Silent scale practise is incredibly useful.

When my oboist pupils worry about leaving their instruments behind, I always tell them to take an old reed with them (not their concert best one!) and squeak it daily to keep the embouchure muscle tone in place. Not sure that's so easy on the Sax though.....

Go and have a wonderful break - don't fret on the Sax because, if you're up-to-speed now, it won't take you long to regain all you've mastered to date when you get back.

Best of luck with the holiday and the exam when it comes.

When I'm playing with any seriousness, I take my trombone mouthpiece with me if I'm away. This helps me sustain embouchure. Other than that the silent practice thing makes sense.

I would also agree with Manek. Sometimes it's good to have a bit of a break, and come back to it when you're a bit more refreshed. This sometimes works for me, as you don't want to overpractise the pieces, and for them to fall apart. Downloading the pieces onto your iPod would be a good idea, if you just want to keep the piece in your head. Don't worry about it when you are away; just have a good time, and come back ready to practise again! Have fun and good luck for the exam!