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The Smooth Jazz SaxophoneThe sounds produced by a smooth jazz saxophone are among the most vibrant and emotion filled melody notes you can achieve with any kind of instrument. Saxophones have always been associated with jazz and they represent the soul of any jazz performance. Learning the subtleties of smooth jazz saxophone music might seem like hard work – and it’s true. There is no shortcut, no easy way to mastering a smooth jazz sound. Jazz players take years and years to perfect their techniques and they experience a continuous refinement of their music style as the years go by. In fact, there is no age or experience level when you can say that you have learned all there is to know about smooth jazz. Continuous learning is always present and you will have a hard time finding a smooth jazz player that says otherwise. Particularities of smooth jazzMost good jazz players choose thinner reeds and well balanced mouthpieces that allow them to have better control over some low intensity sounds. High pitched sounds are quite easy to master even if the saxophone setup is not perfect, but emotion filled and vibrating low intensity sounds require a high level of professionalism and a perfect sax balance.Smooth jazz sax players practice hundreds of hours before they begin to feel the finest details regarding a certain music style. Smooth jazz is pretentious as far as the player is concerned – the audience is usually well trained in distinguishing good from average so the performance has to be played at the maximum. Jazz Saxophone
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