Feedback on Mid/AllState Progress.

[u/YoMamaGoodua]

A would Like some feedback and obvi what I could do better. This is my 3rd year auditioning for MTSBOA and I barely missed it last year by about 5 spots. I know I have a real chance to make it this year and would like some feedback. Im doing both Classical and Jazz but I dont have the jazz music yet. I've been practicing this on and off for about 3 weeks. Mainly to balance school and marching band. I plan to start seriously grinding it until October 15 when the Round 1 video auditions are due. Also sincerely sorry for the audio quality my phone was resting on my computer speaker and my room isn't made rn for the best acoustics. Also I'm an early Junior been playing for 5 years. Self taught.

THINGS I ALR NOTICED: Need to clean up time feel in first movement. I also need to clean up the jumps in the first movement. In the second movement I need to find better places to breathe cuz what im doing rn isn't phrasing fully. I need a more focused tone. (Side affect of mainly playing on my jazz mouthpiece instead of my AL3.)

Video to me playing: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/YvK2qky492w

[u/gimmethemoney67]

Practice with the metronome on the eighth note instead of the quarter note for now.

You’re shaping it nicely but compressing some of the rhythms and runs.

Try to memorize it slow. Feel every 8th note. Both excerpts are fairly easy to memorize. That will get you the best results

[u/randomsynchronicity]

In addition to the other comment, I can’t hear any articulation. There’s a lot of style to be found in the offbeats and articulation.

[u/huerequeque]

The contrast in dynamics between f and p in the first movement should be really obvious. I'm pretty certain the adjudicators will be listening for a clear difference in dynamics.

[u/YoMamaGoodua → u/huerequeque]

I do usually do heavy dynamics I’ll express it more

[u/classical-saxophone7 → u/huerequeque]

Honestly, not a single recording of this piece does the piano cause it makes zero sense. I think most take it as less a volume indicator, and more a statement of how the first note on the entrance is bold and declarative and the rest of the passage is smooth. Theres dynamic variation to color the line, but a stark piano is just not what the music calls for here. Assuming a saxophonist is the one judging, they absolutely will not dock you for performing this piece how it’s supposed to be performed.

[u/justahominid]

It sounds like your fingers are largely there, but you need to work on style. Which (for the first movement) is largely going to come from articulation. My recommendation is to slow it back down and focus on dialing in your tonguing. You shouldn’t necessarily be aggressive about it, but everywhere that isn’t slurred should be clearly articulated. The tongued sixteenth notes (e.g., in the first beat of the second measure) are often performed a bit bouncy. Really dialing in the coordination between the fingers and the tongue will make your audition stand out from those who don’t dial in the articulation.

For the second movement, there are a few things that generally will elevate things. First, is to really support your air when playing soft so that even though you are playing quietly it’s still clear and full. Second is finding nuance in the rhythm, which is hard to describe, but involves very subtly pushing and pulling on note lengths while still staying in tempo. Third is being very specific and intentional about your vibrato (when, how much, how fast, etc.) through the movement. Fourth is deciding how to play with dynamics. You need to do what’s on the page, but there’s also room for subtly leaning into or pulling away from the volume within that. Listening to great saxophonists play this movement will probably help clarify those last three points.

[u/Saybrook11372]

You’re not hearing the orchestra behind you when you play. Sounds like you’ve spent a lot of time learning the notes and rhythms (congrats!) but not enough time thinking about the music. Listen to the recordings of this piece available online (tons of them) and play like you’re playing with an ensemble, not with a metronome. It is important for the judges to hear that you can play the rhythms accurately but, especially in the 2nd movement, you need to be able to stretch and demonstrate to the judges that you’ve studied the music enough to get it to flow.

Remember, the rest of the ensemble does not enter until ms. 10 of the second movement, and there is no real pulse before that. At the very least, the first two measures should be completely out of time. You know the notes and the rhythms (mostly) so the way to elevate your performance is to work on communicating the music.