Scales in thirds

I just received an e-mail from one of my Chautauqua saxophonists - so wonderful to hear from her. In the e-mail she asked about playing scales in thirds, an exercise I introduced to the Chautauqua saxophonists during the camp. Playing thirds in G major is a great warm-up on saxophone. Just remember that the notes are the same as a G major scale:

G - A - B - C - D - E - F# - G

When you ascend a scale playing in thirds, you skip a note, and then come back down to the note you skipped, then repeat the process, until you descend to the high G:

Starting on low G:
G - B - A - C - B - D - C - E - D - F# - E - G - F# - A - G
(Ending on high G)

Coming back down the scale, you again skip a note, and then come back up to the note you skipped and repeat:

Starting on high G:
G - E - F# - D - E - C - D - B - C - A - B - G - A - F# - G
(Ending on low G)

Practice this slowly, and try to hear the pattern. It is best to learn it well enough to play by memory.

I'll try to post more tips for saxophonists in the future, since I hear some of the Chautauqua saxes have been reading this blog. Let me know what you think in the comments section! Or feel free to e-mail me at russ@pmaconline.org.