My university saxophone students are anxious to tackle the altissimo register, and it’s not at all uncommon for them to show up to their first lessons clutching the Sigurd Raschèr Top-Tones for the Saxophone book and wearing a hopeful expression. I also see the Raschèr book frequently and glibly recommended on online forums. With the greatest respect for Raschèr, I think this is a mistake.
Don’t get me wrong: the Raschèr book is a classic and contains a great deal of wisdom. It is a must-have for the well-read saxophonist. But I think most saxophonists would do better to start with Eugene Rousseau’s Saxophone High Tones, and have the Raschèr on hand for supplementary exercises and instruction.
I’m going to make the following point first, not because I think it’s necessarily the most important, but because it’s the one that will click with those of you who are hoping to “learn altissimo” in an afternoon by looking at a fingering chart: Rousseau’s fingering charts are much better. They are better suited to “modern” (Mark VI and beyond) instruments and more complete (in the sense of providing many more options for each note, though Raschèr’s chart does go a little higher). Rousseau also provides separate fingering charts for soprano, alto, tenor, and baritone, while Raschèr provides only one chart, which he indicates in the first-edition foreword is intended for “E-flat saxophones”—altos, that is. (I do have a few issues with the visual layout of Rousseau’s charts, and Raschèr’s too, but that’s another rant.)
Rousseau also addresses the issue of selecting from among the provided fingerings for each note using his “mode” system to develop patterns of fingerings that are well-suited to certain sequences of notes. Raschèr’s approach is to provide one or two fingerings for each note, which by comparison is refreshingly simple. But most saxophonists who are prepared to successfully develop altissimo technique are comfortable with the idea of multiple fingerings for each note and will be able to use the additional possibilities to their advantage. And of course saxophonists are not required to use all of Rousseau’s fingerings—he walks saxophonists through the most useful ones, and the others are available for experimentation.
Perhaps more important than the fingering charts themselves are the pedagogical materials and exercises each author provides to help prepare saxophonists for success in the altissimo register. Both Raschèr and Rousseau stress the importance of proper altissimo tone production, developed largely using overtone exercises. Both are worth reading, but Rousseau’s approach is clearer and more focused. I don’t really recommend that young saxophonists attempt to teach themselves altissimo from a book—there’s no substitute for good in-person instruction—but Rousseau’s would be a much better choice for saxophonists taking that path. The Raschèr book leaves more gaps that really require a private teacher to fill in.
I can’t help but wonder if the Raschèr book has a bit of an edge sales-wise because of its lower price. The Raschèr is cheap, but the Rousseau is affordable—currently “only” about the cost of a box of reeds. Get the Rousseau first.
I too am in favor of Rousseau’s book. Although I believe Rascher’s book to be very helpful (I really love his discussion of Tone Imagination), I very much like High Tone’s fingering chart, the modes you described, and how sequential the development of technical facility is. Donald Sinta’s Voicing book is my personal favorite, as the book goes over a lot of the physiological phenomena necessary to develop a consistent altissimo register. Mastering the “Front F Trick” was my breakthrough
I have used both of these and prefer Rousseau. My real break through book was the Rosemary Lang Book. Lots of simple melodies that make it more relevant to add into a real playing scenario and also easier to hear intonation and sound quality in relationship to the other notes.
Totally agree, Bret. I just wish that their prospective price tags were switched ;-)
I haven’t worked out of the Rousseau personally, but I have attempted to work from the Top Tones book with little to no success leading to great frustration. The book that actually helped me the most was Beginning Studies in the Altissimo Register by Rosemary Lang ( http://www.amazon.com/Saxophone-Beginning-studies-altissimo-register/dp/B00072ZF9C ). It uses melodic studies of common songs all students should know easing into the higher range. Since it is no longer in print, I actually don’t recall how I obtained a copy. This book has been the most helpful for me and I’d be interested to know your opinion of it as well.
I like the Lang, if you can find it, for supplementary exercises; it has virtually no explanatory material. Mostly the Lang seems like material from a beginning method (“Hot Cross Buns,” etc.), transposed up a couple of octaves.
A second edition of Lang’s book was published a couple of years ago:
http://www.hickeys.com/products/078/sku78455.htm
It’s available at other places too.
I’m a big fan of Sinta’s “Voicing” book. It’s done wonders for my playing. I originally learned from the Rousseau book. Sinta’s book is so simple and thorough, much like Trevor Wye’s tone book for flute.
So, if I have one of those old saxes (I do, 1936), would you recommend the Rascher over the Rousseau?
Hard to say for sure how well those Rascher fingerings would work for you—you would have to give them a try. In any case, I think you will find the Rousseau book to be more complete and methodical.
Any opinion on Robert A. Luckey’s Saxophone Altissimo? It is what taught me the basics. My choice was basically pre-structured by what I could find in the sheet-music store well before the Holy Internet was invented. It provides quite a variety of fingerings. It doesn’t provide an elaborate bibliography, but the foreword states that methods by Raschèr and Nash are not quite suitable for present-day instruments. Anyway, as I am brushing up old skills, I think I should simply buy both Raschèr and Rousseau. One never has too many books.
I 100% agree with you on this post. I hadn’t looked at the Rascher book until recently, Rousseau took care of me in our BYU days. I love both books.