Saxophone Subtone

SUBTONE

This is a particularly soft way of playing, but is a technique in itself rather than just playing quietly. With subtone the saxophone sound has a fatter, more rounded and less edgy sound. Great jazz saxophonists who have used this include Ben Webster, Stan Getz, Johnny Hodges and Paul Desmond

Subtone really comes into it’s own in the very low register, especially when played very breathily, but it often takes a lot of practice to extend the subtone down low. It is also crucial to make sure that your saxophone has no leaks, although I recently read that Ben Webster thought the leaks were an important part of the sound. I think leaks could well contribute to the breathiness which is often present (or rather more apparent) with a subtone sound.

What happens when you play subtone?

Below are three audiofiles and the corresponding audio waveforms. These show subtone played with:

1. soft tonguing
2. subtone played legato and
3. fulltone (ie not subtone)

You can see that by using the tongue some frequencies around 1000hZ are increased. So by using legato and by NOT articulating the first not with the tongue, the subtone has the effect of being softer. You can see from the fulltone that many more mid and higher frequencies are present

Subtone legato
Subtone tongued
Full tone

Practising subtone

Before attempting subtone, listen carefully to what it sounds like played by the greats, get that sound that you are aiming for into your head before you try it.

• Play a comfortable note in the lower register, e.g. G
• Relax your jaw
• Take slightly less of the mouthpiece in your mouth

There is a fine balance between relaxing your jaw too much (so the note flattens) and relaxing it enough for the subtone. Once you are comfortable with subtone on this note, practise the following exercises to extend the range downwards. These use the note G as a starting point, you can vary this upwards to make make the exercises more demanding as you get used doing them. You should play these legato as well as tongued. For a cool jazz ballad try articulating f instead of the conventional tu. You can hear this effect in the example above, Nowhere in the Night.