Saxophone Growl: Tips and Techniques

Saxophone growling is a technique that can produce a gritty and thick sound regardless if it is soprano, tenor, baritone or alto sax. This effect is often used in short solos genres such as funk, blues, and rock music. Hence, You need to know how to growl on sax to get the finest solos in jazz, blues, and even certain rock ‘n’ roll songs.

While a newcomer could find this intimidating, a seasoned saxophonist or a professional will see that it’s just a process that takes time and effort to master.

So what exactly is a saxophone growl? And what are some of the most typical blunders people make when they attempt to growl? Are you ready to learn how to make some awesome sounds?

Let’s get started!

What is Growling?

Playing a note and singing at the same time is all you need to do for you to make that growl sound effectively. As a general rule, mastering the growling technique requires a lot of time and effort since each step conflicts with the previous one.

Techniques in Making the Growl Sound in Saxophone

Step 1: Put your Tongue Down.

When you lower your tongue, the pitch will get flatter, but since we have these fighting notes, it doesn’t matter much. It won’t sound flat when you play it.

You can practise your note, say A, with your tongue lowered. It will get your tongue in the right place so you can start to growl.

Everything works much better when you put your tongue down. If your tongue is a little deeper and further back in your mouth, it will be much easier for you to do all the crazy things you are doing, like growling, on your saxophone.

Step 2: Sing, hum, or gurgle While you Blow.

The next thing you’ll do is make it sound like you’re humming and blowing simultaneously. Don’t blow your saxophone yet. Just blow air out of your mouth. One common way to make a throaty sound is almost like gurgling, and the other is to sing a note with a throaty sound.

It will take some time to get used to the raspy humming sound. Your saxophone makes it when you blow air through it. After a little practice, it’ll be second nature to put that to good use while you’re playing. One growl sound, followed by the same note.

If you’re having trouble, try humming in the back of your throat without blowing air, get the air going, and then put the rasp on it. I would say that the lower you go, the harder it is to get a growl and keep it going. Try raising the volume if you can’t get anything going with your growl.

You want to hear the raspy note and feel the air coming out. The growlier everything sounds, the harder and raspier you make that hum in your throat.

Step 3: Make an “O” sound With your Growl.

When we play the saxophone, we need more air to go with that raspy sound. Make that dirty, raspy sound, and then move your lips and tongue to make an “O” sound. When you say “O,” you should simultaneously feel the air coming out of your mouth. To check whether air is passing through your mouth, place your hand in front of your mouth and blow in.

When you say “O,” your lips naturally move forward. But when you play the saxophone, your lips shouldn’t move forward (because that will mess up your embouchure and pitch). To fix this, move your lips forward and stick out your tongue a little bit. This will get the air going for you. And that’s basically how you make your growl.

Step 4: Make a Saxophone Growl.

Now, let’s try to play that on the saxophone. Put the saxophone in your mouth and play the raspy sound with your finger on A or any different notes you choose. Now give your saxophone that raspy sound again. Move to the “O” position and get air moving through your saxophone once it’s going well.

When you get enough air moving through your saxophone to make the reed vibrate and make a note, you’ll hear the start of your growl. You won’t get the best-sounding growl, but if you want to end up with a mean growl, this is the way to start. When you get that growl sound, pay close attention to your tone and keep it going.

When you first start, you need to work on straightening out your tone to make a nice, even growl. Now, you don’t have to do all these steps every time you want to growl, but once you know how, it will be easy to start right on the growl.

Common Mistakes to Avoid When Doing a Saxophone Growl

Considering Two Actions Separately

To generate a growl, you must gargle (sing) the note while blowing air out to play it on the horn. Frequently, a musician will forget to do so, and it does take some getting accustomed to, which is why you should practise the technique without the horn before implementing it.

Attempting to Play the Same Note You’re Already Playing

You are attempting to blow more air into the sax than to strike the note with your vocal cords, so you are not aiming for the same levels. This is crucial information to bear in mind while you are attempting to growl.

If you attempt to match them, the two sounds will cancel each other out, resulting in an out-of-tune sound.

Overdoing It

Yes, this is a creative subject, but it is possible to exaggerate your growls. Certainly, this is a trick under your sleeve, but it should be reserved for brief solos. Also, observe that of all the genres, rock ‘n’ roll and jazz are the most likely to use saxophone growls.

In addition, you should practise activating and deactivating the growl and managing the volume since this differentiates an experienced saxophonist from a newbie.

Performing With Flat Tone

You should practice growling on stronger notes to detect the flattening that occurs when the tongue is lowered. After understanding the distinctions between sounds, you may practise with whatever notes and noises you like.

Final Note

That’s all for this lesson on growling on the saxophone! Check out more of our free lessons, and if you want to learn how to apply these techniques in a real-world setting, check out our site for more saxophone lessons. Until next time, keep practising and don’t forget the growl!