Look, Mom! One-Hand! 12 Saxophone Etude for Left-Hand Only PDF VERSION

This book came to be after a post I made on my Instagram page in February of 2020. In the post, I played a couple of choruses on the song “Giant Steps” using just my left hand. Equal parts predictable and shocking, the engagement with that particular post was off the charts.

Although I originally made the post just for fun, I noticed that there might be a lane to pursue, writing a book with etudes that only make use of the left hand of the saxophone. Obviously, playing with only one hand is not how the saxophone is intended to be played but playing with just one hand does present challenges, with solutions that are worthwhile exploring

. Left to one hand, there is an added onus on the player to be creative with how they craft melodies, deal with range, sound and articulation, given the restriction. As you move through this book, you will find 12 etudes that are written solely to be played by the left hand. In writing these etudes, I found that it is best to hold the instrument between your legs so that you have the horn meeting you right at your face and also to help balance the instrument. To reduce strain on your right hand, I suggest putting your right hand behind your back as you read through the material.

There are many instances in which I have written D’s, Eb’s and E’s in the staff and in each such instance, the player should use the same palm-key fingerings as they would for the same note that sounds an octave higher. The only exception is for the note E, which I produce by opening all of the palm keys in the left hand without the octave key. You will almost certainly notice that these notes will have a wide-range of intonation tendencies that will need to be worked out in order to play the passages with proper tuning. It is more than possible to do so and there are countless recordings of master musicians using these side palm key fingerings to color the sound of those specific notes in that particular register.

Finally, it should be noted that these etudes are most playable on the tenor saxophone. There are instances in these etudes where it may be impossible to play certain notes in the altissimo on the alto, baritone and soprano saxophones using traditional fingerings. In such instances, the player can choose which notes to keep as written and which notes to adjust to another octave for playability. I hope you enjoy the challenge of playing these etudes and find that it sparks a new sense of creativity in your approach to improvising.