Beginner saxophonists tend to put a lot of their effort in playing scales, learning the right tone and tune adjustments, as well as running patterns. But knowing how to play rhythm is also important and it will in most cases improve your overall playing.

Below are five simple exercises that’ll help you play in odd-meters and work on rhythm. These sax rhythm exercises will boost your improvisation skills and add more depth to your style.

1. Utilising the Metronome

Every beginner sax players needs to get a good metronome! It’ll bring more structure to your lessons and it is a great aide, especially in this first exercise.

Set your metronome to around 50 to 60 bmp. Play along to the metronome so that you’ll first play once per beat. Continue by playing twice per beat, three times per beat, four times per beat and so on. Work your way up to playing eight times per beat.

If you can do this without a problem, make it a bit more difficult by randomizing your playing between subdivisions. For example, go from six subdivisions per beat to three subdivisions per beat.

2. Use a 4/4 Beat and Displace It

Use a backing track with a 4/4 beat. Turn the backing track on and play on the first and the third beat, but start the first with an offbeat.

Alternatively, you could use an odd-meter tune. Instead of starting with an offbeat, play with a downbeat on the first.

3.Clap Rhythms

You should start practicing without your sax as well. Pick a bepop head with rhythmic complexity. For instance, you could sing Moose and the Mooch. Sing the song in your head and pick a repeating rhythm you will clap to.

This could be the offbeats. Try to keep clapping just the offbeats as long as possible – you’ll probably soon notice you are clapping on the beat!

4. 3 Against 5

Another good clapping exercise allowing you to practice without the sax is the three against five. You just need to clap every three beats with one hand and hit every five eight notes with the other.

You can change this by doing it four against five to mix it up a bit. This is quite tricky, but mastering it will make learning modern jazz tricks a lot easier!

5. Converting triplets into the eight note

For the final exercise, you might prefer to do it with other players. But it is somewhat possible even if you are practising on your own.

You’ll be turning a 6/8 rhythm into a 4/4 rhythm. In essence, it means the old triplets of the 6/8 become the 16ths of the new 4/4. This will help you make the melody of the song a lot different and adds more power to your playing.

The above exercises will make you more rhythm aware and it can take your own playing to the next level. Make sure you include these exercises to your daily lesson and see how you can put them to use with the other things you learn during your sax lessons!