Bridging the Gap: Three New Intermediate Pieces for Saxophone with Selected Extended Techniques

This research paper contains three newly commissioned pieces for unaccompanied saxophone focusing on extended techniques and their pedagogy. Each piece is roughly five minutes in length at an intermediate level, intended to serve as an introduction to the following techniques: growling, glissando, slap tongue, altissimo, and microtones. With constant advancements in saxophone performance, the knowledge and understanding of extended techniques is a requirement for anyone pursuing a career with the instrument. Much of our current repertoire containing such techniques are at an advanced level, requiring years of training to perform proficiently. These commissioned pieces are intended to be accessible to saxophonists in earlier stages of study and for teachers wanting to utilize new repertoire. The three composers commissioned for this project are Dr. Jennifer Jolley, Alexis C. Lamb, and Dr. Hong-Da Chin. This document includes an explanation to the commission and consortium process, suggested steps towards accomplishing each technique, a performing guide for each piece, and a resource guide for each technique.