i am doing a music project and need to know about specific techniques that sax players can do, such as trills, sliding etc. can anyone help?

Sax players can do a lot of different techniques such as trils, falls, bends(where the player uses his/her embouchure to raise and lower the pitch of the note), growls(one of my personal favorites). It all depends on the player. Sorry I don`t have time to go into much more detail, I hope this helps some!

the only technique you can learn is how to send your message.why the hell someone replied you and didn`t reply to me?.:@:@:@:@:@:@:@:@

Ah.. Searching... and I find.. Aha.. God Bless Pete Thomas, hope he doesn`t mind me using some of his info.

Growling: This was originally one of the many saxophone effects often used as a novelty. Apart from the fact that it is now one of the main hallmarks of rock and blues saxophone playing, it was also used in mainstream jazz: notably Ben Webster, Illinois Jacquet and Earl Bostic. Charlie Parker also growled on occasions as did avant garde pioneers John Coltrane and Archie Shepp.

The saxophone growl is made by singing or humming a note at the same time as playing. This note is not necessarily the same note as you are fingering/playing. The ideal note to sing can vary, it could be a harmony note or the same note slightly out of tune.

Bending: Bending notes on the saxophone usually involves starting the note at the correct pitch and bending it downwards, or starting at a lower pitch and bending it upwards. (This is the opposite of the guitar which bends a note upwards from pitch or downwards into pitch). It involves slackening the jaw which increases the gap between the reed and tip of the mouthpiece. In order to maintain consistent airflow you need a strong diaphragm muscles to do this.

Slaptoungue: For me this effect works best on low notes, you can hear King Curtis doing it on King Curtis & Champion Jack Dupree - Blues at Montreux

Place the surface of your tongue flat against the reed and finger a low note. It should feel like if you try to move it away there is a vacuum between your tongue and the roof of your mouth. Now quickly pull the tongue off the reed while blowing hard.

This effect was also common for musical passages in the early part of the twentieth century, especially in some danceband and vaudeville styles.

This is quite an easy effect, especially if you have already learnt to do a bit of note bending. The most impotant part of the saxophone laugh is to articulate a ku instead of tu to start the note. It’s then just a question of making each note bend downwards slightly and playing a series of notes that simulate a laugh. In the example I’ve used a chromatic scale downwards, followed by another one starting a bit higher. It’s a good idea to listen to people laughing to really get the feel for it and also other ways of doing it.

This effect has been in use for all woodwinds and brass instruments for centuries. It involves vibrating the tongue while blowing a note as if rolling the syllable r. It was initially a classical effect which has not been used much in mainstream jazz, but has been used in R & B saxophone playing, notably by King Curtis and Lee Allen. Some people find it difficult to do the R rolling, in which case it may be possible to adapt the uvular flute fluttertongue to the saxophone.

This was long.. hope it helps you in some way. Good luck.

Sorry.. The... 7th paragraph is for Laughing, and the last paragraph is for growling. Forgot to mark them..

thanks for all your comments they have been really helpful!