My friend Michael Ghegan came by the studio the other day. Besides being an all around incredible multi-instrumentalist, singer, composer, arranger and producer… He is an authority on playing the saxophone in a pop music setting, having toured with Elton John, Aerosmith, Jamiroquai, the Allman Brothers, and currently Supertramp. Today he’s going to share with […]
Sax Soloing in Pop Music – with Michael Ghegan Read More »
Saxophone repair shops seem to be an endangered species these days. There was a time where you could take your sax to any number of places in times square. It felt like a saxophone wonderland! I used to work at one of these repair shops on 48th St, Rod Baltimore’s NY Woodwind and Brass. While
What Happened to New York’s Famed Music District? Read More »
3D Printed mouthpieces are the new thing in the saxophone world that everyone’s talking about. In today’s video I’m going to play test a bunch of these SYOS mouthpieces. Then I’ll tell you if I think they live up to the hype. Be sure to leave a comment below with your thoughts and experiences with
3D Printed Saxophone Mouthpieces from SYOS – All Hype? Read More »
Derek Brown – BeatBox Sax “My special ability is not memorizing things, it’s not that I pick up things quickly or have a good ear… If I have any special ability at all, it’s the actual ability,” – Derek Brown, BeatBox Sax I sat down to chat with Beat Box Saxophonist Derek Brown at the
The Secret Super Power of a Slow Learner – Derek Brown BeatBox Sax Read More »
Q&A #1 – Squeaky Saxophone Reeds… Today, I’m answering YOUR saxophone questions in the first BetterSax Q&A. I’ll cover: how to fix and avoid squeaky saxophone reeds playing in the altissimo register tips on getting the low notes to come out on your saxophone playing the overtones in tune. Check out the full Q+A video
SQUEAKY Saxophone Reeds, Altissimo, LOW Notes, Overtones | Q&A #1 Read More »
Carpooling with Bob Reynolds In this interview, I talk with one of my favorite saxophone players, Bob Reynolds. We discuss what it’s like managing competing priorities as a recording artist and touring musician. Bob Reynolds is a Grammy-Award winning jazz tenor saxophonist. He is mainly known for his work with the jazz and funk band
Silencing Your Internal Editor – Carpooling With Bob Reynolds Read More »
Doctor Thunder Had the pleasure of being interviewed by Sean Wallace AKA “Doctor Thunder.” We talked about content creation, the value of a college degree in music in the age of new information and geeked out over saxophone gear… As always. Take a listen to the full interview, and let me know what you think
Conversations with Doctor Thunder Read More »
There’s so much information out there these days, it can be tough to know what to listen to and what things might be saxophone myths. Today, I want to try and debunk some common myths and misconceptions about learning to play the saxophone. Many of these might be getting in the way for some of you
Top 10 Myths about Learning Saxophone Read More »
The ReedGeek Those of you who follow BetterSax closely, know just how much I love the ReedGeek and what it can do for my saxophone playing. Earlier this year, my good friend Kyle Roberts came by to catch up and pick up his new tool. I brought him back a ReedGeek from the NAMM show
How to Improve Every Saxophone Reed – The ReedGeek Read More »
Chad LB Back during my trip to NY during the early months of 2020, I sat down with my great friend and amazing saxophone player Chad Lefkowitz-Brown or Chad “LB.” Not only is he one of my favorite saxophone players, he’s also a fantastic educator. He’s always sharing valuable information on how to practice and
How to Play More Interesting Improvised Lines – Chad LB Read More »
Daniel Chia & BetterSax I had the pleasure of speaking with Daniel Chia for about 2 hours answering questions, talking about the saxophone, different kinds of gear recommendations, and everything else in between. Check out the full interview below! Be sure to let me know what you thought of this interview in the comments below!
BetterSax Interview with The Daniel Chia Show Read More »
Had the pleasure of speaking with The Saxophone School on Instagram Live the other day. The Saxophone School is based out of Nigeria and is constantly doing great interviews with saxophone players and continuously posting great tips and tricks. Take a look at the full interview with The Saxophone School below and let me know
The Saxophone School & BetterSax Interview Read More »
“I have been entrusted with an aptitude for music so that I can be about the work of wellness in my community and in my environment. That work includes restoring our subconscious and super-subconscious memory, reacquainting with our original customs and languages; restoring and developing our intrinsic culture. I gather the pieces of our fractured history
A Saxophone Lesson in Harlem – Jason Marshall on Baritone Sax Read More »
This is a quick repair tutorial on fixing a rusted hinge rod – a very common problem on saxophones. Might be a good idea to check your soprano octave key hinge rod and see if it’s getting rusty.Thanks to Music Medic for all of the tools from their website. I was playing my straight soprano and found
Rusted Hinge Rod Repair Read More »
The ReedGeek Saxophone Reeds giving you trouble? I’m going to show you a tool to help make your lousy reeds playable, and your good reeds even better. I’m using a simple tool called the ReedGeek. It has completely changed my sax life. I’m no longer frustrated with underperforming reeds. In a minute or two I
Bad Reeds and How to Fix Them – The ReedGeek Read More »
Otto Link Tone Edge 7* I recently had my Otto Link Tone Edge 7* mouthpiece refaced by Phil-Tone Mouthpieces. While this mouthpiece is now much improved after I had it refaced, you can probably hear the slight lack of projection and tubbiness. Low notes don’t speak as well as I’d like either. However, the altissimo
Otto Link Tone Edge 7* – Mini Mouthpiece Review Read More »
The Intrepid 7* This Intrepid 7* mouthpiece was my main piece for a while before my current mouthpiece testing frenzy. This is from Phil-Tone Mouthpieces. What do you think of the sound? I miss this piece a bit but have so many more to get to know at the moment. Also dusting off a standard
Phil-Tone Intrepid 7* – Mini Mouthpiece Review Read More »
Had the pleasure of hanging out and catching up with the fabulous Grace Kelly on Instagram the other day. We talk about how we were able to make music our profession while also swapping old stories, having a few good laughs, and nerding out over the saxophone. Watch the full chat with Grace below. If
Jay Metcalf and Grace Kelly talk about Sax and more Read More »
The Tribute Ltd 7* This mouthpiece is the Tribute Ltd 7* for tenor saxophone from Phil-Tone Mouthpieces. I really love this kind of dark, yet powerful mouthpiece with lots of overtones. What do you think of the sound? Let me know in the comments below! Want more mini mouthpiece reviews? Check out the “Intrepid 7* –
Phil-Tone Tribute Ltd 7* – Mini Mouthpiece Review Read More »
Recording with GarageBand With today’s technology, there are so many cool ways to record yourself and share your music. So let’s talk about how you can record yourself over a backing track in GarageBand for iOS. To start, I’m also using the app iReal Pro. This is a fantastic tool that simulates a real-sounding band that
How to Record Over an iReal Pro Backing Track in GarageBand Read More »
Today’s Questions Hey there, In today’s Q+A, I’m answering YOUR questions from Instagram and beyond. Questions like: “Can I learn saxophone just from watching YouTube videos?” Or “How can I get better faster?” And the age old question of “Why are Mark VI saxophones so overpriced?” What Keeps You Motivated to Practice Daily? That’s easy.
Why Are Mark VI Saxophones So Overpriced? | Q+A #5 Read More »
