Whatever stage you are at with your saxophone playing, it is often frustrating trying to get to the next level – especially when practicing. Everyone goes through periods of feeling stuck. Whether you’ve just picked up the saxophone recently or have been playing for a while, there are some solutions that I’d like to share […]
It’s All About The Process (Of Practicing) Read More »
As saxophone players, we strive to play beautiful melodies and take killer solos right? You may be surprised to learn that it is not as difficult as you may think. The key lies in a simple method that I can’t wait to share with you. This post is a quick guide to learning to play sax
Play Sax By Ear Using the 5 Notes of the Pentatonic Scale Read More »
Over the years I’ve had many different neck-straps. Several years ago, I began to notice some soreness in my neck and shoulders after long practice sessions and started trying alternative neck-straps to alleviate this. Today I’m using the Saxholder by JazzLab which is a relatively new device that is different from any of the other
Saxholder Harness by JazzLab – Review Read More »
One of my main goals as an educator is to help you all play sax by ear. I’d like to share with you some thoughts in response to comments I have heard recently from several adult students both in my one on one lessons at the conservatory, and online. As you probably know, my online
You CAN Play Sax by Ear. Here’s how… Read More »
I have gotten many requests over the years from students wanting to learn Christmas songs. One of the problems with this is the limited amount of time you have to learn and perform the music before Christmas season is over, and you have to wait until next year again. In this lesson, you will learn
Christmas (Baby Please Come Home) – Play By Ear Lesson Read More »
In case your are not 100% sure how transposition works, I’ve put together this concise saxophone transposition guide to clear things up. Watch the video below: Click here to get a downloadable pdf of this guide. The saxophone is a transposing instrument. This means that notes played on a saxophone will sound different from a
How to Transpose – a Guide for Saxophones Read More »
I get asked by students all the time about how to practice exercises and patterns. Here’s a quick overview of the process with a video to help guide you along the way. In this post and video I’m going to explain how to practice pentatonic patterns that can be found in my ebook, Pentatonic Patterns for
How To Practice Pentatonic Patterns for Improvisation Read More »
I bring up saxophone listening all the time in my lessons. Listening to the saxophone is as important as practicing the saxophone. Today I’d like to share with you a couple of saxophone listening lists I’ve created. Thanks to YouTube, which is an inexhaustible resource of information for any discipline, this music is accessible to anyone
Saxophone Listening Guide with YouTube playlists Read More »
If you are buying your first saxophone, or are a parent wondering what to buy for your child who is learning to play, here is some good solid saxophone buying advice for you. This is a big topic and there is a ton of information out there to influence your decision. I often find that
Saxophone Buying Advice for beginners and parents Read More »
My new ebook gives saxophone students a tool for improving several aspects of their saxophone playing at once while having fun at the same time. Pentatonic Patters for Improvisation is on sale now. Get the ebook and 12 backing tracks in all keys today. Continuing with the core principals of the Pentatonic Foundation Coursethe new Patterns
Pentatonic Patterns eBook + backing tracks Read More »
If you want to learn to play Hello on the saxophone, you might order the sheet music online and read through it. If you are a strong music reader, this may work well for you, but you’ll be limited in many ways. Read on to discover a better method for learning melodies to popular songs that
How to Play Hello on the Saxophone and take a solo Read More »
Sometimes it seems way harder than it is to find time to practice. Now that summer is here, (at least in the south of France) my schedule has become even more busy than usual. I’m lucky enough to have gigs playing the saxophone most days of the week. Add to that the arrival of our
Finding Precious Practice Time Read More »
In this article I discuss and compare these two saxophones and try to find out if the Yanagisawa can replace my Mark VI as my main horn. It is a bit long winded so if you want to skip to the conclusion go right ahead. My relationship with Yanagisawas I got my first Yanagisawa horn
Yanagisawa T880 vs Selmer Mark VI Tenor Saxophone Comparison Read More »
The other day I came across a cool video on YouTube of a fantastic saxophone player performing a very original version of the classic standard Stand By Me by Ben E King. Besides being thoroughly impressed with the slap tonguing/beatboxing performance in some freezing cold alley, I thought, this song is a perfect example of
How to Play Stand By Me on Saxophone and Take a Solo Read More »
This week while working with some students on a jazz etude we kept running into the same problem with syncopated rhythms. Where to place syncopated eighth notes rhythmically. What I heard from my students while playing the piece was a hesitation or uncertainty each time a basic syncopated rhythm came up. So even though we
How to Master Syncopated Rhythms Read More »
Online Saxophone Lessons Solving a Common Problem BetterSax.com is all about solving this problem that many saxophone players have. Traditionally, if you want to learn the saxophone you have a choice between the Jazz method, and the Classical method. This course fills in the gap and teaches the information that has been the most useful
The Online Saxophone Solution Read More »
