Calling all saxophonists! It’s time to get into the blues. This video is all about playing the blues on saxophone. We’re going to talk about something that always gets neglected when talking about improvising in the blues, or really any style. If you feel like something important might be missing when you’re improvising, this is […]
Blues Improvisation Lesson for Saxophone Read More »
Best Tenor Saxophone Mouthpieces After our post on the best alto sax mouthpieces for under $150, commenters wanted to know: What about tenor saxophone mouthpieces? So here are four picks for the best tenor sax mouthpieces under $200. Click below for the video version of this post. Here are four recommendations for the best tenor
Best Tenor Sax Mouthpieces For Under $200 Read More »
Every saxophone player has a need for speed. Here’s how to play faster, cleaner and with more solid rhythm. Don’t forget to download the free fingering worksheet that goes along with this lesson. Click below for the video version of this post. Where Are Your Fingers Now? When you play your saxophone, where are your
How to Play Faster on Saxophone and Make Fewer Mistakes Read More »
The Revolutionary Method For Learning to Play Sax By Ear Enroll in the FREE “play sax by ear” 6-part video lesson course about how to start playing the saxophone by ear using just 5 notes! Whether you’re a beginner, or have been playing for years, you need to know how to play melodies by ear, and you need to
Play Sax By Ear Crash Course Read More »
Students are always asking me “What mouthpiece should I buy?” So here are my top recommendations for the best alto sax mouthpieces with a budget of under $150. Click below for the video version of this post. Below is my list of best alto sax mouthpieces under $150. The links are all for purchasing on Amazon.com
Best Alto Sax Mouthpieces Under $150 Read More »
Saxophone Recording Tips This month, I was in the studio recording some tracks for my wife’s latest album which is a tribute to Billie Holiday. I took this opportunity to try out a couple different mics for the sake of comparison. In the process of conducting this experiment I came up with some helpful saxophone
Saxophone Recording Tips & Mic Comparison – Coles 4038 vs Neumann U67 Read More »
Do you have trouble getting the low notes to come out on your saxophone sometimes, or ever? You’re not alone, this is something that every sax player struggles with at some point. In this lesson, I’m going to go over the most important things you need to be doing to get the low notes out
How to Play Low Notes on the Saxophone (a breathing tutorial) Read More »
Do you have trouble getting altissimo notes to come out reliably or even at all on your saxophone? Every saxophone player has struggled with this. I’d like to share with you the trick that helped me finally overcome the barriers to playing altissimo. If you practice what I’m about to show you, over time you’ll
How to Play Altissimo on Saxophone Read More »
There is a common misconception out there that you need to be highly proficient on your instrument, and know all your scales and lots of music theory and harmony before you can even attempt to improvise. My beginner improvisation lesson isn’t just for beginners. It’s for anyone who is new to improvising or just searching
Beginner Improvisation Lesson Read More »
My Inspiration Sometimes we all need a little extra inspiration It’s November, the weather is getting colder and the kids are back at school. This is the time of year where I get the most work done on the saxophone. I am also hoping to get a lot more done on BetterSax.com this winter as
Sources of Inspiration for Practicing Read More »
Let’s get started with this “easy pentatonic link.” Here’s the link to get the downloads mentioned in the video: Free Pentatonic Scale Patterns Downloads for Saxophone “Easy” Pentatonic Lick for Saxophone The concept I focus on the most here at BetterSax.com is how to use the pentatonic scale to learn melodies by ear and improvise
Easy Pentatonic Lick Read More »
Smartphones and apps have become part of our everyday lives, and help us do things all throughout the day. Whether it’s apps for the kitchen, working out, navigating, or shopping, these apps have become a cheap and sometimes free replacement to many tools and devices we used to have to purchase separately at much greater
5 Great Apps for Practicing Saxophone Read More »
This lesson is about the saxophone embouchure which is everything that’s going on with your mouth when you’re playing the saxophone. It’s very important to get this right from the beginning as Incorrect technique and bad habits can cause you some big problems and long term difficulties. MOUTHPIECE AND GEAR USED IN THIS VIDEO: **Vandoren
Saxophone Embouchure Tutorial Read More »
Let’s talk about assembly and disassembly. When students first come to me for lessons, no matter what their level, the first thing I want to do is correct flagrant bad habits that are very common. I started out making a video on how to put the saxophone together and take it apart properly. I know
17 Pro Saxophone Tips – Assembly/Disassembly Read More »
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 »
