Daily practice is absolutely essential if you want to get better on the saxophone or just keep your chops up. Problem is, sometimes the noise of the thing presents a real problem. Practice Saxophone In the Car For a while, my practice room was my lowly Fiat Punto that a friend gave me. Yes, […]
8 Ways to Practice the Saxophone Quietly Read More »
My guest today is one of the most exciting saxophonists right now in the music world, Braxton Cook. Not only is he an outstanding sax player in the jazz idiom, but he has created his own sound and style combining elements of multiple musical genres. In this interview he shares with us his musical
Braxton Cook is the Future of Jazz Soul Music Read More »
How do I get a good sound? Many of you are asking this question and expressing frustration with the process. I have a short answer for you that I guarantee will work. I asked for questions, and you guys delivered a ton of really great ones. Many of the questions I’m going to answer in
Do These 8 Things for a Beautiful Saxophone Sound Read More »
We do a lot of lesson videos on this channel to help saxophone players get better, but one of the most valuable things in anybody’s musical journey is access to great mentors and top saxophone players. Recently, I went out to a bunch of concerts across 3 different countries, and asked some of my
I Asked Top Saxophone Players How They Got So Good Read More »
New Tenor Sax Mouthpieces We’ve had some fantastic new tenor sax mouthpieces come out in the last year, so today we are going to look at 4 of my favorites. If you are considering getting some new tenor sax mouthpieces this should help you get started. BetterSax Burnin’ Tenor Mouthpiece I’m going to review these
Top 4 NEW Tenor Sax Mouthpieces for a Beautiful and Powerful Sound Read More »
This is the EMEO, and it is Freaking Cool I have been dabbling with wind synths for over 15 years, I’ve owned and tested most of what’s been around in that time, and in this video I’m going to tell you why the EMEO is a total game changer. I’ve had this thing for a
New EMEO Digital Practice Saxophone… OMG Read More »
Some players have vintage saxophones and love them, some have more modern horns and love them. Doesn’t matter what you have or play on as long as you are playing the saxophone right? My friend and renowned baritone saxophonist Jason Marshall made a comment in my first interview with him a few years ago
Why You Don’t Need Vintage Saxophones – Interview with Jason Marshall Read More »
First, let’s define what we mean by “improvising a jazz solo.” In jazz music, improvising a solo means creating a unique and spontaneous musical performance on the spot, often in response to the other musicians in the group and the overall structure of the song. It requires a deep understanding of the language of
Why AI Will NEVER Improvise Jazz Read More »
There’s a brand new Neumann clip-on saxophone mic available on the market, made by Neumann, which is perhaps the most renowned microphone company in the world. Their microphones are widely considered the bench mark for professional-grade high-quality studio recording. Naturally, I was very excited to get my hands on this microphone, and I’m going
The NEW Neumann Clip-on Saxophone Mic is EXCELLENT! Read More »
Saxophone Tips Everyone’s always looking for saxophone tips, especially because there are plenty of really hard things to do on the saxophone. So here’s a list of hard, yet very useful and important things you will probably want to be able to do well at some point. 1. Play with a beautiful saxophone sound Sound
Saxophone Tips for The 6 Hardest Things to Do Read More »
Classic Saxophone Solos – Christmas and Bari Sax Why are there so many Bari Sax Solos in Christmas Songs? The other night I was putting up the Christmas tree with my 7-year-old daughter. So of course, we had to put some Christmas music on. So, I chose this Apple music holiday playlist and there were
Why so many Bari Sax Solos in Christmas Songs? Read More »
Everyone knows that Selmer produced what were widely considered the best saxophones in the world during the 1950s and 60s. The Mark VI and Super Balanced Action or SBA horns from that era are still among the most valued and sought after saxophones. I recently visited my friend John Leadbetter at his saxophone shop JL
15 Key Differences: The SELMER Mark VI and SBA Saxophones Read More »
Learning from Jazz Legends Recently I got to hear an amazing group of musicians live at the Side Door jazz club in Old Lyme Connecticut. While I was there, I was fortunate enough to get some great interview content with some of them. The group is the Mike LeDonne quartet featuring Eric Alexander on saxophone,
Asking Jazz Legends How to Get Good Read More »
Bob Mover on the BetterSax Podcast My guest today is the great Bob Mover. A virtuosic saxophonist who performed with Chet Baker, Charles Mingus, Lee Konitz and countless others. I met Bob in 2005 in New York, while I was repairing saxophones on 48th street. I was fortunate enough to get to learn a
House of Harmony – Lesson from Saxophonist Bob Mover Read More »
Bob Reynolds – A Saxophone Hero My guest today is someone I would call a “saxophone hero.” Bob Reynolds always manages to do more than should be humanly possible, and always at the very highest level. He is a prolific jazz recording artist with a number of albums to his name. He is also a
What I learned at Berklee – Bob Reynolds Read More »
When you first learned about minor chords in jazz you were told to play the dorian mode over them right? Everyone is told that, and it’s true, the dorian mode fits over minor chords… but only sometimes. So in this lesson, I’m going to show you how to avoid a very common mistake.
You’re Playing Minor Chords Wrong (22 Minor Key Explorations Course) Read More »
If you are a beginner saxophone player you might think it will take you a while before you’re able to play any songs. Guess what? Watch this video now because I’m going to show you 3 popular tunes that a beginner saxophone player can learn today and you don’t even need to read sheet
3 Songs Perfect for Beginner Saxophone players Read More »
Yamaha YDS-150 Review – UNPLAYABLE When I first saw the Yamaha YDS-150, I said to myself that’s got to be good. I mean Yamaha makes good stuff right? OK, there was that Venova thing, but apart from that, Yamaha makes good stuff. When you see it with the brass bell, you get this idea
Yamaha YDS-150 Review – NOT What I Expected Read More »
A big part of the musical vocabulary you hear in great saxophone solos comes from scale patterns. Today I’m going to teach you an easy and fun to play pentatonic pattern that you can start using immediately in any solo. Practicing Pentatonic Patterns You have probably come across other pentatonic patterns before, maybe you even
The Most EFFECTIVE Way to Practice Patterns Read More »
Why Avery Dixon’s Sax Playing Won America’s Got Talent I’ve never watched the show America’s got talent, but it has come to my attention recently because of a young man named Avery Dixon. Avery has literally inspired millions of people with the saxophone; and in this video, I’m going to try to explain why the
10 Tricks for Sax Solos that Win from Avery Dixon on America’s Got Talent Read More »
Performing for a large audience? Check out these wireless mic options to help amp up your playing! Plus, hear from the great Michael Ghegan as he play-tests each one.
Wireless Sax Mic Shootout (I can’t believe how good this cheap one is!) Read More »
