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 »
I sit down with the great Joey DeFrancesco who is not only one of the top jazz organists of all time but also a saxophonist!
Joey Defrancesco on Learning the Saxophone Read More »
In the old days, technology in the practice room consisted of a wind up metronome and a cassette recorder. Today, we have a lot more options available. In this lesson, I’m going to tell you about some of the best apps that will help you get more out of your practice time, all while having
7 Amazing Apps for Saxophone Players You Probably Didn’t Know Existed Read More »
Mindi Abair is a Grammy nominated saxophone player and recording artist whom you may have seen performing on American Idol or with Aerosmith or alongside Dave Koz and Gerald Albright. We got together at this year’s NAMM show for a very interesting conversation about music, wine and geeky sax stuff. Mindi has a new album
Pairing Wine and Music with Saxophonist Mindi Abair Read More »
Never Make These Saxophone Gear Mistakes Here are 10 common gear mistakes saxophone players make that I want you to avoid or stop doing altogether. #1: Don’t leave hard rubber mouthpieces in the sun First up, do not leave old hard rubber mouthpieces in the sun. If you do, before long, the color would fade
NEVER Make These 10 Saxophone Gear Mistakes Read More »
2022 NAMM Show I just got back from the 2022 NAMM show in California, and in this video I’m going to tell you about all the new saxophone products I discovered! Plus, many of them were only seen publicly for the first time at the conference! I, of course had my Better Sax alto saxophone
23 Newest Saxophone Products in 2022 from NAMM Read More »
Roland Aerophone AE-20 Wind Synth Roland has a new version of their Aerophone wind synth out the AE-20. Once I got the bite settings and key delay adjusted I went through the on board sound patches. I am a bit of a minimalist when it comes to bringing gear to a gig so I love
The BEST and WORST sounds on the Roland Aerophone AE-20 Wind Synth Read More »
Yamaha YAS-26 vs BetterSax EAS112 – NOT the Best Student Saxophone Anymore? The BetterSax alto saxophone has been around for a little over a year now and it’s already made a huge impact in the student and lower cost saxophone market. Lots of people have been adopting these, based on the build quality, sound,
Yamaha YAS-26 vs BetterSax EAS112 – Student Saxophone Options Read More »
A Simple Pentatonic Pattern You probably already know this basic pentatonic scale pattern, it’s four notes of the pentatonic scale going up or down. This pattern is cool to use in solos and a good way to develop some pentatonic scale technique. But if we want to take this basic pattern to another level, all
Simple Pentatonic Pattern + 1 Note = Hip Lick Read More »
Ligature Options for Otto Link Metal Mouthpieces Hey guys, today I’m looking at a variety of different ligatures that work well with Otto Link metal mouthpieces that have a ridge on top. The ligatures that usually come with these pieces are not very good, so you often have to upgrade. My best recommendations are the
Ligatures Under $100 for Otto Link Metal Mouthpieces Read More »
The Anatomy of the Saxophone Mouthpiece Why do we have so many saxophone mouthpiece options? Surely by now, there must be one mouthpiece that is truly the best and everyone should just play that one right? Well no, it doesn’t work that way. So I’m going to explain why so many mouthpiece designs exist,
How Saxophone Mouthpieces Work – Everything You Need to Know Read More »
