Easy Pentatonic Lick
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 effective solos. I talk a lot about how to use this scale in my lessons, blog posts, and YouTube videos. I also talk about the importance of transcribing (that is learning…
5 Great Apps for Practicing Saxophone
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…
Saxophone Embouchure Tutorial
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. Watch the video below to learn the basic…
17 Pro Saxophone Tips – Assembly/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 that you already know how to…
It’s All About The Process (Of Practicing)
Whatever stage you are at with your saxophone playing, it is often frustrating trying to get to the next level. 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 with you that work…
Play Sax By Ear Using the 5 Notes of the Pentatonic Scale
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…
Saxholder Harness by JazzLab – Review
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…
Have you given this a try? You may surprise yourself.
I’ve been hard at work preparing the next lesson offering from Better Sax so I apologize for not being in touch much lately. This new series of video lessons called Core Essentials will be an indispensable addition to everyone’s daily practice routine and I’m very excited to share it with all of you. While we…
Christmas (Baby Please Come Home) – Play By Ear Lesson
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…
How to Transpose – a Guide for Saxophones
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…
