Probably like most people, the thing that drew me to the saxophone was it’s sound. Initially, Coleman Hawkins on a 1950s French film sound track, then later countless other players. Early in my playing career it struck me that if you make a great sound then you don’t actually have to play that much; one [read more…]
There’s no good improviser in any style of music who hasn’t spent time mastering their pentatonic scales. The question, as always, is how do we master them and make them work for our own playing? The Pentatonic Pitfall Many beginning improvisers immediately start working with basic patterns and simply aim to rip through them as [read more…]
Regardless of your horn, mouthpiece, or reed, the truth is, to the outside listener, you sound pretty much like...you. It's not that gear doesn't affect your sound at all, but your biggest and richest sound will only come by developing the skills within both your body and mind to sound great on any setup.
So if you're willing to move beyond having your day ruined by a lousy reed, then sax legend David Liebman's course, Ultimate Guide to Saxophone Sound Production is where you're going to want to go next.
Broken down into bite-sized lessons, this streaming video program covers just about every single aspect of saxophone sound production. It represents his entire life's work teaching the techniques and concepts that were handed down to masters such as Michael Brecker, Bob Berg, and Harvey Pittel (among many others), and then refined over the course of decades teaching countless lessons and masterclasses worldwide. Click below to see for yourself why so many professional saxophonists consider David's thorough, methodical, and practical approach the "real deal" for players at any level.
SAXOPHONETONE.COM
The Ultimate Guide to Saxophone Sound Production
Background Max Ionata (Born in 1972), is one of the top Italian saxophonists on the scene today. Thus far, Max has released 70 albums as a leader and sideman with international and national artists. Max has performed as both a leader and a sideman at many of the world’s most popular jazz venues with musicians. [read more…]
I’ve loved Lester Young and Stan Getz since I was 10 years old. Something about their warm tone and assertive yet flowing time moves me, as I’m sure it does many of you. I’ve spent most of my life wrestling with my horn trying to achieve this fluency, with countless transcriptions and hours upon hours [read more…]
Introduction Mark Sepinuck has been collecting and selling vintage mouthpieces and saxophones for over 30+ years. Over the past few years, Mark decided to come out with his own line of mouthpieces since he was not entirely happy with the vintage/modern mouthpieces available on the market today. His goal was to create a mouthpiece that [read more…]
Playing the saxophone requires a lot of practice and repetition if you want to be the best. Warmups are a big part of keeping your muscle memory sharp and increasing your lung capacity so that you can play better, for longer. Doing saxophone warmups and practice exercises before performing also help to focus your mind [read more…]
Like many of you I’m sure, my first loves on jazz saxophone were people like Charlie Parker, Cannonball Adderley, Phil Woods, Stan Getz, John Coltrane, Hank Mobley, Joe Lovano, Michael Brecker, etc…. you get the idea – the modern lineage that I connected to easily and shaped this music that we love. I immediately wanted [read more…]
I know I’m not the only guy out there who loves to futz around the music store, trying the latest gear, wanting to play a different horn or a different mouthpiece, looking for that edge – that mystical “something” in the sound that just gives me that little “extra boost” toward sound nirvana. But if [read more…]
This article is a lesson that comes to us courtesy of world-renown saxophonist, Jon Gordon, and also appears in his book, Foundations for Improvisors. For nearly all jazz improvisors, the chord progression that is most familiar is the two-five-one (ii-7, V7, I), which is the basis of be-bop harmony. However, as we learn to expand [read more…]
This article is in response to an article by renowned NYC jazz saxophonist, Mike Lee titled, “How Did ‘Licks’ Become a Four Letter Word?”. Click here to read it if you haven’t done so already. Mike and I agree on one thing. There is no faster way to go from a clueless beginner to [read more…]
Tips and Techniques from the pros PLUS free access to the Sax Lessons with the Stars archive - 10 years worth of interviews and exercises featuring the likes of David Liebman, Bob Mintzer, Ben Wendel, Bob Reynolds, and many more!
