While I was recently searching for a new mouthpiece, I started reading more about refacing and how the right person could turn a good mouthpiece into a one-of-a-kind-mouthpiece. In this review, I will be profiling various mouthpiece makers/refacers whose mouthpieces I have tried – whether it be their own branded mouthpiece, or another branded mouthpiece [read more…]
One of the most basic and important truths of improvising is that no matter what note you play, you’re never more than a half-step away from the “right” note. Besides being a comforting thing to know, this truth might actually help you get out of a musical jam, and could also help you expand your [read more…]
Here's a new alternative to the uninspiring tunes often found in the average beginning sax book. This collection of 25 tunes, each with backing and demonstration tracks plus a video tutorial, is the product one of my most significant discoveries in over two decades of working with beginning saxophonists. That is, beginners learn fundamentals much faster by playing the kind of music that attracted them to the horn in the first place.
INFINITEMUSICAN.COM
🎷 Sax Fundamentals Faster
Similar to last year’s NAMM show, the 2014 show was another year filled with some new products ranging from saxophones, mouthpieces, ligatures, reeds and much, much more. This NAMM show in particular, saxophone and reed manufacturer, Lupifaro invited me to join them at the booth and assist with the setup and tear down at a [read more…]
Technical Exercises in all Keys All players should organize their practice, but that structure should also leave a lot of room for variety and creativity. For most of my students, I recommend they practice in one key every week with a combination of scales and arpeggios, plus some kind of technical exercise that resembles the [read more…]
The following is an interview conducted by one of the world’s most renown classical saxophonists who also happens to be a brilliant jazz recording artist as well, Greg Banaszak. Here we have him keeping it truly real with saxophone mouthpiece and saxophone manufacturer, Phil Barone, who is practically a “household name” among saxophonists worldwide. Greg [read more…]
I’m sure many of you remember that first time you sat down to play some sheet music with somebody playing another instrument, and most likely had that crazy realization that you might be reading the same note on the page, but different notes are coming out of your instruments! Maybe you showed up to band [read more…]
To date, I have play-tested the P. Mauriat 67R, 76 2ND edition, and the 86 model alto saxophones at various NAMM conventions. Recently, Craig Denny at Saint Louis Music sent me one of the limited edition model altos that P. Mauriat just released as the “System-76 3rd Edition Alto” – aka “The Dragon” – aka the [read more…]
UPDATE: I wanted to clarify something…in this article I refer to my friend “Jeff” only based on the sentiment his Facebook updates – this article is NOT about him. There were some harsh attacks on Jeff in the social media responses to this article, which I feel were unfair. I know for a fact that Jeff [read more…]
I would say we’re pretty lucky to play an instrument with one of the most basic and straightforward fingering systems of any wind instrument. Merci, Adolphe Sax! Choices, Choices… For most of the notes on our horn, there’s pretty much one fingering, and when there is an alternate fingering it tends to be a pretty [read more…]
Introduction Since I play tested their line of reeds at the 2012 NAMM show, Forestone has added into their catalog a line of saxophones and saxophone accessories. Craig Denny over at St. Louis Music was nice enough to send me some Forestone ligatures for alto saxophone as well as some hard rubber tenor and alto [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!
