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…]
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
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…]
Biography Professional jazz musician and musical director Tony White is a multi-instrumentalist who plays the tenor, alto, and soprano saxophone. His first teaching job ended up being at his old high school, Fremont. Utilizing his contacts and mentors (including famed jazz artist great, Buddy Collette), White was able to build a comprehensive program that included a [read more…]
Not all that much has changed since Adolphe Sax first invented the instrument that bears his name, but fortunately there have been a few small technical improvements that can make your musical life much easier if you know how to use them. This will be the first of several columns on these specific mechanisms. Introducing [read more…]
Hey there guys. For those of you who are subscribed to either the Best. Saxophone. Website. Ever. newsletter, or the Jazz Lessons with Giants newsletter, and assuming that you read my latest email, this is old news. But for everyone else…hear ye hear ye! In this third and final installment in the series of audio master class [read more…]
Hello again people, I’m assuming that most of you already know about this past Monday’s killin’ interview with Ben Wendel, but in case you don’t, to recap… I’m putting out a three-part series of interviews to promote my new jazz educational program, Jazz Lessons with Giants, and that program comes out next week. AlthoughJazz Lessons [read more…]
Hey there guys. For those of you who are subscribed to either the Best. Saxophone. Website. Ever. newsletter, or the Jazz Lessons with Giants newsletter, and assuming that you read my latest email, this is old news. But for everyone else…hear ye hear ye! First off, I wanted to send my most sincere thanks for the unbelievable support [read more…]
When it comes to practicing written music, it’s easy for us saxophonists to stick to repertoire that was artfully composed to sound good on the sax. And although that saxophone repertoire can be extremely challenging, if you really want to take things to the next level, try practicing music that was written without giving even [read more…]
Introduction I have received emails from various sax players asking me about the Viking line of saxophones and how they play. When I checked out the Viking saxophones website, the various models were based on the Balanced Action, Super Balanced Action, Mark VI, and most recently the King Super 20 Silversonic. Rich Maraday, owner of [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!
