Introduction I have been fortunate enough to speak with many great saxophonists over the years, and recently had the chance to sit down (virtually) and speak with Dayna Stephens. While many saxophonists focus on one or two members of the saxophone family, Dayna’s instrumental arsenal includes soprano, alto, tenor, and his favorite of all the [read more…]
This past March, on Bach’s 336th birthday, I put out a collection of jazz etudes called Bach Shapes: The Etudes. The book collects etudes from my Bach Shapes books, which isolate the beautiful melodic shapes of Bach’s music so you can apply them to tunes or technical practice. There are short analyses for each etude in the book but [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 I remember when JodyJazz first came out with his HR* line of mouthpieces for alto and tenor and since then, Jody has expanded his product line to include 9 different models that are offered for soprano, alto, tenor, and baritone. In this article, I will be reviewing Jody’s newest addition to the JodyJazz lineup, [read more…]
So you’re a talented saxophone player who’s not quite making ends meet… No, this isn’t the beginning of a cheesy commercial, please hear me out. :) Today I’m going to share with you an alternative way to make a living as a saxophonist. As the post goes on I’ll show you the kind of money [read more…]
Introduction As we come out of the first year of a historic global pandemic, I am glad to say that many musicians have adjusted and come out with creative ways to release and promote their existing and new music, as well as simply survive. One such musician is renowned saxophonist, Tim Garland. I am very [read more…]
There seems to a be a common idea that improvising in odd time signatures is hard. When I come across a new time signature, I remind myself that it isn’t difficult – it’s unfamiliar. If you think 4/4 is easy, that’s likely because you’ve spent significantly more time playing songs in four, making it familiar [read more…]
Introduction If you’re looking for another smokin’ alto player to add to your list of people to check out, Nick Biello is your guy. Besides being as a top-notch alto player, Nick can also be seen playing bari, tenor, and soprano in various groups. I first saw videos of Nick playing alto saxophone when I [read more…]
Introduction The following article is a mini-lesson that incorporates an etude from Little Leaps and Sounds, which is my latest book geared towards the intermediate level and includes etudes written over twelve common jazz standards. After releasing Volume 1-3 of Leaps and Sounds between 2018-2020, I saw there might be a need for etudes written with [read more…]
Introduction I strongly believe that transcription is the key to learning jazz improvisation. This certainly was the case for me and for the numerous jazz musicians that I have performed with over the years. I do not believe that I have met a great improviser that claimed to have never transcribed. For me, a light [read more…]
How can you improve the essential elements of your improvisation? Follow the advice in Sy Oliver & Trummy Young’s song: “It Ain’t What You Do (It’s the Way That You Do It).” Great soloists play interestingly and confidently. As listeners, we perceive that as charisma. In jazz education, there’s a lot of focus on what [read more…]