Introduction I have seen more and more players using the ReedGeek to work on reeds that are not performing to their standards. Before the ReedGeek, I used to use various grits of sandpaper to work on my reeds which sometimes worked but other times I ended up destroying the reed or sanding the reed down [read more…]
Most people have heard of overtones and have gotten the idea that they can be a helpful practice tool. That is definitely true, but why? How does transforming your saxophone into a bugle help you? While the answer is fairly simple, it takes some basic knowledge about acoustics to fully grasp what’s happening. Understanding what’s [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 During my time here at BSWE, I have reviewed such products as mouthpieces, reeds, ligatures, mouthpiece patches, saxophone necks, saxophones, cases, books, etc. Most recently, I was sent information from Bengt Lidgard, CEO of ScoreCloud, to review their product, also called, ScoreCloud. When I first reviewed the product information and the website, it reminded [read more…]
Scales are the “raw material” of melody, whether improvised or composed. It’s not likely that you’ll study jazz improvisation to any serious degree without spending a lot of time learning, exploring and creating melodies with scalar material (as well as understanding how these scales relate to harmony). In modern jazz improvisation, many different scale colors [read more…]
How many times has it happened that you tell somebody that you play the saxophone, and the first thing that they say, with a glint in their eyes is, “Oh, I love the saxophone…” Now, I hate to say it, but they probably aren’t thinking of Bird’s burning solo on Donna Lee, Coltrane’s “sheets of [read more…]
Professional classical musicians seem to be able to memorize impossibly complicated solo works, orchestral excerpts, and other pieces in a short amount of time and with remarkable recall and precision. Similarly, professional jazz musicians know hundreds of tunes and seem to be able to play back almost anything they hear – in any key [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…]
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…]
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…]
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!
