Teaching Students How to Practice
Organize practice around clear goals, a consistent routine, and careful diagnosis of problems.
Reading
Explore articles and guides on practice, playing, teaching, and the saxophone. Curriculum labels link to the assigned year in the Saxophone Curriculum.
Practice
8 Practice Hacks
Use deliberate practice, better timing, and clear priorities to get more out of each session.
A Jazz Guide to Practicing
Plan your sessions, limit distractions, and decide what deserves your practice time. The approach applies beyond jazz.
Quality Practice: A Musician’s Guide
Explore research-informed approaches to learning and building an effective practice process.
How to Become a Better Teacher to Yourself
Use recordings and a listening rubric to assess your playing, then turn your observations into practical advice.
Technique and sound
Scales: French Style
Build scale practice around sound, connected intervals, and relaxed movement, with ideas from studying in France.
Jaw Vibrato Exercises
A sequence of metronome exercises for developing regular jaw vibrato at different speeds.
Altissimo Crash Course: Beginner through Advanced
Develop overtone control and apply it to the altissimo register through progressively more demanding exercises.
How to Put Yourself on the Path to Bulletproof Intonation
Explore how voicing and control inside the mouth and throat can improve pitch flexibility and intonation.
Tuning for Variable Pitch Instruments
Compare equal temperament with just intonation, then apply listening and tuning exercises to ensemble playing.
Four Steps to Musical Maturity
Refine vibrato, breathing, note releases, and style to bring greater maturity to a performance.
Introduction to Saxophone Acoustics
Learn how the reed, air column, tone holes, and vocal tract work together to produce and shape sound.
History and repertoire
Invention and Development
Follow Adolphe Sax’s life and the instrument’s development during its first decades.
In the Twentieth Century
Trace the saxophone’s growing musical role and the development of its instruments and mouthpieces.
The Repertoire Heritage
Explore the growth of classical saxophone literature and the composers and performers who helped shape it.
The Saxophone Today
Examine contemporary saxophone writing, extended techniques, and approaches to teaching these skills.
Teaching
Teaching the Saxophone
Consider the roles of teacher and student, with practical approaches to embouchure, vibrato, and tone.
Common Problems (and Solutions) for Developing Saxophonists
Identify causes of common tone, intonation, and articulation problems, with practical solutions for lessons.
Teaching Students Attention to Details
Use a score-study checklist to learn dynamics, articulation, phrasing, and other musical details from the beginning.
Building a Saxophone Quartet Library
Find warm-ups, repertoire collections, standard works, and coaching resources for a school saxophone quartet.
Equipment
What to Buy? A Guide for the Beginning College Saxophonist
A guide to concert clothing, equipment, and practical supplies for students starting college.
Saxophone Materials and Finishes
An overview of instrument geometry, construction materials, and finishes, with the source’s perspective on their effects on sound.
How to Fix Green and Old Rubber Mouthpieces
A step-by-step account of cleaning, removing discoloration, and polishing older hard-rubber mouthpieces.