Hi sax fans and members! It’s been well over a year now that we began this website HowToPlaySaxophone.org. This is just an update to what’s happening, what’s coming up and your chance to chime in to what you’d like to see and learn.
It was actually a keyboard player friend of mine who kicked me in the butt to get it going. He thought I could somehow get something up that would have some value for others to learn and with so many people signing on, I’m glad that I started this thing.
I’m happy to be in a position of having more time to devote to this ongoing project which I truly love, besides playing, it’s one of my favorite things to spend time on. Well, there’s my boat too but that’s another story!
My original intent and vision here was to put together a complete saxophone instruction course… books, DVDs, the whole nine yards. This, as you can probably imagine is no minor undertaking, both time-wise and financially. I am however staring to sort things out towards achieving this goal.
There are a series of lessons/courses being planned, each with specific goals in mind and each with the content that arms you with the best possible ways I know of that will help you achieve them.
First one up has just been completed – “How To Play Killer Blues And Rockin’ Sax Solos With 7 Notes Or Less”. Not only is this a subject that’s very near and dear to me, your survey results showed that many members here are looking for improvement in this area.
The other high number of requests were for a complete step-by-step beginners course. This is what I am working on at the moment and may have it out in the very near future. Meanwhile we managed to put the very first few lessons of this complete beginners course together and make it a quick-start guide and called it “So You’ve Got a Saxophone – Now What?
This guide will truly help the person that wants to learn sax but hasn’t even gotten a note out of it yet. These first few lessons will glide smoothly into the course I’m currently writing called How To Play The Saxophone – A Complete Beginner’s Guide which will take ones playing further along to reading and playing notes and scales, exercises designed to develop technique and phrasing, and finally playing real songs to develop your repertoire.
Other popular requests are:
altissimo
improving technique
daily exercises
learn more songs
These are topics I will be looking at so if you have some requests or thoughts let me know!
Been a member since Feb 2012 and have enjoyed all the great stuff you have shared.
Thanks,
Paul
Right on Paul, thanks!
hi johnny. never heard such a great sax sound like yours. what kind of mouthpiece do you use? your site is very helpful to improve my sax knowledge. many thanks & best regards Klaus from Austria
Nice to hear from you Klaus.
I’ve stayed with Guardala mouthpieces. The 2 I have were hand made by Dave himself who is no longer making them but they are being made by a company and you can get them. The 2 I have are Michael Brecker , and King Curtis models.
I wrote a bit about them here:
https://howtoplaysaxophone.org/saxophone-mouthpieces
Just downloaded the ‘Killer blues’ lesson. It’s really great and easy to handle. Thanks a lot..
Hey great,
*update – in the Killer Blues online page that has all the backing tracks, I have made them downloadable so you can now put them on your computer.
I’m a new member and very grateful that I found your site. You are very good at what you do and generous for sharing that with us as a mentor and teacher. I look forward to spending time learning from you. Thanks
Thanks a lot Randy! Glad you made it and hope you get a lot out of the resources here.
Johnny: Your site is outstanding. There are many out there, but not as complete and informative. I just found out that my ligature is not so good. A new one is on the way. I’ll let you know. Your lessons are fun. The best way to learn. Tim
Right on Tim…which lig did you end up choosing?
Hi Johnny Yes, it helps a lot to download the backing track for the basic blues scale exercise. But miss the download for Pentatonic, lessons 2 and 3 ? Would be helpfull to have it on my phone or i-pod for exercising….
Anyway, I enjoy your lessons.. Best regards Klaus
Johnny: I got the lig like yours. saxxas from Germany. Have not received it yet. I found it off the advice from my post on the forum. Tim
Happy easter to everbody !!
My wife got me an Alto Sax for our 16 year anniversary-she will be the first to tell you that I have been wanting to learn to play the Sax since we were dating. So I jumped right on learning how to play it and so glad to have found your site 🙂 Everything you teach here has cut the learning curve in half for me! It would have taken me way longer to learn the fundamentals of the Sax without it. Keep all the awesome info coming, the more the better!
Hey, glad to hear that Michael! Good luck with it and ask any questions you might have in our forum.
cheers
Johnny
For my own sake, I’m glad that your keyboard player friend did kick you in the butt to get this site going–I’ll have to thank him for that should I ever meet him.
Hey Johnny,Great site I’m learning the scales. If I want to play blues do I need the major scales too or just the blues scales?
Learning the major scales should be your first project. Everything else relates to them, whether blues, minor etc you will be clearly ahead and ready to absorb everything better once you know and understand the regular major scales.
I had ordered the Christmas Music through PayPal Pair-a-dice on 11/6/13. Receipt #4779-9729-9747-3005 total $20.00. I did not see any instructions on how to download the music.
Thanks,
Carl
OK Carl I’ll send you the link in an email.
Johnny
Hello Johnny,
I’m 63 and have always loved the sax but never pursued. I just purchased a soprano sax and I’m excited I found your web site. I’m a beginner and never held a sax before, so I purchased your lesson so I can learn the proper technics so I don’t develop bad habits. I’m assuming soprano sax is covered in your lessons? I look forward to growing through your lessons, thanks for sharing your time and talent.
Murphy
Hi Murphy, yes, the lessons I give on tenor or alto are the same for all the other saxes such as baritone and soprano. They are all the same as far as the fingering, mouthpiece, reeds, blowing technique, embouchure etc. Each sax will have their own little things that are a bit different than the other, such as the tenor needing more air than the alto… the soprano doesn’t require so much air but is a little harder to play in tune at first. I always recommend people forget about these little differences and go for the type of sax that you love the most and just deal with their little problems as you go because they all have something that’s gonna drive you a little crazy at the beginning.
Good luck to you!
Johnny