How to play Saxophone - The SaxCasts Method - Fundamentals

This lesson covers two modes of Articulation.  Articulation in musical terms is "the way in which notes are spoken".  Accents and Tenutos are two forms of articulation that are imperative in adding depth and interest to your playing and really begin to make you sound like a professional.  

• What is articulation?

• How to play Tenuto Notes

• How to play Accented Notes

• Practical Articulation Exercises

This saxophone lesson will gives you a little test to see how much you can remember from the theory lessons in the course so far. 

NOTE - There is a slip in this video there is no Bb in the key signature of C major. Please ignore this until I get chance to go back and edit this video.

This saxophone lesson covers how to play Low C and C with the octave key. After this video you will add to more notes to your collection and be able to play 2 octaves on the Saxophone. This video gives you some practise tips on how to start building speed in your scales and increasing your stamina. The same principles of: Technique before Speed and always aiming for an awesome sound still apply here. 

This practical saxophone theory lesson uncovers the mysteries of the of the Triplet, the Dot and the Tie in music. This lesson teaches the uses of each and how to interpret them when seen and heard in music. By the end of this lesson you will be able to count and recognise, triplets, ties and dots. 

Topics covered in this lesson: 

• How to Dots effect musical rhythm 

• How Ties effect musical rhythm

• Understanding and playing Triplets

This saxophone lesson teaches you about all of the notes used in western music. This lesson uses the piano to unravel some awkward musical concepts. Don’t know your tones from your semitones or your flats from your naturals? You’re in the right place. 

This lesson covers: 

• Tones + Semitones 

• How Naturals, Sharps and Flats effect a note 

• Basic knowledge of the Piano 

• Introduction to the Chromatic Scale

This Saxophone Lesson begins to push your speed to overdrive in a controlled manner, allowing you to boost your saxophone dexterity. After this video (and a little practise!) you will be playing scales quicker and your fingers will feel more nimble. 

This lesson covers: 

• The Small Movement Method 

• Using your metronome to build speed 

• Monitoring your speed 

• Goal Setting

This saxophone lesson covers some useful patterns that can be used to both improve your technical proficiency in any key on the saxophone and make scales a little more interesting. Let’s face it, scales might not be exactly the most fun thing to do on the saxophone, but they’re certainly one of the most useful! 

Topics Covered: 

• Arpeggios 

• How to play in 3rds 

• Running 3rds

In this saxophone lesson we will extend your D Major scale so that you know all of the notes required to play it over a 2 octave range. In doing so we will also learn a new note - "Palm key D" this note is high and Dan will demonstrate both how it should sound and a few tips on how to play it with ease. 

This saxophone lesson contains: 

• The D Major Scale (over 2 Octaves) 

• The D Major Arpeggio (2 Octaves) 

• New Note - Palm D

Getting Chromatic This saxophone lesson introduces the Chromatic Scale on G and, hold on to your music stand, as we add many new notes. After this lesson you will be able to play the entire range of notes between G and G and infinitely develop the number of songs you can play. You are also now equipped to tackle other Online Saxophone Courses on the site!

Topics covered in this lesson: 

• New Notes 

• What does chromatic mean? 

• The chromatic scale on G

This saxophone lesson covers some awkward movements on the Saxophone and gives you a few ways to practise chromatic movements. Chromatic movements are very important for all kinds of embellishments and interesting figures in all styles of music.

This lesson covers drills designed to increase chromatic knowledge and dexterity

This saxophone lesson recaps on some key points of the Saxophone Beginners Course and provides an opportunity to check your technique and make sure you haven’t picked up any bad habits along the way. 

Topics covered in this lesson: 

• Vibrato 

• Tonguing Technique 

• Practise Schedule

In this beginners saxophone lesson you will learn an easy way to remember and recognise the key signatures of all of the sharp major scales.  This video teaches you a simple mnemonic to help you remember both the number of and the order of the sharps.

This beginners saxophone lesson covers:

• How to recognise all sharp major scales

• How to draw the key signatures of sharp major scales

This saxophone lesson introduces syncopation, which literally refers to playing music “off-beat”.  An unfortunate side effect of syncopation is that it often nudges musicians literally “off beat”.  This lesson describes what syncopation is, gives some useful tips on how to play syncopation and how to feel music when playing on the “off beat”What is syncopation?

This Sax lesson covers:

• Why get syncopated?

• How to count/feel syncopation

• Some live syncopated practise.

This lesson introduces musical intervals and explores the different types found.   Knowing intervals will help both your intonation and your ability to improvise.  Developing your ear is a fundamental skill that is essential to every sax player so be sure to devote some time to developing this part of your playing.

Topics covered:

• What is an interval?

• The different types of intervals: Melodic and Harmonic

• Recognising written intervals

• Learning intervals by Tune

• Perfect 4ths and 5ths

This Saxophone Lesson encourages you to extend all of your known scales to 2 octaves or to a 12th developing the range at which you regularly play.  It is important to leave your comfort zone and become familiar with the full range on this instrument as soon as you are comfortable with the lower part.

This Saxophone Lesson covers:

• What is a 12th?

• F and G Major to a 12th

• Arpeggio pattern over a 12th

This saxophone lesson is designed to improve your little finger dexterity and push your technique to the next level.   This lesson focuses on developing the little finger and ring finger in both hands, when playing Eb/D# and G#/Ab.

Topics covered in this lesson:

• Common issues with little fingers

• Little finger Drills - Level 1

• Ring finger Drill - Level 1

This lesson returns to Vibrato and explores what should and shouldn’t be happening while you are playing. This lesson will demonstrate clean vibrato and make sure you are on the right track with the state of your vibrato. This lesson introduces some more advanced ways to practise your vibrato.  

Topics covered in this lesson:

• Vibrato Do’s and Don’t

• Revisiting good vibrato

• Vibrato Exercises

This Saxophone lesson introduces chords and how they are illustrated in written music. This video covers the Major and Minor chords and how to distinguish between them both aurally and visually. This video uses a tone and semitone method to work out the chords and introduces two new intervals: Major and Minor 3rds.

This lesson covers:

• Major and Minor Chords

• Major and Minor 3rd’s

• How to recognise a chord

This lesson extends your knowledge of chords to cover the addition of a seventh to the chord. The dominant chord is one of the strongest ways to make a piece come to an end. The dominant chord (also known as the V chord (five chord)) is the chord that most frequently precedes the final chord of a piece of music. As the dominant chord is so common, it is essential that you know it well. This lesson will give you some patterns that will help you practise this common chord.

This lesson covers:

• Creating a Seventh Chord

• The “Dominant” chord

• Dominant Seventh exercises in C, F and G

This lesson introduces a new saxophone technique called Note Bending also known as the lip slur. This is a slightly enhanced version of vibrato whereby you start the note with a lowered and slightly loosened jaw position and then bring the jaw and tension back to normal. This results in a cool “scoop up” of the note.   

Topics covered in this saxophone lesson:

• What is a scoop?

• Bending like a pro

• When to bend

This lesson covers the A major scale to the interval of a 12th and in doing so covers a new note High E, using the palm keys. This is the highest we have been in the beginners course to date.

Topics covered in this lesson:

• The A major Scale

• Key Signature of 3 Sharps

• The new note - High E

This video mixes up the traditional major and chromatic scales to turn them into an exercises which is both more fun and a great way to enhance your playing. Remember that you never have to stick with one scale all the time, there are hundreds to choose from, especially when improvising. Be sure to be happy in as many keys as possible.

This lesson covers:

• Mixing Scales Summary

• Mixed Scale Exercises