
Welcome!
Which type of saxophone should you start with?
About length of study, frequency of playing and mindset
Meet Flora Whiting, a Dutch saxophonist with classical training, who has experience in saxophone quartets and piano across music, theatre, and orchestras, and has taught saxophone for over 20 years.
Stand with the saxophone and place the left hand on top, right thumb under the bottom hook, and keep wrists straight. Keep shoulders relaxed; let the strap carry the weight.
Learn to produce sound on the sax by placing the neck and mouthpiece, letting the reed vibrate on the lower lip, with the upper teeth on the mouthpiece.
Identify embouchure mistakes that mute saxophone sound, including mouthpiece depth, teeth position, and lip tension that hinder reed vibration. Correct wrist straightness to avoid palm and side-key issues.
Practice sax fingerings from g to b and back, refine embouchure and lip placement, breathe through a straw; add note names and play a small tune plus a famous melody.
Learn tonguing exercises to start tones by withdrawing the tongue from the reed, maintain air pressure, and explore attack variations (t and d) for smooth sax articulation.
practice four times a week to shape movement paths, start with a warm up and breathing drills, run G A B C exercises, then explore sexy blues with proper posture.
In this video we improvise together; answering each other musically.
Note: the track that you can use for this is a bit different because I liked it better than the track that I use in the video.
Explore rhythm and time signatures in sax playing by clapping along to blues and Morning Moon examples. Identify downbeats, bars, and the feel of 4/4 and 3/4.
Learn to read rhythm by identifying quarter and half notes in 4/4 and 3/4 time, counting one through four, and recognizing eight notes, 16th notes, and whole notes.
Develop rhythm perception by hearing rather than reading, practicing two variations of the sexy blues on the sax. Count, clap, and improvise starting on beats to improve reading and improvisation.
Practice the right-hand lower notes F, E, D, and low C while coordinating with the left hand; say the note names aloud to improve air control and articulation.
Learn how note names from A to G map to white keys, how black keys form sharps and flats, and how octaves repeat the alphabet.
Learn to play sax by identifying the time signature and rhythm, clapping along to the melody, and then applying fingering and tonguing while practicing with a demo or backing track.
Practice a bossa nova sax melody by ear, clap and count along, and trial-and-error find notes like c, a, g, a, then improvise over the backing track.
Learn to press the octave key with the left thumb using a small joint movement, keeping the thumb on the thumb rest so notes rise up by an octave.
Practice a rich high register with breath support, applying it to tunes like smooth jazz and ode to joy, and master fingering from low to middle c when octave higher.
Learn how to apply the octave key and the middel C when playing Ode to Joy starting on a B.
Learn how to navigate with the octave key playing Summertime
Learn to play in different keys by starting on different notes, expanding beyond white keys to include black keys. Discover new scales and note names to broaden your repertoire.
You learned to play in the key of C, using the C major scale. The first other key that you'll learn is the G major scale. When playing in G major, you want to use the F sharp instead of the F.
To improvise in a certain key is great to get to know the key and to get used to the 'black notes' that are in this key. You can use the G-Scale notes and play the F sharp instead of the F.
I play Summertime for you but again in a different key: can you find out and learn to play along?
Practice playing in D by playing Happy Birhday!
Take on a faster-paced exercise with the evening dance piece in A34 time signature, featuring a piano intro to challenge your saxophone technique.
learn the f scale on sax by lowering b to b flat. practice two b flat fingerings—right-hand side key with a and left-hand index with the lower key—for flexible playing.
Practice the F scale using two fingerings for B flat and F-sharp, with Happy Birthday in the key of F starting from middle C.
This complete beginners course is developed by Floor Wittink: a professional saxophonist with over 20 years of experience both in performance and teaching. Floor has developed a clear vision about teaching. She has written a book and founded a Saxophone school based in Utrecht, the Netherlands. Floor made a course where her vision and experience with teaching hundreds of adults and children are brought together.
A Complete Musician
Floor states that everyone should experience the joy of music making. Develop musical skills, confidence, knowing how to study, through playful exercise and the development of good technique and sound are all part of what makes you a complete musician.
This course emphasizes on learning how to play the sax and developing your musicality, including playing by heart and improvising, and less on reading notes. There are many programs that can help you with this skill. It simply takes time and practice. But in this course sheet music of every song is provided and you’ll learn all the note names together with the saxophone fingerings, the use of sharps and flats, time signatures and counting along. You’ll improve your rhythm skills and learn to memorize a melody. In addition, you’ll be able to play several scales and play famous songs in different keys, all of which is a great foundation, furthering the development of your reading skills.
Knowing how to study and become your own teacher is often underestimated, but the increased confidence will help you to keep developing your skills. Most importantly, you’ll be inspired to continue playing and enjoying this wonderful instrument!"