From The Story of the Saxophone
I have designed and developed all the online saxophone exercises, tutorials and lessons in this section over many years both as a professional recording musician and as a teacher at Southampton University, and have used these exercises as part of a regular practice routine.
The exercises are aimed towards jazz and blues playing, but are still very useful for other styles, whether it’s free jazz, smooth jazz, classical, funk, pop, rock & roll and r ’n’ b. The tone and effects section is useful for all styles. I hope you find these lessons and tutorials useful.
We look at almost every conceivable area of learning the saxophone, if I’ve missed anything out please feel free to let me know – I’m always open to suggestions.
You don’t need to work through these in any order, though absolute beginners should probably start with the beginners tutorials. There is a lot of crossover between some of the lessons, and between those in this section and the jazz section – e.g. you will also find plenty of useful jazz & blues licks and phrases on the jazz & blues theory pages.
Beginners
In the first section we start right at the beginning, from learning how to assemble the saxophone, mouthpiece and reed right through to learning tunes, a little music theory and essential scales and other exercises. We look at different styles of music, organising your practice time and how to deal with stage fright.
In the beginners section
Saxophone Studies
The Taming The Saxophone Series of Studies Taming the Saxophone is a series of saxophone tutorials (there are more books, videos and DVDs planned). Volume 1 Tone without tears, no more boring long notes Exercises to improve your saxophone sound, interesting long notes, vibrato, dynamics, overtones, mouthpiece ... Read more…Learn to Play Saxophone
This article tells you what you need to know to get started – fingering a few notes, making a sound and playing your first tune, along with a page of FAQs. Everything (almost) you need to know. Read more…First Steps on the Saxophone
For Absolute Beginners Extract from DVD: First Notes https://youtu.be/Be2yAHA9kjo Lesson 1 – “Oh No, Not Boring Scales!” Yes, but to begin with scales are there to learn the set of notes that go to make up a tune. If you learn a tune (and ... Read more…Fingering Charts
First we have a couple of basic fingering charts which show you the saxophone fingerings for the lower and upper register in the key of C. After that we have charts for the other notes. On this page I have ... Read more…Saxophone Transposition
Why am I in a different key to the rest of the band? This is a very common question, especially from anyone who has just bought a saxophone, taught themselves a little bit and then decides to play along with some ... Read more…Beginners Instruction DVD
In this program, Pete introduces beginners to the alto saxophone: the parts of the saxophone and how to assemble them, fitting the reed, posture and breathing, saxophone embouchure, holding and blowing into the saxophone, tuning, fingering, notes and intervals, tonguing ... Read more…Beginners Scales for Saxophone
The 12 Step Scale Chart Use this chart to visualise how a scale is made up of whole tones or half tones (aka tones & semitones). You can click on the Buttons to move forward/backward through the different scales. For example to ... Read more…Find A Saxophone Teacher
The best one for you Is the teacher a great player? A good teacher is not necessarily a great player, and conversely a great player could be a lousy teacher. The important thing is not just that the teacher can communicate, but ... Read more…Rhythm & Blues Saxophone
What is R&B Saxophone? I really didn’t want to define rhythm & blues but I was sort of forced to do it when putting the vast page of R&B players together. Maybe it would have been easier to make it a list of ... Read more…Rock & Roll Saxophone
How to Play a Great Rockin’ Solo Many jazz saxophonists think that it’s easy to knock off a rock and roll solo, and then wonder why nobody likes it: neither a jazz audience nor a rock audience. However the concept behind ... Read more…How to Organise Your Practice Schedule
Setting The Goalposts A while back I wrote a blog about practising what you preach, and it got me thinking. I decided that in this case I would let myself off, I eventually did get back to finishing the warm-up exercise ... Read more…Stage Fright & Performance Nerves
Scared To Go On Stage? There’s Nothing Wrong with a Bit of Fear We’ve all had stage fright at some time. Some of the very best performers have it all the time, but learn to cope with it or even use it ... Read more…Saxophone Video Lessons
Pete’s video lessons To leave comments on the Youtube channel please click on the Youtube icon at the bottom RH corner of each video. Or visit the TamingTheSaxophone Youtube Channel for more. Video Overview of Beginners Instruction DVD: This should give you a good idea ... Read more…Free Saxophone Beginners’ stuff
Can they really be free? Are they really free? Yes. We have some mp3 downloads, backing tracks, fingering charts and sheet music for your enjoyment and education.There are plenty of other free downloads scattered around the site. Read more…Volume 2 Introduction
The eagerly awaited sequel to Volume 3 and Volume 1 will hopefully be available in the summer of 2016. It is a theory book with simple but interesting playalong tunes. As well as the backing track versions, there are also fully ... Read more…
Saxophone Instruction DVD for Beginners
This DVD is produced by Amity TV for Virgin Vision and presented by Pete Thomas as part of the Jools Holland Music makers series. It has sold over 20,000 worldwide and is described by Phill Straker of sax.co.uk as “basically, the best one out there…”
£11.95 See the special deals
Preview Video
Tone
Taming The Saxophone Vol I – Tone Without Tears. All the tone exercises on the site and lots more
£13.95 Add to cart
Tone and sound are crucial for being able to play expressively, so we take an in-depth look at the techniques involved. Tone production exercises have always been thought of as especially boring – even if you dedicate a lot of time to long notes, unless your mind is focussed on what you are doing then much of the practise time is wasted. We look at how to keep the tone practise efficient and interesting.
The important thing is not so much exercises that are suppose to give you a good sound, as that is not only very subjective, but also something best done when there is a real teacher present. Yes, I accept the limitations of online lessons and tutorials, however what I do find most useful in this context is learning how to control the sound so that is one of our main focuses.
The full set of these is included in the book Taming The Saxophone Vol I – Tone without Tears
In the Tone Section
Intonation & Tuning
Which of these is more “in tune”? Listen to these two files, then check the video. Example 1 Example 2 First of all please try this little experiment. The two audiofiles on the right are two different versions of the first few notes of ... Read more…Saxophone Tone Exercises
How to get the best sound out of your saxophone, whether you want a jazzy, bluesy, pop, rock sound. How to sound like your favourite player or get your own unique sound Read more…Saxophone Articulation & Tonguing
How to tongue quickly or slowly and evenly. High r or Heavy. Articulation is the first part of the sound and so possibly the most important way to enhance your tone. Read more…Saxophone Vibrato
The most common and useful form of vibrato for the saxophone is called jaw vibrato This involves moving the jaw down and up repeatedly to create oscillations in the pitch of the note, as if saying “yah yah yah yah yah….” This ... Read more…Saxophone Tone Control
Improving your saxophone sound for more expression I am often asked what is the best way to get a good tone (or sound) on the saxophone. The usual answer is “practise lots of long notes“. Some people find long note playing so ... Read more…Mouthpiece Exercises
Improve your saxophone tone and expression There is one well established exercise which some people refer to it as The Mouthpiece Exercise, however it’s definitely not the only one as we shall see. All of the mouthpiece exercises referred to here are covered in ... Read more…Saxophone Harmonics (Overtones)
Why is practising overtones so useful? In order to play the overtones you need to think about your embouchure, especially the shape of your oral cavity and tongue position. You need to be able to imagine the sound of the note before ... Read more…Altissimo
The altissimo range of the saxophone consists of many notes higher than the “standard” range that is taught in elementary and intermediate stages of learning (up to F or F# with instruments that have that key). The fingerings for these ... Read more…Subtone
Another Kind of Blue Harlem Nocturne Imperial (Midnight in the Naked City) Slinky Polkadots & Moonbeams See: Midnight in the Naked City CD Subtone could just as easily have come under the Effects section, as it can be considered as it is no longer as common as ... Read more…Visualising the Sound
There’s no doubt about it. Practising long notes can be boring. Bored practice is wasted practice so if you find that your mind is wandering then that is a good time to either take a break from practising or move onto some ... Read more…Saxophone Embouchure
“Correct” Embouchure Embouchure means what you do with your mouth. There is more than one correctsaxophone embouchure. The pictures on the right are from a very good book by Ben Davis (published by Henri Selmer no less) which is now sadly out ... Read more…Breathing Exercises & Breath Control
Good breathing and breath control when playing the saxophone is important for two reasons: Playing extended phrases without running out of breath Having good breath support from your lungs The second of these is probably the most important as it can actually help ... Read more…Diaphragm Breathing
What is it and Why? This question comes up a lot, and it can be quite a difficult one to answer. People tend to use various analogies rather than a pure physiological analysis of what happens. You may have heard people ... Read more…Saxophone Circular Breathing
What is circular breathing? It means breathing in while still blowing a note or notes on the saxophone. It sounds much harder than it really is. When you use circular breathing, you are still breathing in and out of your lungs as ... Read more…Bright Sound or Dark Sound
There seems to be a lot of confusion about how we describe sound. It seems many people these days want what they call a dark sound, but when I delve deeper into what they mean, I realise it may not ... Read more…
Taming The Saxophone vol 3
110 pages of exercises, patterns, scales, licks etc. for intermediate to advanced players. Check out the examples in this section
“Thanks for your Taming the Saxophone book. Lots of great stuff for both myself and my students – I sure wish I’d had the book fifteen years ago!” – Dan Forshaw
“Taming The Saxophone – a great book, I use it every day to keep the chops in order” – Bobby Wellins
£14.95 Add to cart
Fingering Exercises
This section of the site includes many online extracts from the book Taming The Saxophone vol III. These are mostly the exercises that I have been practising every day since I became a professional player. Some come from books but most are things shown me by other players, i.e. they are the most useful things to practise to get your fingers around the horn and to get an understanding of how scales, chords and other aspects of music theory fit into your playing and help with general technique as well as improvising.
The full set of these exercises, in all keys where appropriate, is included in the book Taming The Saxophone Vol III
In the Fingering Exercises Section
Intro: Fingering Exercises (Vol 3)
You can get full versions of the exercises in this section in the bookTaming The Saxophone Vol 3 110 pages of exercises, patterns, scales, licks etc. for intermediate to advanced players. Check out the examples in this section “Thanks for your Taming the ... Read more…Saxophone Warmup
Taming The Saxophone vol 3 110 pages of exercises, patterns, scales, licks etc. for intermediate to advanced players. Check out the examples in this section “Thanks for your Taming the Saxophone book. Lots of great stuff for both myself and my students – ... Read more…Dexterity & Technique
Taming The Saxophone vol 3 110 pages of exercises, patterns, scales, licks etc. for intermediate to advanced players. Check out the examples in this section “Thanks for your Taming the Saxophone book. Lots of great stuff for both myself and my students – ... Read more…Cycle of Fifths
Taming The Saxophone vol 3 110 pages of exercises, patterns, scales, licks etc. for intermediate to advanced players. Check out the examples in this section “Thanks for your Taming the Saxophone book. Lots of great stuff for both myself and my students – ... Read more…2 5 1 Progressions
Taming The Saxophone vol 3 110 pages of exercises, patterns, scales, licks etc. for intermediate to advanced players. Check out the examples in this section “Thanks for your Taming the Saxophone book. Lots of great stuff for both myself and my students – ... Read more…Chromatic Scale Exercises
Taming The Saxophone vol 3 110 pages of exercises, patterns, scales, licks etc. for intermediate to advanced players. Check out the examples in this section “Thanks for your Taming the Saxophone book. Lots of great stuff for both myself and my students – ... Read more…Studies in 4ths
Using the interval of a 4th The interval of a 4th is very useful for contemporary styles of jazz improvisation Ex 6.01 As an alternative, instead of stepping up a semitone between each 4th arpeggio as shown here, try using a whole tone. Taming ... Read more…Diminished Patterns and Licks
Taming The Saxophone vol 3 110 pages of exercises, patterns, scales, licks etc. for intermediate to advanced players. Check out the examples in this section “Thanks for your Taming the Saxophone book. Lots of great stuff for both myself and my students – ... Read more…Whole Tone Scale Exercises
Taming The Saxophone vol 3 110 pages of exercises, patterns, scales, licks etc. for intermediate to advanced players. Check out the examples in this section “Thanks for your Taming the Saxophone book. Lots of great stuff for both myself and my students – ... Read more…Alternate Saxophone Fingerings
When to use alternative fingerings When it would be too difficult to use a regular fingering, use the alternative. This often applies to trills but also to different scales and interval jumps. We show some examples below of musical passages, but ... Read more…
Effects
The saxophone is capable of so many special effects, it’s vital to include them in your repertoire. This help to express music as well as keep it interesting and sometimes humourous. We cover most effects from note bending, the growl, fluttertongue and how to make the saxophone laugh.
In the Saxophone Effects section
Saxophone Growl
How to Growl on the saxophone and get that really dirty, raw, gruff tone – it’s not as difficult as you think if you follow these guidelines. We start off listening to how some of the saxophone greats use the ... Read more…Saxophone Note Bending
Bending Notes Bending notes on the saxophone usually involves starting the note at the correct pitch and bending it downwards, or starting at a lower pitch and bending it upwards. (This is the opposite of the guitar which bends a note ... Read more…Saxophone Wobble
AKA Bb Wobble or Texas Shake This is a stunning effect used by many of the greats including Ben Webster, Illinois Jacquet, Earl Bostic, Arnett Cobb to name but a few. It is really very simple if you know the fingering: basically you ... Read more…Slaptongue & Smacktongue
Smacktongue (non-pitched) Example: Smacktongue The slaptongue effect can be categorised as two different types, pitched and non-pitched. I think the best term for the more percussive non-pitched variety that has more of an indefinite pitch like a smack or clap is smacktongue. This ... Read more…Saxophone Dooden Tonguing
AKA “Ghost Tonguing”, “La-la Tonguing” or “Half Tonguing” Example: Dooden Tonguing I have also heard this referred to as doodle tonguing, however I believe that is incorrect as this is a trombone and trumpet technique very similar to legato tonguing. This technique has ... Read more…Saxophone Laugh
First try to laugh This means laughing for real. Obviously you do it spontaneously when something funny happens, but can you do a convincing laugh as if you are an actor having to react even though you’ve heard the joke many ... Read more…Saxophone Fluttertongue
aka Flutter-Tongue This effect has been in use for all woodwinds and brass instruments for centuries. It involves vibrating the tongue while blowing a note as if rolling the syllable “r” – “rrrrrr”. It was initially a classical effect which has not been used ... Read more…The Adderley Trill
How to do it The Adderley Trill I’m not sure if this is the official term for this effect – it could just as easily have been called the Curtis tremolo – it was used by the great bebop and soul alto ... Read more…False Fingerings
AKA. Fake Fingerings or Double Densities Example 1 It’s easy to confuse these with alternate or alternative fingerings. For alternative fingerings see the alternative saxophone fingering chart Alternative An “alternative” fingering is a different fingering for the same note – the player can choose which ... Read more…Saxophone Multiphonics
Multiphonics (Playing more than one note at once) It is not possible to play a complete set of chords on the saxophone, but there are a few fingerings that you can use to play more than one note at once. These ... Read more…
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