Table of Contents

Close-up of a clarinet mouthpiece with ligature and reed.

Foreword by Dr. Fred Hemke

Introduction

Initial Considerations
- Physical Attributes
- Braces
- Wisdom Teeth Removal
- Is It Easy to Play?
- What Age to Start?
- The Curved Soprano as a Head-Start Instrument
- Starting with the Right Equipment
- Choosing an Instrument
- Transposing Instruments: Why Isn’t a C on the Saxophone a C on the Piano?
- The Mouthpiece
- The Reed
- The Method Book

The First Lesson
- Stand or Sit?
- Bringing the Student and the Instrument Together
  - Assembly
  - The Embouchure
  - Making the First Sound
- Sensitive Upper Teeth
- Biting into the Lower Gum
- Getting Started in the Method Book
- Disassembly and Cleaning

Subsequent Lessons and the Next Important Steps
- Breathing and Air
- Tonguing
  - Legato Tonguing
  - Staccato Tonguing
  - Problems Associated with Staccato Tonguing and Remedial Work to Correct Them
  - Rectifying a Glottal Attack
- Teacher-Assisted Fingering

Further Considerations as the Student Develops
- Tone: Is There Anything More Important?
  - Jaw Pressure
  - Air Speed and Throat Position
  - Long Tones
- The Low and High Registers
- Extended Scales
- Pitch Considerations: Challenges and Solutions
  - The Pesky Middle D (and E-flat)
  - The B below Middle C
  - Middle C-sharp
  - High C-sharp
  - Tuning

Mechanism Facility
- Which B-flat?
- Chromatic Scale Fingerings and Avoiding the Dreaded “Blip”

Reeds: The Bane of Our Existence
- What Strength and When to Move to a Harder Reed
- When Is the Reed Worn Out?
- What Brand?
- Plastic Reeds
- Reed Adjustments

Vibrato

Caring for the Instrument
- Keeping the Saxophone Clean: Further Considerations
- Other Maintenance
  - Oiling
  - Changing a Pad
- Common Mechanism Problems
  - Bent Octave Key
  - The G-sharp and Low C-sharp
  - Pads Sticking
  - Gurgle from One Note
  - Gurgling and Crackling from All Notes
  - Pads Leaking
  - The F Connector
  - Warble on the Low C
  - Warped Mouthpiece

Methods and Materials
- Subsequent Method Books
- A Word about Scales

When Is It Time to Move to a Better Saxophone?

Listening to Recordings

Performance

Quartets and Ensembles

I Want to Play Jazz!

I’ve Decided I Want to Be a Musician!

Remedial Work: Catching Up with Untrained Players
- Not Blowing
- Tonguing
- Glottal Attack
- B-flat Fingering
- Embouchure

Teaching the Saxophone in a School Band Setting
- Reed Strength
- The Mouthpiece
- School Instruments and Their Common Problems
- Sitting Position: How Comfortable Can I Get?
- Not So Loud, Saxophones! How to Play Quietly
- Don’t Forget the Tongue
- I Lost My Neckstrap, but I Don’t Really Need It Anyway!

Adult Beginners

Final Thoughts

Appendix
- Suggested Method Books and Repertoire by Year of Study
- Bibliography/Supplementary Studies
- Saxophone Study Expectations

Disclaimer

Fingering Chart

About the Author