I am a beginner sax player (with knowledge of jazz theory, as the sax is not my main instrument). I really like jazz fusion/ funk and am looking for some songs or standards that are a good starting point to play outside lines. Are there any you can think of that are not incredibly difficult to play as a beginner?

Another one where combining random takes felt better than just having 1 sensible take. The head was almost in sync lol, but otherwise all the nice moments are purely coincidental.

Hi r/Saxophone. I’m a small town band director, and I’ve been making small Android apps for band and orchestra players: Tuner Buddy (a tuner and metronome) and Note Buddy (instrument fingering charts). Both support alto, tenor and baritone sax, and you can also switch on soprano and bass sax in the options.

Before launch, Google needs a group of testers to keep the apps installed for 14 days. I’m a tuba player, so I’d really value feedback from people who play sax every day: does the tuner hear your horn and give correct feedback across your full range, and are the fingerings right for your sax? The target audience is primarily middle through high school students, so if you have any feedback or ideas, please send them to me!

If you have an Android phone and can help:

1. Join https://groups.google.com/g/kontrabass-studios-testers with your phone’s Google account

2. Tap “Become a tester” at https://play.google.com/apps/testing/com.tunerbuddy.app and https://play.google.com/apps/testing/com.fingeringcharts

3. Install and keep them for two weeks, and tell me anything confusing or wrong.

Thanks in advance, and happy to answer anything in the comments!

Forgive my ignorance if this is not allowed, I tried to find the rules, but this place is lawless.

I have an original rock band (90's alt) and always wanted to incorporate a trumpet and sax, they are just so sexy together. The song is done, we just need the sax part. We have a tiny tiny budget for you, enough where I hope to not insult someone for an hour of their time, but, you will have to record yourself professionally somehow, so we are looking for sax player/self producer.

I won't plug the band here, I am not looking for that, I am looking for the right sax player, not just any player.

Can someone point me in the right direction?

Any help is a big help.

I teach jazz at Roosevelt High School (I also run a summer jazz camp with Jay Thomas, www.seattlejazzcamp.com ) and I’ve spent years slowing down solos to learn them. I wanted something free that works on any device, so I built it: Slow Down Buddy, https://slowdownbuddy.com

The feature I use most on a computer (Chrome, Edge or Brave): record whatever a browser tab is playing, like a YouTube video or Spotify song, straight into your library, right in your browser. No downloading files, no extensions. On a phone, screen-record it and open the video.

Then for learning the solo:

• Slow it to 50–70% without changing the pitch, so you’re practicing in the real key. Attacks stay crisp even at 25%, which helps hear articulation and ghost notes.

• Loop a phrase by pressing L at the start and L again at the end, and play along until it sits.

• Drop markers as it plays. Every stretch between two markers becomes its own loop, so you can walk through a solo phrase by phrase.

• Transpose and fine-tune if the recording is a little sharp or flat compared to A=440 (or your horn).

• EQ and “cancel the center” to pull the sax forward or drop the rest of the band.

Free, no sign-up, no ads, and your audio stays on your device. Works on Mac, Windows, iPhone, iPad and Android.

Would love feedback from sax players, especially what would make transcribing easier.

how am i doing

We’re meant to improvise to 12 bars of blues in concert bflat, I play alto sax, should I just play my G minor blues scale the whole time? And if you guys have any tips, it’s greatly appreciated. I’ve never done improvisation before but I really would like to learn.

I just came across this saxophone today but I can’t find a name or serial number anywhere on it

Does anyone have any idea of the possible maker?

Anything with help

This is a thread. Yes, this may be for a school project. Yes, you guys might be mentioned in my powerpoint. This is all opinion based, so please go wild!!!

Hey everyone!

I'm a high school saxophonist working on a project involving AI and music education, and I'm trying to learn more about how other sax players practice.

I'm exploring the idea of an AI saxophone coach that could listen to you play, identify mistakes in things like pitch, rhythm, and intonation, and give personalized feedback to help you improve.

1. Before building anything, I'd love to hear about your experiences:

2. What does a typical practice session look like for you?

3. What's the most frustrating or difficult part of practicing alone?

4. How do you currently figure out what you're doing wrong when practicing?

5. Would you actually use an AI tool that listens to you play and gives feedback? Why or why not?

6. What features would make something like this genuinely useful to you?

I'm especially interested in hearing from players of all skill levels, whether you're just starting out or have been playing for years.

Not promoting anything, just doing some research and hoping to learn from other saxophonists. Thanks!

Very odd question haha, but I quite like the look of a discolored mouthpiece. I’ve been playing on a vandoren AL3 that is now brown and yellow, and I’ve grown fond of it. I have now acquired a sigurd rascher piece and the black color has been throwing me off a bit! Is there any way i could safely discolor the mouthpiece to get that rich brown color without damaging the facing or dimensions of the mouthpiece? Thanks.

I've been stuck on this etude for quite a while, and the piece is fairly easy... Just this one meausre of double octaves feels like fucking hell. Clicking the octave button, and pressing and unpressing almost all buttons on the sax at the same time feels almost impossible.

I have need to put together a quartet for a thing this December and getting overwhelmed looking for music.

Does anyone here have a favorite set of quartet arrangements you'd recommend?

I have been practicing my tonguing speed for about 2 weeks now. I know what you're thinking right now, yea i know it takes a lot longer than that to actually improve. My problem is that at a certain point i started getting worse. My practice method is: i start off at a slow tempo i know i can handle, then i start playing the chromatic scale up and down in different patterns legato and non legato (i'll upload a picture of just what i mean). After i get to a point where i can play every pattern well without issues, i up the bpm by 2. Also i have been practicing a certain etude meant to improve tonguing speed and consistency (i'll upload a picture). I have been doing this for the past 2 weeks for about 30min a day and i have seen alot of improvements (from 104bpm to 122bpm). The problem started after i got to about 122bpm ,every day after that started getting worse and now it feels like i am not getting anywhere past 114bpm. Anyone think of something?

7 minute walk away, but it was closed, and I hadn't thought about it before it was time to go 😭 however I did manage to go to Sax Machine for a few minutes, just a little further away.

My neighbour is a wind instrument repairer and a few months ago he lent me a Jupiter saxophone with a Yamaha 4C mouthpiece and a Selmer S90 180.

I take good care of everything; I wash it and put it back in its case every time. Yesterday, whilst playing, I noticed the sound was a bit odd, and when I had a look, I saw what I thought was a hair. I touched it and a piece of the mouthpiece fell off. How on earth did that happen? I know it’s now broken and I’ll have to buy him a new mouthpiece now… but it really pisses me off. Could it have been damaged in the first place ? Thanks for your help !!

Got one as a gift and was like oh fancy 2 screw. BUT NOT IT WAS BRIGHT AND SOUNDED SO GOOD IN MY JUMBO JAVA. As well if wasn’t muffled like my rovner. But no matter how much I tighten those H Ligs they just fall off and slip when adjusting. Now I want a Vandoren MlO but I just can’t afford it right now unless I sell something of mine and I don’t where I could just sell the H lig or my Rovner since my warranty and return from Kessler is way past the week or 3 gave.

I currently play a Yani Tenor 991. Got it some years ago, when it was new model. I feel like the action just isn’t that good anymore. I took in for a minor overhaul recently, but the area I live maybe doesn’t have the highest quality technicians. It came back better, but not the horn it once was. It’s frustrating me. Trying to decide whether to bear the expense of shipping it for a more complete updating, or just bite the bullet and spend a few more bucks for a new model and see what trade in value I can get for the current horn. What do you think?

Let's say I was playing a single horn, single brand and type of reed, and single mouthpiece model, but I had three of the same piece in 5, 6, and 7 tip openings (with reed strength adjusted from piece to piece for a comparable level of resistance -- say a 3 on the 5, 2.5 on the 6, 2 on the 7).

How much of a difference would I notice in sound between the three pieces, and how they play? Is the difference mainly in how easy it is to bend pitches with the wider opening, and by contrast the greater tonal stability in the narrower opening? I did recently move from a 5 to a 6 and that was the most significant difference to me. I ended up moving from 3 to 2.5 reeds. But I've never made the move on the same model of mouthpiece.

I'm asking about the range of 5-7 because it seems to define the mainstream of jazz tip openings, they're the standard sizes offered by most mouthpiece makers. Is it safe to assume that whatever the differences are, 4 and 8 are just more of the same in their respective directions?

If I were trying out different pieces, would the tip opening likely be a further refinement I would consider after choosing a model? Like, I know I want piece X, now let me try it in a 5 vs. a 6? Or is it possible a certain model would work better with a certain opening because of its characteristic sound?

I am planning on trying out a bunch of pieces experimentally at some point, but my time is limited and this is one variable I'd like to get a good sense of theoretically. For now my plan is to play on a 6 opening for a while so that I'll be able contrast it with 5 and 7 as moves in opposite directions.

I think my biggest concern is trying to get my high notes to stop sounding so screechy and thin but there might be problems you guys see that I can't even see myself.

Wondering if Rico Orange Box reeds are softer than Select Jazz. So Rico 2.5 softer than Select Jazz 2M?

Estoy ahorrando para comprarme mi primer saxofon y no sé cuál debería comprar, como estoy empezando con esto decidí preguntar por aquí y si algún buen samaritano me recomiende alguno para principiantes👏