In the olden days, particularly in the ’70s and ’80s, getting quality information on practicing the saxophone was quite the challenge. Saxophone teachers were scarce compared to those teaching piano, guitar, or singing. And even when you found a saxophone teacher, they might have been a brilliant player but not necessarily a great teacher. Learning from books was no better—it’s like trying to learn boxing or dancing from a manual. Something crucial was always missing.
Fast forward to today, and the situation is the complete opposite. Now, if you Google “what should I practice on my saxophone?” you’re hit with an overwhelming flood of advice. Everyone’s offering quick fixes and “simple tricks” promising to turn you into a master saxophonist overnight. It’s overwhelming and, frankly, not helpful.
So, if you appreciate my teaching style and trust my guidance (which you can because I’m here to help), here’s the core advice: focus on your major scales.
I recently had a lesson with a highly intelligent client who’d been dabbling in pentatonics, blues scales, tunes, and chords. Yet, when I asked him to play E flat major or D flat major, he couldn’t. This highlights a crucial point: major scales are the gold standard—the keys to the kingdom.
If you’re well-versed in your major scales, fantastic! But if not, it’s time for an audit. Identify which scales you know, which ones you’re shaky on, and which ones you don’t know at all. Then, dedicate yourself to mastering them because major scales are the foundation. Everything else, from minor scales to melodies, builds upon them.
Knowing your major scales won’t automatically make you the world’s greatest saxophonist, but it will make everything else exponentially easier—I’m talking fifty times easier. So, while patterns and licks have their place, make sure your major scales are rock solid. It’s fundamentally important—mind-bogglingly so. Trust me, focus your efforts there and get them as fluid as possible.
Lynden Blades is a leading UK saxophone teacher with a unique and accessible approach to music education. He runs a thriving YouTube channel @lyndenblades and the website www.saxmadesimple.com, where he shares clear, practical resources for sax players of all levels. Alongside his wife, he also performs across the UK and abroad with their jazz duo, ‘Sax & Honey’.
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