“Do you ever get nervous when you perform?” As a professional musician, this is a question I’m asked frequently, and the answer is…“it depends”. Some performance situations are so familiar they are not daunting at all. At other times, I feel just as nervous as I did when doing my first ever performance. Most, if not all of us, haveRead more
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I remember the occasion as if it were only yesterday when one morning in January 2018 my adult daughter said “Mum, can I sell my flute and saxophone?”. Somewhat shocked by the question I responded, “You can sell the flute but not the saxophone”. “Why?” she replied. “Because I am going to learn to play it one day”, to whichRead more
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’sRead more
A magnetic pencil holder… A secret weapon, or a useless gimmick? A pencil is an essential tool for any musician. Annotating your sheet music with directions and reminders is important, whether that be highlighting awkward accidentals, phrasing and articulation, counting, tricky passages, breath marks, etc. As a teacher and band leader I’m often shocked (but never surprised) to discover thatRead more
PRACTICE! I know what you’re thinking… not the ‘P’ word! Do NOT yawn or look away, please read on… Sometimes I cannot believe how dumb I am! I believe this is a trap many musicians fall into….We look to our heroes, folks who we consider to be better players than us, folks who are where we would love to beRead more
The secret to playing faster… is to play slower! It may seem counter-productive but hear me out. A while ago I watched a video with Eddie Daniels (the king of clarinettists) and it completely changed my thinking on this subject. (It doesn’t matter that this video is about clarinet, the same principals apply to saxophone). The main takeaway from theRead more
As musicians we accumulate lots of sheet music, recordings and custom backing tracks, whether it’s sent to us by band mates and teachers, or collected from the corners of the internet. It is important to have these resources organised and easy to access when practicing. Online storage offers the simplest solution for organising your materials in one place, safely backedRead more
Many of us still have a love-hate relationship with technology but the smart devices surrounding us can be valuable and diverse tools for learning music. We have more technology in our pockets than was used to land a man on the Moon! It’s likely that you already have the equipment and resources needed to pursue online music lessons. Any equipmentRead more
If you have a smart phone or tablet you can access a whole bunch of useful music apps. Here are my favourite apps which I use to practice smarter and more efficiently. I have personally used the following apps for several years and they have become valuable tools in my practice routine. I encourage you to explore them for yourself.Read more
I love scales! Odd, you might think, but personally, I think scales and arpeggios get a bad press! They’re essential; they are the foundation of the music we listen to and play and therefore, we should learn all about them, to get the absolute best out of our own music making. As a music teacher, I’m aware it’s all too easyRead more
Yes, you heard right… I’ve been learning sax for about 5 years now. I’ve done some hard things in my life but taking up a musical instrument for the first time at the age of 70 and trying to get the right notes in the right order at the right time has to rank as one of the most challenging…Read more
