Category Archives: Saxophone

A friend of mine, another late bloomer musician, was talking about chord changes for a solo in an upcoming gig and he pointed to his homework site. It’s Pete Thomas’ Saxophone instruction site. When it comes to Cm13 or C13 … Continue reading →

Conn used to make some of the best saxes in the world. They were the only company to make the mezzo soprano saxophone which was made in the key of F. They also made the Conn-O-Sax which was also keyed in F. … Continue reading →

Ever since I purchased the Ward Baxter arrangement of You’re a Mean One, Mr. Grinch (this sample played by Jay Easton, I’ve been jones’ing for this creature, a bass sax to low A. I can play this solo if I … Continue reading →

I have heard this question many times and many ways, "How hard a reed should I be using. I really like the answer provided here. David Valdez: I’m generally against starting students out on really soft reeds. I don’t think … Continue reading →

 Sweet Sue is the featured artist on the current Sax Tips Podcast, hosted by the wonderful saxman Evan Tate, an American currently living in Germany. If you’ve never experienced a Podcast, don’t be a-skeered. It has nothing to do with … Continue reading →

As I wait for my Eppelsheim bass sax to be custom made, I visited Jay Easton to try a couple of his very unique saxophones. I was amazed at how well the contrabass sax played. Jay has it on a … Continue reading →

The bis key on a saxophone allows you to roll the finger used to sound B so that you can play Bb with one finger. When I went to school, I was taught to use the first finger of each hand … Continue reading →

Always more projects than time, we went to see Paul Woltz at Kennelly Keys again. This time he shortened the bass sax neck 3/4ths of an inch, put a shim in to reduce the inside diameter of the neck to … Continue reading →

Okay, so obviously I finally found a hard case for my ’24 Buescher bass saxophone that I purchased last month. The sax in the picture is not my silver-plated beauty. It came in a gig bag (canvas) complete with a smashed … Continue reading →