SAXOPHONE / CLARINET / FLUTE

Saxophone, that's Ben Webster, Coleman Hawkins, Charlie Parker, John Coltrane, Sonny Rollins, Stan Getz, Cannonball Adderly, Johnny Griffin, Lee Konitz, Maceo Parker, David Sanborn, Michael Brecker, Seamus Blake, Chris Potter, Mark Turner, …

Although saxophones are made of metal (copper/brass), they belong to the woodwind instruments because the tone is created by blowing on a so-called single reed that is placed in a mouthpiece (reed instrument). It is the collective name for the straight-shaped soprano saxophone and the S-shaped alto, tenor, baritone and bass saxophones. They all have in common that they are conical with a bell at the end and are equipped with valves. The soprano sax is the smallest and sounds the highest, the bass saxophone is the largest and sounds the lowest. The reed, its thickness and the type of mouthpiece (wood, plastic or metal) are the main determining factors for tone and timbre.

The sound, dynamics and expressiveness of the saxophone exerts an enormous attraction on many people, in many different genres. The sound, that's where it starts. A lot of attention will therefore have to be paid to tone formation. This means that, based on your own favourite music, wishes and possibilities, work will be done on embouchure, posture, breathing support, technique, fingerings, effects such as overtones, double sounds, growling etc. In addition, musical aspects such as timing, articulation, phrasing, dynamics etc. will of course be discussed. Ultimately, you will be able to develop your own characteristic sound in the style that suits you. The lessons cover all kinds of things such as music notation, scale, chord and form theory, imitation and improvisation, ...