Here are some initial ideas; I hope to add more to this page over time.

Whatever type of music you play; classical, jazz, pop, I think that the following applies.

• Remember it is a WIND instrument; the air you use is the most important part of the instrument. Breathe well and everything else will follow.
• Practice in this order –

1. Sound – practice long notes, meditate on your tone and enjoy the sound you make.
2. Techniques – yes, this invariably means scales and their derivatives. Learn to enjoy scale practice, I know that sounds a bit weird, but remember that they are your short cut to being a master- musician.
3. Repertoire – now you can play your pieces, work at your improvisation, whatever.

• Work at one problem at a time, and keep at it until you see clear improvement, we all tend to stop before we have really assimilated a new technique or skill.
• Develop good habits; play with the correct posture, your best sound, and the correct fingerings.
• Wet the whole reed, not just the tip, turn it round and suck the blunt end as well.
• Make sure your saxophone's pads don't leak. They are really big pads as a woodwind instrument goes and there is a lot to go wrong. Pupils are always amazed how easy my horns are to play; I simply make sure all the pads seat properly.
• Always play in tune, some saxophonists seem to think they have been given special dispensation to play out of tune. There is no excuse and no one enjoys listening to it. Buy a tuner and switch it on.
• Always play in time, buy a metronome and switch it on too.

There are some fantastic books on playing and practicing techniques written by previous generations of musician. Read around the subject, other instrumentalists might have the answer you seek. Here is a short list of recommended publications that I have found useful at various times. In no particular order:

• The Art of Saxophone Playing- Larry Teal
• Developing a Personal Sound – Dave Liebman
• Top Tones for the Saxophone – Sigurd Rascher
• Yehudi Menuhin Music Guides - Clarinet - Jack Brymer – this made me realise what being a pro-player was all about when I was 19. A great section on interpretation.
• Trevor Wye practice books for the flute – the one on technique is perfectly adaptable to the saxophone, he has great words of encouragement it really works as a way of hot-housing technique.
• The Inner Game of Music – Barry Green
• Effortless Mastery – Kenny Werner

Sound development:
I have a handful of techniques that I teach which if executed and practiced properly really do work and you are welcome to try them out. They are variations on lessons I had in the past with saxophonists and voice teachers and stuff I have experimented on with pupils. Nothing can beat a one-to-one lesson as everyone has a different starting point and there is more stuff that I carry round in my head than I have ever put to paper, so if you want some personal attention get in touch. The link will open a pdf document format so you can print it out. It covers breathing exercises and mouthpiece practice.

Breathing and sound development exercises

Sound Warm-ups is taken from an article I wrote for Music Teacher Magazine in Dec 2006 which includes some more suggestions on sound development.