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Saxophone Book Guide!

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As you learn the saxophone, method books and other sax books can be a great way to systematically work on playing the instrument. Here are a few books that I have used and recommendations on the appropriate order to work on them. But remember that you should definitely listen to saxophone players and other music in addition to working through books! Ideally you want to play in groups and get private lessons if you can afford them too.

Beginning Saxophone

Rubank Elementary Saxophone MethodRubank Elementary Method – Saxophone

Progressive method book for saxophone. Starts slowly with notes, exercises, melodies. I would use a fingering chart like the one on Sax Station though.

Saxophone Maiden VoyageVolume 54 – Maiden Voyage

Good book to start working on improvisation. Comes with a CD that has a backing band that you can play along with. The melodies are simplified a bit and the chords are not overly complex.

Intermediate

Saxophone Rubank Intermediate MethodRubank Intermediate Method Saxophone

Continuation of the Rubank Method. More challenging exercises, scale studies, and melodies. Good book to work through.

Jackie McLean Saxophone Warmup Book Jackie McLean Warm-up

Scales and chords throughout the full range of the saxophone. I used this book to warmup and work on my scales/chords for a good while.

Saxophone Bop DuetsSaxophone Bop Duets

Playing duets with another sax player can be a lot of fun. This book in particular is challenging, but the lines weave together well and make some cool music.

 

Intermediate Jazz Conception

Advanced Jazz Conception for Saxophone: 20 Jazz Etudes

Jazz Conception for Saxophone Duets

Aebersold Series

Real Books:

The Real Book: Sixth Edition (in C)
Useful resource for learning jazz tunes
The Real Book (B Flat, Sixth edition – for soprano/tenor sax
The Eb Real Book, Sixth Edition –

Volume 16 – Turnarounds, Cycles & ii/V7s to get familiar with the harmonic cycles in music

 

Advanced

General

The Music Lesson
– by Victor Wooten. This book changed my perspective on music in a very good way.


Rubank Advanced Method – Saxophone Vol.1
Rubank Advanced Method – Volume 2 (Saxophone)

A more advanced book that was actually written for oboe can be played on saxophone (on the cover it states ‘for oboe or saxophone’ for a greater challenge.

48 Famous Studies

Small Book

Art of Saxophone Playing – Larry Teal

Top Tones for the Saxophone

Greg Fishman’s Books:

Jazz Saxophone Etudes For Alto & Tenor: Book & Two CD Play-Along Set

Jazz Saxophone Etudes, Volume 2

Jazz Saxophone Etudes, Volume 3

Jazz Phrasing for Beginners

 

Volume 64 – Salsa Latin Jazz, to play some Latin music, check this book out, it’s not at a beginning level and some of the tunes are fast.

–The Jazz Theory Book. Definitive resource for harmonic theory in jazz, by Mark Levine. Playing some piano will help you understand this book.

Patterns For Improvisation By Oliver Nelson,

Charlie Parker: Charlie Parker Omnibook – E-flat, for alto saxophone and baritone saxophone

Charlie Parker: Charlie Parker Omnibook – B-flat for tenor saxophone and soprano saxophone

 

What do you think of these books and what sax books have you used that helped you?

Fork E on Saxophone? Alternate fingering for high E on Sax

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Wayne asked me about what fork E is today.

I just started useing my high f# key. working on control. I’m a very advanced guitar player and i only play by ear but i learn very fast if i can watch others on video. you taught me how to play careless whisper. i also am playing baker street.

I heard about fork e or fork f fingering . do you know what i am talking about? can you tell me how thats done?

Thanks
Wayne
So he had heard of the fork E, but wasn’t quite sure what it was.
It’s an alternate fingering for high E that does not use the palm keys.  There is a similar alternate fingering for high F that doesn’t use the palm keys either.  The alternate for high E is probably less known though.  It can be useful though, I found it to be a good option when playing Stanley Turrentine’s solo on ‘The Hustler’.
The ‘fork E’ is on the right side, it uses the front F key, octave key, and left hand second finger and third finger.  Not the key that normally goes down for B.
Saxophone Fingering Chart E Above the Staff

Saxophone Fingering Chart E Above the Staff

How to Play Baker Street on Alto Sax – Saxophone Music

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How to play the  Baker Street alto sax line.  Song by by Gerry Raferty (1978).

Originally played by Raphael Ravenscroft.

Baker Street is in Raphael Ravenscroft’s book but not in D major. So you could get that music and then transpose it (down a whole step) if you want. Or you could play it in the other key.

 

The glissando sounds like a D major scale to me.  And to make it sound right, you’ll have to bend some notes.

Hope you like it!

ii V I? Introduction to the ii V I Progression for Saxophone Players

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piano ii V IYou have probably heard of the ii V I progression if you play saxophone.

Or if not….. it exists!  I swear!

Cliff asked me about beginning ii V I stuff for Sax Station the other day.

He said, “I’m new to it so not sure what notes are involved, how to fit it into a melody, what it’s best used for etc…….I’ve just read that a good saxophonist needs to be familiar with it.”

At that point, I realized he had heard of the progression, but wasn’t too familiar with it, although he did know it could be important to know.

Here are some pieces you need to understand the basics of the ii V I progression.

If you have a ii V I in the key of C, then the notes in all three of those chords are the notes from the C major scale.

If you have a ii V I in the key of Bb, then the notes in all three of those chords are the notes from the Bb major scale.

The ii V I progression leads from one chord to the next to the last.  There is tension and release.  Resolution with the I chord.

There are also minor ii V i’s, but you can get into that later.

So, ii V and I refer to the different modes and chords that use the notes of the modes.

Let’s say you have a C major scale.  It has seven notes in it.  C, D, E, F, G, A, B.

If you had a number that corresponded to each of those notes, they would be 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7

If you used roman numerals, they would be I, II, III, IV, V, VI, VII.

You can build chords upon each of those roots- triads, seventh chords, etc.  Every other note is used in the chord, going up in thirds, so based on the root, the seventh chord would be C, E, G, B (in the key of C).

That would be a major chord.  The I chord.

If you built a chord on D, using the notes in C major, it would be D, F, A, C.  That would be a minor chord.

The roman numerals can be either capital or lower case.  Capitals are used for major and dominant, lower case is used for minor.  Half diminished, etc are also lower case and have other symbols.

The ii V I has a minor second chord, a dominant five chord, and a major I chord.

ii V I progressions happen in music, the notes used in the progression are the notes of the major scale of the I.  Which notes you emphasize gives the color to the chords and sounds more ‘in’ the changes or ‘out’.

Playing a ii V I progression on the piano can help.  And listening to music and recognizing when it comes up.

What other questions do you have about the ii V I progression?  Leave a comment!

B Major Scale on Saxophone

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Here’s another major scale for saxophone – B major.  Has five sharps.  F#, C#, G#, D#, A#

B Major Scale for Saxophone

B Major Scale for Saxophone

The links to a few others are below.  I think I’ll include all these diagrams and possibly recorded examples within Saxophone Tribe and an upcoming beginning class on saxophone.


Saxophone Scales – C# Major Scale

Here it is, the ‘hardest’ scale for saxophone. Generally the keys with sharps are a little less familiar for saxophones than the keys with flats. And C# has a sharp on every note of the scale (all seven). Really, it’s just uncomfortable since we tend to play it …


Saxophone Scales – Ab Major Scale

Here’s the Ab major scale for saxophone. Ab sounds the same as G# and it’s sometimes more convenient to think about it as G#, but generally you want to think about it as Ab. There are four flats in the key of Ab.

 

G#/Ab is giving me trouble on sax! Why that happens, solutions

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Saxophone Fingering Chart G# or Ab on the Staff

Saxophone Fingering Chart G# or Ab on the Staff

Got a question on here earlier about a sticky G# key from Katie on the saxophone fingering chart on Sax Station, she asked,

“Hey, I just started learning the sax. I have pretty much all the notes learned but G#/Ab is giving me trouble! According to the finger chart, you play a G but then add the left hand pinky. When I do this, it doesn’t change the G at all. Does it need repair?”

Since it’s an issue that likely comes up for most sax players, I thought I would turn my response into a post and elaborate a bit.  Also ask for some ideas from you if you have some tricks.

There are four keys that your left pinky can press down, generally you’ll use the top one, although technically you could use the other keys in a pinch or if it comes out more cleanly in a situation.

If nothing moves when you press it, you probably have a ‘sticky pad’ on your sax.  Other pads can get sticky too, but the G# key and maybe the bis key seem to be two prime culprits.

Because of the design of the saxophone, condensation and whatever goes into the saxophone gathers there. Regardless of the reasons, it happens.  And when a key is sticking, notes you don’t mean to play can come out.  And that can sound funky in a not so great way.

Sometimes it is just delayed because it’s sticky. But check to see what happens when you press the key. A button should rise up on the saxophone.

To keep it from getting sticky, just drink water while playing sax and don’t eat anything or drink anything with sugar right beforehand. Ideally you want to brush your teeth before you play.

Often times you can see what’s happening yourself and even use clean paper (ie a new bill) to slide along the pad and make it function better.  If it’s really bad, you might need to go to a sax repair person.

Any thoughts?

Saxophone Scales – How to Play C Major Scale on Sax

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Saxophone C Major Scale

How to Play the C Major Scale on Sax

The C major scale is often the one that we learn the first. Conceptually, it’s the easiest, no sharps, no flats.  But it’s actually not the easiest to make sound good.

You can click on the image to see a larger version.

All of the major scales are on Saxophone Tribe.

It’s written out for just one octave here, but you should move into the full range of the saxophone when you’re able to do that.

Moving from C to D is probably the hardest transition within this scale.  You’re moving from using a small section of the tube to most of it with the octave key, so those are two fairly different situations.  You might want to spend some extra time going between those two notes to make sure it sounds good.

Let me know if you have questions.

Been playing saxophone for a year or less?

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What questions do you have about learning the saxophone?

The questions that advanced players and professionals have won’t necessarily be the ones that will help you. Although, if you’re addicted to saxophone, you might find them interesting anyway.

If you have been playing saxophone one year or less……

Do you have questions about buying a saxophone?

Getting a new mouthpiece?

Playing the extreme registers of the saxophone?

Improving your tone?