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Hi! I am Steve Neff

I have been playing and teaching saxophone and jazz improvisation around the New England area for the last 30+ years. I love teaching and anything to do with the saxophone. I hope you find this website helpful in your musical journey. Thanks, Steve

Warburton A Series 8 Degree Tenor Sax Mouthpiece

April 4, 2011 by Steve 2 Comments

This is a Warburton A series 8 degree tenor saxophone mouthpiece that I am reviewing today.  This tenor saxophone mouthpiece has an 8* tip opening which is about .115.  It is silver plated and came with a Rovner light ligature.  These are made by Eric Falcon who was kind enough to send me some to […]

Filed Under: Tenor High Baffle Reviews, Tenor Mouthpiece Reviews Tagged With: 8 degree, Eric Falcon, sax mouthpiece, tenor saxophone, Warburton

Killer Kenny Garrett solo with Miles

March 23, 2011 by Steve 5 Comments

Here’s a great video of Kenny Garrett playing a solo on the tune Human Nature.  He’s playing with Miles Davis in Paris.  I remember getting this video in the early 90’s.  I never heard of Kenny Garrett before and this solo blew me away.  I must have watched it a thousand times.  I would play […]

Filed Under: Jazz Videos Tagged With: Human Nature, Kenny Garrett, Miles Davis

9 Great Alto Saxophone Mouthpieces to Compare

March 14, 2011 by Steve 81 Comments

The most common question I get asked on this blog and in emails is  “Steve, which mouthpiece is the best?”  “Which one should I buy”.   I probably get 3-4 emails a week asking that question.   I always feel bad because I wish there was a simple answer to that.  The truth is that […]

Filed Under: Alto Mouthpiece Reviews Tagged With: acoustimax, Aizen, Alto Saxophone, Meyer, sax mouthpieces, Ted Klum, Theo Wanne

Jon Van Wie Modern Meyer 6MM Alto Saxophone Mouthpiece

March 12, 2011 by Steve 11 Comments

This is a modern Meyer that was refaced by the late great Jon Van Wie.  I had Jon work on a few tenor mouthpieces for me and his work was always great.  I don’t think I ever had him work on an alto mouthpiece so this is a real treat for me to play this […]

Filed Under: Alto Medium Baffle Reviews, Alto Mouthpiece Reviews Tagged With: Alto Saxophone, Jon Van Wie, JVW, Meyer, refaced, sax mouthpiece

Aizen SO 7 Alto Saxophone Mouthpiece

March 11, 2011 by Steve 20 Comments

This is a new Aizen SO mouthpiece that I received in the mail last week. It is a 7 tip opening.  If you follow my blog regularly, then you might remember that I reviewed the very first limited edition Aizen alto sax mouthpiece when it first came out a few years ago. Since then, they […]

Filed Under: Alto Low Baffle Reviews, Alto Mouthpiece Reviews Tagged With: Aizen, sax mouthpiece, SO alto saxophone, soloist

Aizen Jazz Master 7 Alto Saxophone Mouthpiece

March 10, 2011 by Steve 26 Comments

This is a new Aizen Jazz Master mouthpiece that I received in the mail last week. It is a 7 tip opening. If you follow my blog regularly, then you might remember that I reviewed the very first limited edition Aizen sax mouthpiece when it first came out a few years ago.  Since then, they […]

Filed Under: Alto Low Baffle Reviews, Alto Mouthpiece Reviews Tagged With: Aizen, alto sax, Jazz Master, saxophone mouthpiece

Aizen NY Jazz 7 Alto Saxophone Mouthpiece

March 10, 2011 by Steve 17 Comments

This is a new Aizen NY Jazz mouthpiece that I received in the mail last week.  It is a 7 tip opening.  If you follow my blog regularly,  then you might remember that I reviewed the very first limited edition Aizen sax mouthpiece when it first came out a few years ago.  Since then, they […]

Filed Under: Alto Low Baffle Reviews, Alto Mouthpiece Reviews Tagged With: Aizen, alto sax, NY Jazz, saxophone mouthpiece

Ted Klum’s Versitone Acoustimax Alto Saxophone Mouthpiece

February 6, 2011 by Steve 23 Comments

A couple of weeks ago, I received an email from Frank Klum asking if I’d be interested in trying out Ted Klum’s new Acoustimax alto saxophone mouthpiece.  As I was reading the email, I got to the bottom and was in shock when I saw that Frank lives in Hollis, New Hampshire.  Hollis is the  […]

Filed Under: Alto Low Baffle Reviews, Alto Mouthpiece Reviews Tagged With: Alto Saxophone, sax mouthpiece, Ted Klum, Versitone Acoustimax

Marmaduke Hard Rubber Tenor Sax Mouthpiece 7*

January 18, 2011 by Steve 7 Comments

Today, I am reviewing a mouthpiece that is made by Alex Miyatake in Japan.  Alex says that he has developed this mouthpiece with the help of Ron Coelho of RPC mouthpieces.  These are brand new mouthpieces and I have never heard of them until now.   The mouthpiece that I am playing today is a 7* […]

Filed Under: Tenor Medium Baffle Reviews, Tenor Mouthpiece Reviews Tagged With: hard rubber, Marmaduke, sax mouthpiece, tenor saxophone

Rich Perry playing the blues……..

January 10, 2011 by Steve 4 Comments

Here’s a great video of Rich Perry playing a blues all by himself. Rich is one of my favorite players. I remember when I first heard him years ago, I really wasn’t that into him. Back then I was into Michael Brecker, Bob Berg and guys like that. I heard musicians talking about Rich Perry […]

Filed Under: Jazz Videos Tagged With: blues sax, Rich Perry, tenor saxophone

Stan Getz Legend Series Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece

January 7, 2011 by Steve 42 Comments

This is a review of the Stan Getz Legend Series tenor saxophone mouthpiece.  This mouthpiece I’m trying today is an exact copy of the actual mouthpiece that Stan Getz used at the end of his career.  The copy is so exact that it even has slight teeth marks in it where Stan used to put […]

Filed Under: Tenor Low Baffle Reviews, Tenor Mouthpiece Reviews Tagged With: Drake Mouthpieces, rs berkeley, Stan Getz, tenor madness

Early Babbitt HR Otto Link Remake Tenor Mouthpiece

January 4, 2011 by Steve 28 Comments

Today, I am reviewing a mouthpiece that is being sold by Tenor Madness.   A big “Thank You” to Dr. James Romain who serves as Associate Professor of Saxophone and Assistant Director of Jazz Studies at Drake University.  He was kind enough to offer to send me his mouthpiece that he picked out personally at […]

Filed Under: Tenor Medium Baffle Reviews, Tenor Mouthpiece Reviews Tagged With: early babbitt, hard rubber, otto link, tenor madness, tenor saxophone

Johannes Gerber Vintage Slant Tenor Mouthpiece

December 13, 2010 by Steve 35 Comments

Today, I am reviewing a mouthpiece made by Johannes Gerber in South Africa.  I have never played a Johannes Gerber mouthpiece before but have always wanted to.  I have heard great things about his work and if you visit his site at www.jgerber.com the pictures will make you want to pull out your credit card […]

Filed Under: Tenor Medium Baffle Reviews, Tenor Mouthpiece Reviews Tagged With: Johannes Gerber, sax mouthpiece, tenor saxophone, Vintage slant

“My Favorite Things” Solo- Theo Wanne Gaia Soprano Mouthpiece

December 10, 2010 by Steve 6 Comments

Every month my friends on SOTW (Sax on the Web) do a fun thing called “the tune of the month”.  Each month a different member of the site calls a tune that many of us will do a recording of.   This is a great tradition because it gets many of us out of our comfort […]

Filed Under: Soprano Mouthpiece Reviews Tagged With: Gaia mouthpiece, John Coltrane, My Favorite Things, soprano saxophone, Theo Wanne

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Testimonials

Hi Steve, I can’t express just how much I appreciate your teaching. My playing has improved so much over the past year since I have been studying and practicing with your lessons. It is possible to teach an old dog new tricks, these lessons are proof! Thanks, Michael Byington
Michael Byington

I want to thank you for your “Ultimate II-V-I Primer”  which has sent me off on a much better path to improvisation.  The primer and the four bound books I have will keep me busy for a long time.  I like your lessons for two reasons.  The lessons work and THEY ARE FUN.  Thanks again.

Robert

Robert
I can see from your instructional videos that you are a fantastic teacher – one that can truly relate to all ages – humble yet very positive in approach – never coming across as superior and yet so totally capable of demonstrating the principles and techniques that you seek to impart to the students. I have gained so much confidence in my playing from “pouring over” time and again these invaluable lessons. Invaluable not only in musical content, but also in human interaction content. I am absolu… Read more
Ron
I like so many other subscribers feel so encouraged by Steve’s learning techniques; you will enjoy reading the comments of praise others have left as you too will feel that you share a common view and path. I feel very lucky to have come across Neffmusic and that feeling will remain with you as you search through a treasure trove of learning materials on offer, you will quickly find the lessons that you are suited to. You will instantly recognize the unparalleled quality of Steve’s teaching … Read more
Stephen
It is so refreshing to have a great player, who can provide lessons and examples in a manner which is understandable to most any enthusiastic saxophonist who is ready to improve. not just the, do this, do that, memorize this, memorize that… while all that is absolutely necessary, you go on to give reasons and examples to explain and validate why you have to do all of these things, the benefits, if you will… that is the key for me, you tell, explain, demonstrate, explain some more, you give perso… Read more
Cedric

I must say again how much I appreciate all your material. Including the video tutorials. It help keep me focused and knowing what to aim for. And your laid back teaching style appeals to me too. 

Thanks

P

P
Steve’s monthly lessons are entirely valuable. Without brow beating, he tells you all the stuff you deep down know you really should be working on, instead of just relying on the same old patterns. In spite of the fact that you’re taking a video lesson, Steve’s presentation is comfortable and “real”. In a little more than a year, he’s developed a library of lessons that seem to offer any player a lifetime’s worth of practice material. I’m just glad I stumbled upon it.… Read more
Grant
I have been a member of Neffmusic for more than a year now and have enjoyed every minute of it! I have not only been going thru the Dominant Bebop Scale lessons and book (OUTSTANDING!) but the mouthpiece reviews, solo clips and transcriptions are very interesting. Steve approach to beginning and intermediate improv have given me many new pathways to teach my high school jazz ensemble students. Congratulations Steve, great product!
Craig
Thank you so much for the great job you are doing to help further our jazz studies. Though I make my living as a repairer of musical instruments I am a student of jazz and have been fortunate enough to be involved with a big band and a combo for the last several years. As my children began to leave “the nest” I had decided to dedicate the next half of my life to a more serious study of the sax but I didn’t know exactly how I would go about doing this until a friend of mine turned me onto your si… Read more
Jon
I’ve been downloading your lessons for 4 months now (20 lesson) and I have noticed tremendous growth in my playing thus far! I’m so happy that I stumbled upon your site!
Bob
I just wanted to write a thank you note to you for this website. I play and teach saxophone, but I have always been intimidated by the gear aspect. Your website has helped me become a lot more knowledgable. Your knowledge is staggering! I’m telling all my students about your website. Pierre
Pierre
First, I’m really excited about your materials! This site is a vast resource for any aspiring (and maybe already inspired) jazz musicians. I’m not a sax player, I play mandolin and fiddle, but have been learning jazz and playing weekly with a quintet for the past 6 months and have been struggling with all of the issues you get into in your lessons. I bought several books and lessons and plan to continue with some others as soon as I organize my practice routine. Thanks again for a great site … Read more
Tony Galfano
For anyone living in remote areas away from live jazz sax teachers, Neff is the way to go. In fact this is a great resource for anyone seriously interested in mastering the sax. I’ve never been disappointed in a lesson.
Oliver
I just started looking at my lessons and I have to say, dude you are awesome.  I ABSOLUTELY will learn from you!  I started the tenor about 1 ½ yrs ago and have since picked up an alto, and more recently a soprano.  I spend most of the time on the tenor, followed by soprano, and have only gotten to the alto a few times.  I think I’ll be sticking with tenor.  I’m having a great time and hope one day to play well enough to get regular gigs.  I’ve been playing keys for about 35 years (… Read more
Wil
I’m an experienced player in the pop/soul/funk areas of music and, previously, classical.  Over the decades I’ve been playing, I’ve always felt that I could do what I needed in those styles of music.  However, recently I began to feel limited by my use of the same old licks. When I discovered Steve Neff’s website, and heard the audio examples based on the exercises in his books, I realized they were what I needed.  I purchased all of them and have been working on them since.  It’s very hard work… Read more
Paul
Two years later I began a search for a sax teacher and happened to come across Steve Neff when I was searching YouTube for sax teachers.  I went to neffmusic.com and was very impressed with the lessons Steve Neff was offering.  The concept of selecting lessons was an approach that I thought was unique and purchased a few lessons.  I liked the lessons so much that I signed-up for a 6 month package. I was very happy with all the lessons I selected.  I also purchased Steve’s book Mastering the B… Read more
Michael

I want to thank you again, because, not only are you an inspiration to listen to, you are a fine teacher!

I have been teaching sax and other winds for over 20 years, and you give me that “push” to give my students more!

Mark Peotter

Mark Peotter
I bought Steve’s dominant bebop book and took a couple of online lesson from him. I really appreciated Steve’s careful listening of what I wanted to get done in a lesson and his clear, concise ideas on next steps to improve my playing and musical interpretation.  His mastering  the Dominant Bebop Scale has lots of exercises to use a scale that addresses the largest percentage of chords I come across in pop/blues music. The dominant V7.  Needless say it has improved my playing.  I teach and a… Read more
Keith
Thank you for the wealth of helpful lessons you’ve provided over the years.  I truly feel as though it has improved my playing more than the 4 years I spent at Berklee… and that’s not a slight on the school as I loved my experience there.
John
John
Your lessons on playing the blues is so clear . I have been through many books on blues playing and not one of them explains as clear as your lessons . Most of them say “Play the same blues scale over all three chords of a 12 bar blues ” Its very misleading .     Thanks
Martin
I just joined Neff Music last month. I can’t tell you how excited I’ve been to be able to pick back up on lessons. I’ve been in a rut and you got me out! I’ve especially appreciated the Lesson Path section. It was so clear I knew exactly where to jump in and start. Many many thanks!
Karin
Steve really changed my way of practicing: I got a whole lot of new ideas for my playing the tenor.  His lessons are really helpful, give a lot stuff to practice and give clear answers to complicated stuff.  Steve has a lot of humor and I wish I had laughed so much in my former days with the horn.  All topics, from Blues to Approach note are dealt with clearness that wet ones appetite to play and practice that great ideas.
Uwe
By the way, BIG COMPLIMENTS to you, Steve! Not only are you a great player, you are also a great teacher! I, too, am a woodwinds player/teacher. I have new inspiration to play and teach because of you. The concepts and “thinking” is similar to what I already learned in College, but hearing you explain and PLAY the concepts REALLY MAKES THE DIFFERENCE! Also, your written patterns are more interesting than other books I have seen! Keep up the good work. I will be recommending your sit… Read more
I will be recommending your site to others!

Never really had lessons before just kinda worked things out on my own. Was in a rut but your lessons are really helpful in opening melodic possibilities. Ur an awesome resource to the saxophone community. Thanks for sharing. 

Anthony

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