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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

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 26 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

Kanee M5 Custom Alto Saxophone Mouthpiece

November 29, 2010 by Steve 1 Comment

This is another hard rubber custom mouthpiece from Kanee mouthpieces in China.  As I said in an earlier review, I received 7 mouthpieces from Kanee Music to try out. This model is the alto mouthpiece with the lowest baffle. It is called the M5 model for the alto saxophone.   Here is what is written […]

Filed Under: Alto Mouthpiece Reviews Tagged With: Alto Saxophone, Kanee mouthpieces, M5 mouthpiece, Meyer, Phil Woods

Kanee V5 Custom Alto Saxophone Mouthpiece

November 29, 2010 by Steve 1 Comment

This is another hard rubber custom mouthpiece from Kanee mouthpieces in China.  As I said in an earlier review, I received 7 mouthpieces from Kanee Music to try out. This model is the alto mouthpiece with a medium baffle. It is called the V5 model for the alto saxophone. Here is what is written about […]

Filed Under: Alto Medium Baffle Reviews, Alto Mouthpiece Reviews Tagged With: Alto Saxophone, hard rubber, Kanee mouthpieces, V5 mouthpiece

Kanee Z5 Custom Alto Saxophone Mouthpiece

November 29, 2010 by Steve 1 Comment

This is another hard rubber custom mouthpiece from Kanee mouthpieces in China.  As I said in an earlier review, I received 7 mouthpieces from Kanee Music to try out.   This model is the alto mouthpiece with the highest baffle.  It is called the Z5 model for the alto saxophone.  Here is what is written about […]

Filed Under: Alto High Baffle Reviews, Alto Mouthpiece Reviews Tagged With: Alto Saxophone, hard rubber, Kanee mouthpieces, Z5 mouthpiece

Free Universal Method for the Saxophone

November 27, 2010 by Steve 5 Comments

I was looking around the internet today for a music book that I could use in my online video lessons.  I’ve had a bunch of requests for some lessons on sight reading and I thought it would be cool if I could find something to use that was in the “public domain”.    I was surprised […]

Filed Under: Saxophone Stuff Tagged With: Paul de Ville, public domain, saxophone, Universal Method

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Testimonials

Hey Steve, I’m a 22-year-old from Australia. I thought it would be worth saying. You’re an absolute legend. I can’t thank you enough. You have helped me rekindle my love for the saxophone and music as a whole. All the best for the future, your work doesn’t go unnoticed. PS. I am loving your devastating minor lines pdf.
Sapph
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
Just a brief note to compliment you on your teaching skills and in particular for the honesty of your lessons.  I am a returning alto sax player in my 50’s and I was looking for a no nonsense, straight to the point kind of guidance. I had intended to email you with a few questions regarding the use of the bis key but then I noticed that there was a lesson on that specific topic and after viewing it,  all my questions were answered. I once took a group lesson with a well known professional sax … Read more
Patrick
Thank you for all the educational information you provide.  I am a classically trained musician.  Professionally, I am a 4th and 5th grade band teacher.  I have played piano and sax for many years, but now I am starting to gig out more. I have always improvised by ear in the past. I have gotten by with my strong sense of pitch, rhythm and melodic contour. However, I want to go deeper. I want to play with a greater variety of melodic and rhythmic ideas to pull from.  I have studied to gain a … Read more
Ray
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 am enjoying your style of teaching, and you’ve done a great job with the videos….good sound quality and well constructed lessons.  Balances the more guitaristic material found on the majority of guitar based programs.  Jazz vocab is what I’m all about at this point in the journey.   I especially dig the fact that you’ve studied with Bergonzi…helps me see his voluminous output in a more  bite sized way.
Milton
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

Mr. Neff,  I want to thank you for sharing your God-given talents through your on-line lessons.  My husband, Michael, is blind, but he is a great sax player and he has been enjoying your lessons for quite some time now.  It’s not unusual for me to hear “Hey, babe, listen to THIS!” – and he will cut loose on his sax, just thrilled at what he learned during his session with you.  His excitement warms my heart!  You have no idea how much you have poured into my husband.  You have opened musical … Read more

Carole B
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
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

After reading your story I will never feel quite right about complaining about any of my MINOR health issues!!    God bless Steve and I really hope that your health doesn’t stop you from fulfilling your calling.    These books have been such a help to open up my jazz vocabulary…   Thanks so much for sharing your story and for providing these great teaching tools…   John Leclerc   Saxophonist / composer/ EWI player and professional working musician of 35 years….

John Leclerc
I am a music book junkie and I have to say that your books are the most clear, user friendly, and helpful books I own.  They are my absolute favorites and I only wish I had them years ago.  I wouldn’t change a thing about the experience I had in acquiring my degree at Berklee, but my playing has perhaps grown more in the time I’ve spent buried in your books and lessons.  Keep up the great work!!! Thanks, John
John
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
I have NEVER seen material like yours.  Amazing!!
Jerry

Thank You Steve. I think that I will be busy for years. Thank You for your great contribution to jazz music. Your books, more than teaching “how to play jazz”, actually teach “how to speak jazz”. I wish I found your methods years ago.  

Jean-Eric
I can’t say enough about my membership at Neff Music. Steve has taken the mystery out of playing the saxophone well and improvising both jazz and rock music. Like most struggling players I have a load of all sorts of books on my shelf just gathering dust. Books that I didn’t understand or know how to put to use…or just have the time to go threw them. Steve’s lessons really simplify things and he puts it in a way that I can understand. They inspire me to keep pushing and having him as my guide or… Read more
Ken

Hello Steve, I’m getting so much out of your lessons and books, amazing how much one may think one knows, there is always a new frontier or new way to view something you think you had somewhat down. You have taken it all to a new level and am so grateful. Your lessons are so down to earth and understandable and clear!  Thanks so much Steve! Cheers, Eddie

Eddie Parente

Hello Steve,

I just want to say thank you so much for your unbelievable work, it is just mind opening, thanks for sharing it.

Wolfgang from Berlin

Wolfgang from Berlin
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
I’ve been having ‘ online’  lessons with Steve for a few months now. Being a teacher myself I had had some reservations with the idea at first and the practicalities of it .  Let me just say that my playing has taken a huge leaps forward while studying with Steve and continues to do so.Steve studied with some renowned player/teachers such as Bergonzi and Garzone– this in itself is invaluable but Steve teaches from his own books, which cover a a vast amount of  jazz language. Steve h… Read more
David

Your material is great! I got your New Altissimo Lesson 6 months ago and I have learned more from that than in all my 44 years of playing! I appreciate your down to earth teaching method and I really appreciate the heart that you teach with. I have been a subscriber to your lessons for the past 6 months and I have learned a great deal. Over that period of time I have had some questions and you have never failed to respond. Thanks! I have already recommended your lessons to a number of players in… Read more

Michael Byington
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 want to let you know that your instructional material is transforming my playing.  It is an immense pleasure to learn and play now, and I can’t tell you how grateful I am. The instructional material I got from you is by far the best of any I own (and I have over 100 books, DVDs, and what not). I literally can’t thank you enough! Deric
Deric

Hi Steve,

First, I want to thank you for all of your great lessons. They are like a “For Dummies” version of all the books on my shelf. The lessons break things down into manageable pieces, and give me the confidence that I’m practicing the right pieces. I’m starting to make progress.   Thank You,   Kim

Kim

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