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Vandoren V16 A7S Alto Mouthpiece

August 13, 2009 by Steve 4 Comments

This is the new Vandoren V16 A7S.  This was my main piece for a year or two when I first started playing alto again about 8 years ago.  This mouthpiece has a bright powerful sound to it. Nice big full sound with some edge.  It has what I would consider a small chamber. the smaller […]

Filed Under: Alto Medium Baffle Reviews, Alto Mouthpiece Reviews Tagged With: alto mouthpiece, vandoren V16

Mouthpiece Cafe NYC 6 Alto Mouthpiece

August 13, 2009 by Steve 14 Comments

I received this piece a few days ago from the guys at Mouthpiece Cafe(Brian and Eric).  Everyone knows that I’m a big fan of Brian Powell’s work so when I heard they were coming out with their own line of mouthpieces I just had to try one. I really love this NYC mouthpiece.  It has […]

Filed Under: Alto Medium Baffle Reviews, Alto Mouthpiece Reviews Tagged With: alto mouthpiece, brian poell, mouthpiece Cafe

LAW MCB 6* (Prototype)

August 13, 2009 by Steve 2 Comments

I received this piece a few weeks ago from Laurie Waldron in the UK. He’s been making great tenor mouthpieces for awhile and now he’s taking a shot at some alto mouthpieces. These are two pieces that are prototypes that he wanted to get my opinions on.  This piece is metal and has bullet shaped […]

Filed Under: Alto High Baffle Reviews, Alto Mouthpiece Reviews Tagged With: alto mouthpiece, LAW MCB, Lawrie Waldron

Law Buzzer 6* Alto Mouthpiece (Prototype)

August 13, 2009 by Steve 1 Comment

Here is another LAW prototype alto sax mouthpiece from Lawrie Waldron.  This one has a baffle that is similar to the LAW “Buzzer” tenor piece.  It looks like it is made from the same blank as the LAW tenor mouthpiece but is shorter. It has a fatter smoother sound than the bullet chamber prototype. I […]

Filed Under: Alto High Baffle Reviews, Alto Mouthpiece Reviews Tagged With: alto mouthpiece, Law Buzzer, Lawrie Waldron

Aizen 6 Alto Mouthpiece

August 13, 2009 by Steve 7 Comments

This is from a new mouthpiece maker out of Japan. I must say that who ever owns this company pays attention to the details. The packaging of the piece is beautiful and it even comes with cork grease and a mouthpiece patch. The mouthpiece looks perfect. It’s got that quality hard rubber look to it […]

Filed Under: Alto Medium Baffle Reviews, Alto Mouthpiece Reviews Tagged With: Aizen, alto mouthpiece

LAW LCD 6*

August 13, 2009 by Steve 6 Comments

This is a new LAW mouthpiece I received in the mail yesterday from Mr. Waldron. I really dug this one and played it for awhile this morning.  The LCD stands for Large Chambered Dark but I don’t consider it a really “dark” piece.  It’s not as bright as the “Buzzer” or the “MCB” but it […]

Filed Under: Alto Medium Baffle Reviews, Alto Mouthpiece Reviews Tagged With: alto mouthpiece, LAW LCD mouthpiece, Lawrie Waldron

LAW Buzzer 6* Alto Mouthpiece

August 13, 2009 by Steve Leave a Comment

This is a new LAW mouthpiece I received in the mail yesterday from Lawrence Waldron in the UK. This is similar to the LAW Buzzer Prototype I played earlier. I’m not sure what the difference is but this one is plated where as the other one was raw brass because it was a prototype. This […]

Filed Under: Alto High Baffle Reviews, Alto Mouthpiece Reviews Tagged With: alto mouthpiece, LAW Busser, Lawrence Waldron

LAW MCB 6* Alto Mouthpiece

August 12, 2009 by Steve 2 Comments

This is a new LAW alto mouthpiece I received in the mail yesterday from Lawrence Waldron. This piece is similar to the other bullet chambered MCB LAW piece I play tested but this one looks to have a slightly bigger chamber on it. MCB stands for Medium Chamber Bright.  This piece looks perfect! Great finish […]

Filed Under: Alto Medium Baffle Reviews, Alto Mouthpiece Reviews Tagged With: alto mouthpiece, LAW mouthpiece, Lawrence Waldron

Drake Contemporary Tenor Mouthpiece

August 11, 2009 by Steve 5 Comments

This is a tenor mouthpiece by Aaron Drake at Drake Ceramic Mouthpieces.  Aaron has been generous enough to send two tenor mouthpieces for me to try.   This one is called the “Contemporary” .  It has an 8 (.110) tip. These mouthpiece are very unique in that they are made of ceramic.  I was a […]

Filed Under: Tenor High Baffle Reviews, Tenor Mouthpiece Reviews Tagged With: aaron drake, contemporary, tenor mouthpiece

Drake Double Ring Ceramic Tenor Mouthpiece

August 11, 2009 by Steve 7 Comments

This is a tenor mouthpiece by Aaron Drake at Drake Ceramic Mouthpieces. He has been generous enough to send  two tenor mouthpieces for me to try.  These are called “Double Ring” Jazz and a Contemporary.  They are both .110 tips.  These mouthpiece are very unique in that they are made of ceramic. I  was a bit […]

Filed Under: Tenor Medium Baffle Reviews, Tenor Mouthpiece Reviews Tagged With: aaron drake, ceramic mouthpiece, double ring, tenor mouthpiece

Drake Double Ring Ceramic Alto Mouthpiece 5

August 3, 2009 by Steve 4 Comments

This is a new alto mouthpiece by Aaron Drake at Drake Ceramic Mouthpieces. He has been generous enough to send  two alto pieces to me to try. These are called “Double Ring” Jazz pieces.  One has a .075 tip and one has a .080 tip. These mouthpiece are very unique in that they are made […]

Filed Under: Alto Medium Baffle Reviews, Alto Mouthpiece Reviews Tagged With: aaron drake, alto, double ring, drake ceramic mouthpieces

Theo Wanne Gaia 7* Tenor Mouthpiece

July 27, 2009 by Steve 20 Comments

This is a new Theo Wanne mouthpiece called the Gaia.  He advertises this on http://www.theowanne.com/ as being close to a Florida Link type of sound.  I have to say that out of the Theo Wanne pieces I have played so far this is my favorite. The higher baffle Wanne mouthpieces were too bright for what […]

Filed Under: Tenor Medium Baffle Reviews, Tenor Mouthpiece Reviews Tagged With: Gaia, tenor mouthpiece, Theo Wanne

Morgan Fry Floridated Link

June 19, 2009 by Steve Leave a Comment

This is a mouthpiece that Morgan Fry sent me from the UK. He’s been advertising a Floridated link on his site www.morganfrymouthpieces.com. I was curious about how they played so I sent him an email to see if i could try one. In looks it is very similar to my very good Florida Link that […]

Filed Under: Tenor Low Baffle Reviews, Tenor Mouthpiece Reviews Tagged With: floridated link, morgan fry, refacing, tenor mouthpiece

Mastering the Dominant Bebop Scale

May 15, 2009 by Steve 2 Comments

Mastering The Dominant Bebop Scale The Dominant Bebop Scale is a scale that can be used over a dominant chord. It has both the major 7th and the flat 7th in the scale so in the key of G the scale would be GABCDEFF#G. The reason that the dominant bebop scale sounds so great is […]

Filed Under: Book Reviews, NeffMusic News Tagged With: blues, circle of fifths, dominant bebop scale, dominant chords, improvising, steve neff

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NEFFMUSIC PRINTED BOOKS

Testimonials

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!
Your major diatonic patterns book is great. I”m studying the first twenty patterns (first twenty pages) each day with different articulation each day and slowly increasing the tempo each week or so.  There is a noticeable improvement in finger coordination across all keys and its amazing how much more secure I feel on the difficult keys when attempting to play pieces with 5+ flats/sharps. I’m able to sort out the fingerings for these pieces now much more quickly than before, often in one or two … Read more
Geoff
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
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

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

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
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
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
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 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
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
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 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
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

Steve,  Just want to say thanks for all you are doing for all of us. I’ve learned more from you than anyone else in my 40 years of playing.

If you can give some tips on One Note Samba, Ceora, and Wave… that would be cool.  I really like learning how you apply your concepts to actual songs!

Have a great year,

Kevin Ledbetter

I've learned more from you than anyone else in my 40 years of playing.
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

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’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
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

Love your lessons!  I have been using your lesson packages for many months now, and am learning a lot.  It is so perfect for me with a very busy adult schedule and difficulty in taking jazz/improv music lessons from reputable instructors who live and hour or more away from me.

Lenore

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
Hey Steve! I hope you and your family are well.  I’m just writing to say thank you so much for all the resources you have made available to the saxophone community. I have been using your material for many years and I always come back to it… in fact I just took a break from practicing to write this…( reviewing “CreatingModern II-V-I Lines with simple pentatonics”.) I am, and continue to be, one of your raving fans! Blessings to you and your family this holiday season! Wishing… Read more
Gerry Aylward
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
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

Featured Video Lessons

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