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Sax Intonation Lesson

Sax Intonation Lesson

Rated 5.00 out of 5 based on 1 customer rating
(1 customer review)

$9.99

SKU: 017 Category: Sax Tone Tags: audio lesson, intonation, playing in tune, saxophone
  • Description
  • Reviews (1)
  • Lesson Sample

Description

Having good intonation on the saxophone is crucial! No matter how good your tone might be, or how great your ideas, if you can’t play in tune, it all counts for nothing.

In this lesson, I begin by stressing the importance of intonation when choosing a saxophone and provide simple but important tips to keep in mind when trying out a new saxophone and how to avoid buying the wrong saxophone.

You’ll learn why a tuner is an invaluable tool for evaluating any potential saxophone and why you should take one with you when testing a new sax.

I teach you a simple exercise to help you get to know your saxophone’s intonation tendencies. Get to know every note on your horn and which notes are sharp or flat. This is a real ear opener!

If you know the pitch tendencies of your horn, you can adjust the wayward notes to bring them into tune, but you have to know which notes are out and by how much. I explain how to get to know your sax so that you know what to expect from every note.

I go on to show you some simple tips and tricks that you can use to correct these intonation inconsistencies. How to open your throat, change your air stream and tongue position, to bring these notes into tune.

Tame that sharp upper register! By teaching you how to work with your air and throat and tongue position, I guide you through the process of leaning to control the pitch of these notes and place them so that they play in tune.

I talk about why ear training is so important to playing in tune and how to work on this area to improve the way you hear and play. I then explain how to step beyond our reliance on using the tuner and learn to use our ears to play in tune with other instruments. I show you how you can use your favorite recordings and play along with the masters to learn to “lock in” the note and play with great intonation.

Learn how to play with other horn players. From small combo playing, to school concert band, to big band section playing, we all need to learn how to blend and tune with other horn players. I discuss how to achieve this and why it’s so rewarding when you do.

This lesson is fantastic for anyone who wants to improve their intonation and when combined with my other lessons on “Developing a Great Sound” and “Saxophone Voicing“, provides a comprehensive guide to getting that great saxophone sound we’re all after and learning to control and shape that sound to fit perfectly in any playing situation.  (Audio)

1 review for Sax Intonation Lesson

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    Rated 5 out of 5

    Soruyo – February 10, 2011

    The things covered in this lesson are something every sax player should know about, and put to practice as soon as possible. Incredible useful lesson! A must have.

    Thanks Steve!

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Lesson Sample

https://public.neffmusic.com/Sax%20Intonation%20clip.mp4

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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’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
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

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 a member of Steve’s site for about six months now and the difference it has made to my playing is immeasurable. The (many) benefits of this membership are that you can have lessons at time convenient to you, they work out A LOT cheaper than face-to-face lessons with a teacher of the same calibre and you can replay them ad infinitum. I don’t know how many times have I had lessons in the past where I’ve ended up covering the same concepts when really a ‘replay’ of the last lesson would h… Read more
Nick
Hi Steve, I have been shedding your materials for quite a while now and I love them! They are extremely well organized and presented and there are tons of ’em! I really appreciate your methodical approach and find myself referring students to your resources often.  Thanks so much!  
Kenyon Carter
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
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

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
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

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