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!
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.
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 site to others!
Hey Steve, My name is Jason Freese and I play keyboards and sax in the band Green Day. I grew up taking sax lessons from Eric Marienthal when I was a kid and got out of it for a long time. I ran into you on youtube while searching for sax stuff. I bought a whole bunch of your lessons and have been loving it! Thanks! Here is my wikipedia so you can see the albums I’ve played on….Thanks again. It’s sparked my interest in practicing again. Jason
Steve,
I have played for many years and have enjoyed going “back to the basics” in some of your lessons! You have such a gift for explaining concepts. As I have gotten older, some of the basic things have gotten muddled because I just play, not knowing why. As I refresh myself with “why”, it increases my confidence and expands my playing. Thank you so much for using your gift! You are a blessing!
Just to say thanks for your advice and lessons. I’ve just read your amazing story. I really appreciate what you do in regards to teaching. I have bought a couple of your lessons and frankly they’re undersold. I’ve learned much more with these two lessons than with 2 years of sax teachers. Thanks so much………..
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
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.
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 has some important qualities that are rare to find in a teacher anywhere these days- he’s a great player, great teacher and a great guy.”
DAVID WRIGHT Musician and Educator
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.
Thanks so much for putting all this great learning material out there. I don’t often have the time to take a lesson with a teacher, so the ability to download lessons is really invaluable. My playing has improved enormously (I think :)) – and the lessons are so varied there’s always something to be inspired by. Incredible value too!
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 you health and happiness.
Gerry Aylward
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
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.
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 my area. Again, THANKS! Your lessons have been a real blessing!
Sincerely, Michael Byington
Just wanted to send you a quick note to say thank you for being you, your playing, your website and your desire to help others. I’m a professional musician in the US Army and I’ve visited your website almost every day since discovering it a couple of months ago. Your lessons are profound and easy to use. I’ve purchased most of your PDF books and now am starting to delve more into the video and audio lessons. Thank you for being a great resource!
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 (gospel), and so I’m following you perfectly with the theory and stuff. Just awesome. Keep up the great work.
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 personal experience and stories, it all comes together, a complete picture. so many “self-proclaimed ” saxophone teachers believe because they are a professional player, they are automatically a teacher, absolutely not the case. you must have the ability to transfer what you know, and most importantly, in my mind, the DESIRE to teach, and the need to know that your instruction is getting through, the constant search for more and better ways to deliver the instruction. the PASSION to teach. YOU have all these qualities, that is why i am a Neffaholic 🙂
I want to say something about Steve Neff’s series of lessons, Beginner Jazz Improvisation. For a couple of years I tried many beginner lessons and my problem was that there was a gap between lessons that were fairly simple and ones that I was not quite ready for and my progress stalled out. That problem was solved with the series Beginner Jazz Improvisation. He guides you step by step along the way and builds a foundation for learning jazz and blues. He leaves no question about what to practice and focus on and the material is very interesting. I think this is the best teaching series available and he continues to add more lessons to the series. I can’t thank him enough for it. May he go on for ever! Pete
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.
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.
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
I have NEVER seen material like yours. Amazing!!
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 style as technique and theory are rolled out to you in a way that demystifies anything you have puzzled over before. I have found this experience extremely rewarding, I feel I have grown and continue to grow, even going back to basics leaves a feeling of satisfaction, having the knowledge that you can completely trust learning materials is so important; therefore the format of Neffmusic is a great way to learn! Kindest Regards Stephen
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