Woodwinds

A day before the performance, I try not to play, at all, if I can help it. Choosing the reed is the only thing I would do. I try to mentally calm down and do completely different things to keep my mind off of the performance. Practicing the…
Read More...

It's common to hear a student say, "No matter how much I practice this, it just doesn't get any better". This student has obviously gone through days or even weeks of practice room frustrations. So what can the teacher do?
Read More...

I began experimenting with extended techniques as soon as I began playing the saxophone. I remember my elementary school friends and I turning our mouthpieces upside down and squawking at each other. I also saw the percussive abilities of…
Read More...

Jazz classes must have a balance between preparing students for performances and teaching them to become jazz performers. The best way for students to learn how to learn heads is to do it daily. The next best way to teach students how to…
Read More...

For the most part, the top of the tongue just behind the tip of the tongue touches the reed. Only a tiny portion of the tongue is needed to touch the reed! Students often use too much of their tongue to touch the reed, creating loud, heavy…
Read More...

The purchase of a bassoon for use in a school can be a problem for many music teachers. It tends to be the least understood instrument in most programs and the offerings of the various makers can be baffling. Selecting a bassoon that best…
Read More...

What ever became of the clarinet choir? Sadly the popularity it experienced during the 1950s under the guidance of such greats as Don McCathren and Lucien Calliet faded as following decades saw school music programs contract, composers lose…
Read More...

"This wonderful book is a natural continuation of Schuring's effective work in the studio... I have begun quoting from it to my students already! Oboe Art and Method will soon become absolutely indispensable to today's serious oboist -…
Read More...

There are very few problems on a bassoon that cannot be fixed. The object of this article is to aid you in knowing of the problems. Whether this knowledge leads you to reject the instrument or helps you in negotiating the price is up to…
Read More...

Armed Forces School of Music
Read More...

There has been a debate over the years regarding the question of materials used for manufacturing both instruments and mouthpieces. A great number of saxophonists believe that metal mouthpieces are exclusively for playing jazz, and that…
Read More...

If I'm to be completely honest, I'd have to say that, more than anything, I chose to play the saxophone because of how it looked. Maybe that's shallow, but 11-year-olds are supposed to be shallow.
Read More...

Granted you won't be hearing that one anytime soon on Letterman, but as with the best humor, there is at least a grain of truth to the point being made. When it comes to the saxophone, understanding and mastering the required fingerings is…
Read More...