About Sax Station

Welcome Saxophone Player!

Playing saxophone (and music in general) is good for the soul! An old teacher of mine, Gary Stotz, always said that it’s a great antidepressant.

But, you probably know that!

I talk about saxophone groove on the site since I think it matters more if the music feels good than if you play the ‘right’ note.  And the note is only wrong if it disrupts the flow and messes up your playing.  If you use a ‘wrong’ note as a passing tone, it sounds good and gives some color to what you play.

Personally, I had always wanted to play saxophone when I was growing up, was just into its sound. So at age 11 I started, first with clarinet, and then went to tenor sax.

Played in the band at school (and jazz band and full orchestra), and took some lessons over the years. At university I took some piano lessons too, which I would highly recommend since it lets you see the chords and gives you a much better sense of harmony, etc.

Since it’s so close by, I have almost always gone to the Monterey Jazz Festival. There have been some amazing performances and it makes me want to get better so I can become awesome on sax too.

Playing saxophone isn’t easy, well playing it well isn’t anyway. I suppose you could honk out a note without much effort.

It has been well worth it though. It will make you nervous when you first play in front of a crowd and as those crowds keep getting bigger. The applause from an audience combined with the feeling that you played something impressive is incredible.

On saxophone, you need to have the right attitude and the intention to play what you want when and how you want it. With the that attitude you still need to find what to practice and how to practice. (got that phrase from a grey-haired sax man). And after you keep at it for a while, you too can rip out a gut-busting sax solo.

I know that I was sometimes in the dark about how to go forward and what musicians to check out. I have a whole stash of music books, some of them have been useless while others have been invaluable.

Sometimes I link to music and books on the site, if they are through amazon.com or Sheet Music Plus then I do get a commission.  But I only recommend books/music that I think will help you or you will enjoy.

Let me know how I can help you focus on what you need and what questions you have.

My MP3s
Winter 2006

Fall 2005

Fall 2004

Spring 2004

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{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }

Tim Elvy May 19, 2009 at 11:22 am

Have you tried Legere Synthetic Reeds?

admin May 19, 2009 at 12:50 pm

Hey Tim,
I haven’t tried them yet. Should I?
-Neal

Calvin Green July 31, 2009 at 6:08 am

Sorry I haven’t been on for a while, my email address got hi-jacked.

colonna December 25, 2009 at 9:48 am

I have enclosed information regarding the international saxophone competition which be held in the Paris region in march 2010.
Could you please diffuse this information where possible. Thank you and Sincerely,

Marie-Blanche Colonna

international saxophone competition
13-14 march 2010 Paris-Ville d’Avray.

program

1st round :

1/ Nicolas BACRI : Sonatina lapidaria sax.alt. (Editions Leduc)

2/ Pascal ZAVARO : Rush sax.alto (Editions Billaudot)

3/ Pierre-Philippe BAUZIN : Poème sax.alt. (Editions pierrephilippebauzin@free.fr) )

OU VILLA-LOBOS : Fantasia sax.sop. ou tén. (Ed.Peer music)

OU F.MARTIN : Ballade sax.tén (Ed. Universal) OU : D.MILHAUD : Scaramouche (Ed. Salabert)

finale :

1/ Florent SCHMITT : Légende sax.alto (Editions Durand)

2/ Philippe HERSANT : Chant hassidique sax.alto (Editions Durand)

3/ Jean-Louis PETIT : L’un multiple sax. alto (Editions Armiane)

Sheet music for the Ville d’Avray/Paris international saxophone competition can be purchased at :

Editions ARMIANE 12 rue d’Anjou, F-78000 Versailles e-mail : armiane@online.fr tel : 01 39 49 00 19

Jury : Nicolas Prost, Christian Wirth, Claude Delangle, Jean-Louis Petit

competition regulations :

1/ The competition is open to all saxophonist’s of any nationality without age limit.

2/ The first round will be held on 13 March 2010 and the finals will be on 14 march 2010 at 5 pm. The final round is open to the public.

3/ The competition registration fee is 50 euros.

4/ The Contestants will be notified as to what time they will compete in the first round. Contestants names will be randomely drawn on 1 march 2010 the schedualed according to the order in which they were drawn. Deadline of sending back the application form : 1 mars 2010.

5/ The juries decisions cannot be appealed.

Application

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Name : Last . . . . . . . . . . . . . . First. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

adress . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . City . . . . . . . . . . Country . . . . . .Postal Code . . .

téléphone . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .fax . . . . . . . . . . e-mail . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

I have applied to participate in the International Paris Saxophone Competition and have understood all the rules of this competition.

Enclosed is a check for 50 euros made out to Festival de Musique Française.

date signature

Please adress your application to :

FESTIVAL DE MUSIQUE FRANCAISE

attn : Jean-Louis PETIT

34 Avenue Bugeaud

F-75116 PARIS tel.(33.8).77 11 14 57

e-mail : jlpetit@jeanlouispetit.com

(adress of the competition : Chateau, 8 rue de Marnes, 92410 Ville d’Avray.)

prizes awarded

First Prize : 1500 euros / Second Prize : 1000 euros / Prix du Conseil Général des Hauts de Seine, Prix de la Commune de Ville d’Avray), Prix du Public

Competition sponsered in part by SACEM, SPEDIDAM, General Council Hauts de Seine, Communauté de Communes “Arc de Seine”, Commune and Concerts Association Ville d’Avray, Editions Armiane-Versailles.

http://int.comp.paris.va.free.fr/index.html

Jean-Louis PETIT