Happy Tuesday all and hope your week is going well so far! I wanted to post a tip on reeds and what reed to start out with. There are all types of strengths of reeds and they range: 👉1.5 (thinnest) 👉2.0 👉2.5 👉3.0 👉3.5+ They increase in .5 to 5.0 being the thickest and hardest to play. There are many brands like: ✔️Rico ✔️Vandoren ✔️D'Adarrio ✔️Legere (synthetic) The brand at this point really doesn't matter just depends on how much you are willing to spend in the beginning stages. My advice would be: ✅Start 1.5 - 2.5 Rico Rico brand is more economical for beginning students and those strengths are the easiest when first starting to figure out your sound and your embouchure set up. Starting out doesn't have to be fancy or expensive, it just has to be functional.

Good news: you don’t need a million scales or fancy theory to start improvising on sax. Here’s a simple way to think about it: 🎷 Think of chords as “homes,” not rules. Each chord is just a place your melody can land. When the chord changes, you’re just visiting a new home. 👉 Try this first (easy win):When a chord shows up, aim for one chord note (not all of them).Even hitting just ONE right note makes your solo sound intentional. Start small, not fancy. Instead of running scales, move step-by-step between chord tones as the chords change. Beginner trick: If the chord lasts a while, repeat notes and change the rhythm, not the notes. Follow the movement. Jazz progressions often move in a pattern. Your job is to: - Start somewhere - Move a little - Land cleanly when the chord changes ⚠️Easy rule: When the chord changes, try to end your phrase right before it… then start fresh. 🔥 The secret sauce (most beginners miss this): Silence is part of improvising. Leave space. Breathe. Let the band carry you for a second. Quick challenge: 1️⃣Pick a simple jazz progression. 2️⃣Play only 3 notes per chord. 3️⃣Make it groove before you make it complicated. That’s jazz improv at the beginner level and it works way better than overthinking it. 😎 Give it a try and let us know how it goes.

Some of my students asked me to transpose and write out "Golden" from KPop Demon Hunters for them. I wasn't exactly sure what the song was, but I figured it out and figured I would share it here too.

A quick thought on practicing. It doesn't matter if you practice 30 minutes a day or 4 hours a day. What matter is intentional practice. Intentional practice is picking a technique or focusing on something that has been eluding you and focusing on that particular thing. For example, if you have a fuzzy sound you might want to focus on playing long tones and really listening to yourself and adjusting your embouchure.

When your sitting down to a good practice session with your sax, make sure you are practicing the fundamentals especially with your embouchure. You want to make sure that you: ✅ Fold that bottom lip over your bottom teeth creating a cushion between your teeth and the reed ✅Keeping the corners of your mouth pulled in to avoid the "squirrel" cheeks. This will help you control your sound better. You also want to make sure that your trying to breathe as natural as possible through the instrument. You shouldn't have to force air through until you pass out.😰 ****Remeber, its not about the quantity of things practiced, but the QUALITY. Always keep the basics in mind and build off that foundation.****