Table of Contents:

General Woodwind Information:Body Alignment 6Breathing 6

Diaphragm 6Intercostals Muscles 6Additional anatomy 6

Sticky pads 6Causes 6Pad paper 6

Flute Information:Parts of the Flute 7Assembly 7

Proper alignment 7Care 7Tuning stick/head cork 8Hand position 8

Left Hand 8Right Hand 8Balance Points 8

Embouchure and Tone Production 9Troubleshooting including parallel relationships 10Use of air 10Articulation 10

Single tongue 10Double tongue 10Tripple tongue 10

Range of the flute and piccolo 10How is piccolo different from flute? 10Fingerings 10

Correct fingerings 10Common errors 10Use of Thumb Bb 11Piccolo

11French vs Plateau Keys 11Plated vs Solid Silver 11Metal vs wood piccolos 11Intonation tendencies 11

Range 11Dynamic leve 11Exterior Temperature 11

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Instructions to a beginning flutist in detail 11Curved head joints 11

Advantages 12Disadvantages 12

Vibrato 12Teaching 12

Brands 12High School 12Professional 12

Method Books 12Beginner 12Intermediate 12Advanced 12

Solos 12Beginner 12Intermediate 12Advanced 12

Ensemble 13Beginner 13Intermediate 13Advanced 13

HandoutsFlute Topics Study guideOrchestration HandoutFlute GlossaryFlute Fingering ChartTrill ChartFlute Playing RequirementsInterval ExerciseGariboli EtudeFlute Production QuizFlute QuizFlute Final

Clarinet Information:

Assembly and parts 14Register key 14Bridge key 14

Care and Cleaning 14Tone Production 15

Starting a beginner 15Common problems and solutions 15

Embouchure 16Reeds 16

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Tuning 16Intonation tendencies 16Articulation 16

Double tonguing 16Fingerings 16Registers of the clarinet 16Clarinet Family 16

Members 17Vibrato and its use 17Methods 17

Beginner 17Intermediate 17

Advanced17

Solos 17Beginner 17Intermediate 17Advanced 17

Ensemble 17Beginner 17Intermediate 17Advanced 17

HandoutsA New RegisterOrchestration Handout (Two pages)Clarinet Equipment InformationTone Handout Embouchure (Two pages)Clarinet Fingering ChartClarinet ChecklistCommon Clarinet AccessoriesClarinet Tone Production QuizClarinet Playing FinalClarinet Final

Saxamaphone Information:

Saxophone Family 18Members 18Inventor 18Boehm System 18

Care and maintenance 20Assembly 20Neck straps 20Hand position 20

Basic 20

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Embouchure 20Basic 20

Tone Production 21Starting a Beginner 21Common problems and solutions 21

Tonguing 22Vibrato 22

Teaching 22Intonation 22

Dynamics 22Range 22Temperature 22

Octave key 22Thumb position 22When to use 22

Range of the saxophone 22Name of range above high F 22Palm keys 22Side keys 22Fingering 22Bb fingerings 23Reeds 23Jazz mouthpieces and reeds 23Saxophone selection 23Doubling 23Methods 23Solo 23Ensemble 23Handouts 23

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General Woodwind Information:Body Alignment

have the students stand up and center their weight over the feet. They should be able to push up on their toes without rocking forward or back at all.

then have the students sit as if they are still standing from the waist up.

BreathingInhalation s controlled by the diaphragm, a membrane like muscle that separates

your thorasic cavity from your abdominal cavity. The diaphragm is dome shape and flattens upon inhalation. When your lungs fill with air your abdominal muscles push forward to make room, this is what you see when your stomach sticks out when you inhale. Your rib cage is moved by the intercostals muscles, which are attached to your ribs, for the same reason your abdominals move, to make more room. When exhaling, the majority of your air will come from the abdominal region when that runs out you should most likely take another breath, while leaving the rib area for support if possible.

Diaphragm- diaphragm is a shelf of muscle extending across the bottom of the ribcage. The diaphragm separates the thoracic cavity (with lung and heart) from the abdominal cavity (with liver, stomach, intestines, etc.). In its relaxed state, the diaphragm is shaped like a dome. It is controlled by the phrenic nerve.1

Intercostals Muscles- Intercostals muscles are several groups of muscles that run between the ribs and help form and move the chest wall.Additional anatomy2

Sticky padsCauses

mineral build up on the padsPad paper

sticky pads can be fixed by replacing the pads sticky pads can be fixed by using dollar bill to gently rub the pads sticky pads can be fixed by using cigarette paper to gently rub the pads

o make sure you don’t get the cigarette paper with the gummed edges

sticky pads can be fixed by using pad paper to gently rub the pads

1 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thoracic_diaphragm2 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intercostal_muscles

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Flute Information:Parts of the Flute

Embouchure hole (Blow hole)Embouchure plateHead JointMiddle JointTone HolesFoot Joint

Support and its correct usage:Support is the equal opposing forces. it is not possible to under or over support

the air stream while playing the flute because there is no apposing force, but it is possible to over or under blow. Assembly:

1. Open your case right side up.2. Put the head joint into the middle joint with a gentle twisting motion. Twist

both the head joint and the middle joint in the same direction. a. Never place your hand on and twist the embouchure plateb. Never place your hand on and twist the keys on the body.

3. Line up the embouchure hole with the center of the tone holes.4. Hold the assemble head and middle joints and gently twist on the foot joint.

Twist both the head joint and the middle joint in the same direction.a. Never place your hand on and twist the keys on the body. b. It is best to hold the foot joint near the end where there are no keys.c. You can hold the foot joint on the naturally closed keys, but be careful

not to apply too much pressure and cause damage. 5. Line up the foot joint so the rod is centered with the tone holes

a. This placement can be altered slightly depending on the student’s hands.

Care: Always swab instrument after playing Key savers are acceptable, but should be stored outside the flute Keeping moist key saver in the flute doesn’t help Sticky pads can be cleaned with pad paper Sticky pads can be cleaned with a dollar bill Sticky pads can be cleaned with alcohol, but is only recommended in

emergencies, and never prolonged usage. Prolonged usage can cause the pads to dry out.

Sticky pads can be cleaned with cigarette paper, but make sure you get the kind without the gummed edges. Gummed edges can cause the pads to stick more.

Never make adjustments to the mechanism, professionals should be used for such adjustments.

A non-treated cotton or silk men’s handkerchief can be used in place of the store bought swabs.

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Tuning stick/head cork Tuning stick should be included with all instruments when purchases or

rented. Most student models will come with a plastic tuning rod. A wood tuning rod is recommended for the intermediate to professional

instruments. The purpose of the tuning rod is to gauge proper placement of the head cork. If the head cork is in the proper location then the line on the tuning rod should

be in the center of the blow hole. Hand position

1. Hand position needs to be solid to make sure the player is not pressing down the wrong keys

2. Good hand position will promote speed and dexterity as the player progresses.

3. The player should bring the flute to them; they should not move their head or upper body to meet the flute.

o Moving the body or the head can cause tension o Moving the body or the head can cause long term muscle strain.

Left hand1. Start by having the student’s lift up their hands and observe the natural

shape their hands make. 2. Have the students expand that shape, in their left hand and rest the

body of the flute on the bottom knuckle of their pointer finger. a. The correct balance point should be somewhere between the

first key hole and the first finger key. b. Left hand placement can be altered slightly to accommodate

the size of the player’s hands. 3. Finger key placement

a. The pointer finger should be placed on the first flat key on the body

b. Skip one key and place the middle finger on the next keyc. the ring finger goes next keyd. and the pinky should be placed over long key protruding

between forth and fifth keye. The thumb should be placed on the long thumb key which runs

parallel to the flute mechanismsRight Hand

1. The end of the flute opposite the blow hole should be balanced on the right hand thumb.

2. Finger key placementa. The pointer finger should be placed two keys after the Right Hand. b. The middle and ring finger should be placed on the two keys

immediately following the pointer. c. The pinky key should be placed on the long keys on the foot joint.

3. Don’t lean the flute on the rite index finger. Balance & Balance Points

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Special care should be made to balance the flute on the left pointer and right thumb.

Incorrect balance can cause muscle pain. Incorrect balance can reduce dexterity.

Embouchure and tone production:Common Embouchure Problems:

1. The flute is too rolled out. o The tone will be airyo have the student think about using the “poh” syllableo have the student think about focusing the air stream

2. The embouchure is not centered over the blow holeo the tone will be airyo it may be difficult to notice attack and articulationo have the student center their embouchure over the blow hole

3. Overbite o the student will have a hard time producing any toneo have the student think about blowing upo Have the student thing about bringing their lower jaw in if

possible. 4. The flute is not parallel to the ground

o the tone will be airyo have the student bring end of the flute up and parallel to the floor. o make sure the student’s embouchure is parrall to the flute as wello have the students think about having a pencil in the end of their

flute that they don’t want to fall out. 5. The flute is rolled in to far

o the tone will be airyo have the student role the flute out o have the student think about blowing across the blow hole, and not

into it. 6. The aperture too big or too open.

o the tone will be weak o the student may have a difficult time sustaining their toneo have the student use the “poh” syllable to help focus the

embouchure7. The Corners of the mouth are pulled too far back

o the tone is thin sounding o have the student try to relax the corners of the mouth

make sure they are not attempting to “smile” while they are playing

8. The student is using slow airo The student will have trouble playing high noteso while playing in the higher register the student will need to

concentrate on using faster air. 9. the student’s embouchure is too wide

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o the tone will be airyo the student will have a difficult time maintaining their toneo have the student focus on the “poh” syllable.

Troubleshooting including parallel relationships There are two important parallel relationships

1. The flute should be parallel to the ground2. the blow hole the should be parallel to the embouchure

Use of air slow air speed should be used to produce notes in the lower registers fast air speed should be used to produce notes in the higher registers Too much air can cause a double buzz, or no tone at all not enough air can cause low notes to be produced when higher notes are

desired, or in some cases no tone at all. Articulation

Single tongue During single tonguing the tip of the tongue should touch the top of

the teeth think “tee for two”

Double tongue Double tonguing is when the air stream is stopped by the tongue using

two different parts of the tongue. The “tah-kah” or “do-goh” or “da-gah” syllable should be used. This

will allow the tip of the tongue and the middle of the tongue to stop their air stream.

Have the student practice tonguing using only the “kah” syllable. Once the student demonstrates proficiency using only the “kah”

syllable add the “tah” syllable. Triple tonguing

Triple tonguing is when the air stream is stopped by the tongue three times.

The “tah-kah-tah” syllable should be used. This will allow the tip of the tongue and the middle of the tongue to stop the air stream three times.

Range of the flute and piccolo See flute orchestration hand out

How is piccolo different from flute? The piccolo flute smaller The piccolo flute sounds an octave higher than the flute

Fingerings Correct fingerings

See fingering chart handout.Common errors

D2- first finger must be down Eb2 – make sure you press down the left hand pointerF#’s- ring finger onlyD3 – make sure you press down the Right Hand pinky keyF

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G#3Use of Thumb Bb

Thumb Bb sounds better than the normal Bb fingering. Piccolo

fingerings are the same as the fluteFrench vs Plateau Keys

French keys are open hole Plateau keys are closed hole

Inline g key vs offset g Keys offset g keys the g key is not in line with the other keys

o this could be better for some players with shorter fingers. inline g key the g key is in line with the other keys

o this could be more difficult to reach for some playersPlated vs Solid Silver

Silver and Nickel plated flutes are common in student model flutes A good upgrade is to move to solid silver.

Metal vs wood piccolos Most flutes are metal some prefer wood flutes for a different tone.

Intonation tendenciesRange

Higher range tends to be sharp lower range tends to be flat

Dynamic level Louder dynamics tend to be sharp softer dynamics tend to be flat

Exterior Temperature cold tends to cause the instrument to go flat flat tends to cause the instrument to go sharp

Instructions to a beginning flutist in detail1. Start by teaching the proper posture the student should have while playing.

a. have the students stand up and center their weight over the feet. They should be able to push up on their toes without rocking forward or back at all.b. then have the students sit as if they are still standing from the waist up.

2. Then go over proper breathing3. Start by playing on the head joints

a. demonstrate and explain to the students the proper placement of the head joints and the lips over the blowhole on the lip plateb. Demonstrate and explain the “poh” syllable and how it relates to tone production. Have the students start with their lips together and let the air part at the center only. c. it isn’t necessary to introduce tonguing at this point.

4. Once sound production is consistent add the rest of the flute. Curved head joints

Advantages

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The student’s arms will not need to be extended as far as with normal flutes. Allowing for more comfortable playing.

It also has possible uses on the marching field. Disadvantages

The tone isn’t quite as vibrant. The curved head joint would have to be special ordered for each flute.

Vibrato Vibrato is produced when the pitch of a given note is varied slightly sharp and

flat in a wave like manner Teaching Start by having the student variant the pitch slightly in quarter notes, then

eighths, and so on, by slightly slowing and speeding up the air stream.d the student should avoid shaking the instrument to produce vibrato the student should avoid using the throat to produce

BrandsHigh School

Miyazawa Yamaha (up to 3000) Geminhardt (up to open hole)

Professional Powell Haynes Brannen-Cooper Burkart(piccolos) Jin Keefe(piccolos)

Method Books Beginner

o Learn as You Play Flute (Learn as You Play) by Peter Wastallo Beginner's Book For The Flute by Trevor Wyeo Rubank Elementary Methodo Progressive Flute Method Book 1 (Progressive) by Andrew Scott

Intermediateo Rubank Intermediateo Young Orchestral Flautist by Atarah Ben-Tovimo Flute Technique by Gareth Morris

Advancedo Rubank Advanced Method

SolosBeginner

o Academy Collection arr. Nicholas & Vallis-DaviesIntermediate

o Classical FavoritesAdvanced

o Belwin Master Solos

Ensemble

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Beginnero Handel Menuet & Bouree, from Fireworks Music

Intermediateo Arbeau & Kirkpatrick Ding Dong Merrily on High

Advancedo Tchaikowsky Trepak, from Nutcracker Suite

HandoutsFlute Topics Study guideOrchestration HandouFlute GlossaryFlute Fingering ChartTrill ChartFlute Playing RequirementsInterval ExerciseGariboli EtudeFlute Production QuizFlute QuizFlute Final

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Clarinet Information:

Assembly and partsAssembly

1. Grease corks if necessary2. Hold the lower section of the body in your right hand, and uppers section

of the body in your left hand. press down the tone hole rings on the upper section gently twist the section in the same direction aligning the bridge key

3. Hold the two connected sections in your right hand. Pressing down the tone hole rings of the lower section gently twist with your left hand.

4. Hold the clarinet in your left hand, and twist the barrel and mouthpiece on with your right hand. Remove the metal cap and ligature before putting on the mouthpiece. Align the flat side of the mouthpiece with the register key on the back of the clarinet.

5. Put on the ligature, and slide the reed behind it. Center your reed on the lat part of the mouthpiece wt holy a hairline of mouthpieces visible above the reed. Tighten the screw son the ligature only until snug. over tighening can damage your ligature.

Register key The register key is the open key on the back of the upper section of the

body of the clarinet The register key should be pressed with the left hand thumb The register key pops the sound of a fingering up a 12th.

Bridge key The bridge key is the key that crosses the upper and lower body

sections on the clarinet. The bridge key should be pressed while assembling the clarinet to

prevent damage. Care and Cleaning

After playing you should always swab out the clarinet. Swabbing the clarinet will help preserve the pads.

All clarinet players should have a reed case which will hold 4 reeds Key savers are acceptable, but should be stored outside the flute Keeping moist key saver in the flute doesn’t help Sticky pads can be cleaned with pad paper Sticky pads can be cleaned with a dollar bill Sticky pads can be cleaned with alcohol, but is only recommended in

emergencies, and never prolonged usage. Prolonged usage can cause the pads to dry out.

Sticky pads can be cleaned with cigarette paper, but make sure you get the kind without the gummed edges. Gummed edges can cause the pads to stick more.

Never make adjustments to the mechanism, professionals should be used for such adjustments.

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A non-treated cotton or silk men’s handkerchief can be used in place of the store bought swabs.

Tone ProductionStarting a beginner

1. open the case and remove the bell2. remove the lower part of the body3. grease the cork if dry4. place cork end into the bell5. remove the upper section of the body from the case6. grease the cork if dry7. place the cork e of the upper section into the lower section, 8. align the open keys into a straight line while pressing the bridge key9. place the barrel onto the top of the upper portion of the body10. then place the mouth piece into the barrel11. algin the open keys12. align the reed so that the tip is even with the tip of the mouthpiece,

make sure that it completely covers the hole on each side13. slide the ligature over the mouthpiece and reed and pit it down toward

the barrel. the top of the ligature should be just below the cut of the reed

14. Tightening the ligature will vary depending on the brand and design, but generally tighten the bottom screw first then the upper holding the reed in place, but allowing it to vibrate

Common problems and solutions The student’s reed is too hard

o stuffy sound, unable to produce tone, very resistanto have the student try using a softer reed

The student’s reed is too softo the sound is bright, with a slight buzz, high notes choke offo have the student try a harder reed

The student is using too much mouth pieceo high notes are difficult to playo have the student try not putting so much mouthpiece into their

mouth The student’s lower lip isn’t covering the teeth

o the sound is bright and the lower notes don’t sound goodo have the student use their lower lip to cover the bottom teeth

The student is using too little mouthpiece in moutho the sound is softer and the high notes are difficult to playo have the student take more of the mouthpiece into their mouth

The student is puckering the lips to mucho the sound is muffledo have the student not pucker as mucho have the student think about not bunching up their embouchure

The student’s the clarinet is held to far up

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o the sound is bright and sharpo have the student bring the end of the clarinet closer to the bodyo the ideal angle is between 30 and 40 degrees.

The corners of the student’s mouth is pulled to far backo the sound is airy and air is leaking out of the embouchureo have the student not pull back the corners of their mouth so

mucho tell the student not to smile while playing

The student is puffing the cheekso there is a delay in the initial sound production and a bright toneo have the student concentrate on not puffing out their cheeks.

The clarinet is being held to close to the body by the studento the sound is bright and sharpo have the student bring the end of the clarinet away from the

bodyo the ideal angle is between 30 and 40 degrees.

ReedsRecommended Beginner Brands

Rico Royal (strength 2, 2 ½, or 3) Vandoren (strength 1 or 1 ½)

Recommended Intermediate: Vandoren (strength 2 or 2 ½) Vandoren V-12 (strength 2 or 2 ½)

Recommended Advanced: Vandoren (strength 3, 3 ½, or rarely 4) Vandoren V-12 (strength 3, 3 ½, or rarely 4) Rico Grand Concerts (strength 3 or 3 ½)

Tuning Lengthen the tube by pulling out the barrel to tune throat tones. lengthen the tube by pulling between the body joints to tune higher notes

Articulation The tip of the toung shoud touch the tip of the reed. Double tonguing

Often sloppy and not recommendedFingerings

keep fingerings in the same hand if possible Avoid sliding if possible. Use alternate Bb/f# for chromatic passages Use only one finger only if possible (low FEF)

Registers of the clarinet clarimeau- lowest not to Bb clarion - from b in the staff to c above the staff altissimo – c# above the staff to the highest note possible

Clarinet FamilyMembers

Bb Clarinet – transpose one whole step up

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Bb Bass Clarinet - transpose one whole step up Bb Contra Bass Clarinet - transpose one whole step lower Eb Alto clarinet – transpose up major 6th Eb soprano – transpose up major 6th

Vibrato and its use Vibrato is not used in traditional classical clarinet playing.

MethodsBeginner

Rubank Elementary MethodIntermediate

Celebrated Method for the Clarinet by KloseAdvanced

Celebrated Method for the Clarinet by KloseSolos

Beginner Disney Solos - Bb Clarinet

Intermediate C. Rose: 32 Etudes For Clarinet

Advanced Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Concerto For Clarinet, K. 622

EnsembleBeginner

Mozart Ave Verum, from String Quintet, op 13/5Intermediate

Bach Jesu, Joy of Man's DesiringAdvanced

Bach Air on the G String Handouts

A New RegisterOrchestration Handout (Two pages)Clarinet Equipment InformationTone Handout Embouchure (Two pages)Clarinet Fingering ChartClarinet ChecklistCommon Clarinet AccessoriesAltissimo HandoutClarinet Tone Production QuizClarinet Playing FinalClarinet Final

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Saxamaphone Information:

Saxophone FamilyMembers

Alto Sax – Eb – up major 6thTennor Sax – Bb – up whole stepBari Sax – Eb – up a major 6thcontrabass sax – C – no transpositionsoprano sax – Bb – up whole stepc melody sax – C – up a major 6tho Invented by Adolf Sax

Boehm System“Is in its original sense a system of keywork for the flute, created by

inventor and flautist Theobald Boehm in the 1830s and 1840s. A key system inspired by Boehm's for the clarinet family also is known as "Boehm system" although it was not developed by Boehm himself.

The basic premise behind the Boehm system is that the tone holes, the openings where the various notes are emitted from a musical instrument, should be located at the proper points on the body of the instrument, rather than where they can conveniently be covered by the player's fingers. From the advent of simple wind instruments, these openings could be so inconvenient that some needed to be covered by portions of the hands other than the fingers. And, on instruments not yet adapted to the Boehm system, elaborate work-arounds, such as the lengthy tone holes in the upper, or wing, joint of the bassoon, have to be provided.

While such workarounds can enable an in tune instrument in the case of smaller instruments, large instruments (such as bass clarinets, contrabassoons and saxophones) cannot be so accommodated. Either the tone holes are too large to be covered by the fingers or the operation of the keywork becomes so cumbersome than the instrument is awkward to operate. Generally, the larger the instrument the greater the need for compromise on intonation.

Theobald Boehm felt that a musical instrument would best benefit from a rational approach that would first consider the regularity of the fundamental scale of the instrument, and only once that had been determined were the measures taken to close those holes. He chose the traverse flute as the instrument to test his theory.

In the case of the Boehm flute, Boehm adapted a system of axle mounted keys with a series of "open rings" (called brille in German, as they resembled the type of eyeglass frames common during the nineteenth century) that were fit around other tone holes, such that the closure of one tone hole by a finger would also close a key placed over a second hole.

Through careful experimentation over a number of years, Boehm perfected his take on the flute, with the instrument gradually displacing virtually all other flutes during the second half of the nineteenth century. While non-Boehm flutes are still made in limited numbers, they are primarily restricted to

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non-ensemble situations such as folk music, where tuning and regularity of tone are not considered as critical.

Boehm did work on a system for the bassoon, and Boehm-inspired oboes have been made, but non-Boehm systems remain predominant for these instruments.” 3

Figure 1. eattle musician Jay C. Easton with 10 members of the saxophone family (from largest to smallest: contrabass, bass, baritone, tenor, C tenor, alto, F mezzo-soprano, soprano, C soprano,

sopranino)4

3 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boehm_System4 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saxophone

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Care and maintenance After playing you should always swab out the saxophone. Swabbing the

saxophone will help preserve the pads. All saxophone players should have a reed case which will hold 4 reeds Key savers are acceptable, but should be stored outside the flute Keeping moist key saver in the flute doesn’t help Sticky pads can be cleaned with pad paper Sticky pads can be cleaned with a dollar bill Sticky pads can be cleaned with alcohol, but is only recommended in

emergencies, and never prolonged usage. Prolonged usage can cause the pads to dry out.

Sticky pads can be cleaned with cigarette paper, but make sure you get the kind without the gummed edges. Gummed edges can cause the pads to stick more.

Never make adjustments to the mechanism, professionals should be used for such adjustments.

A non-treated cotton or silk men’s handkerchief can be used in place of the store bought swabs

Assembly1. Open your case right side up. Put the thin end of the reed inside your mouth

to moisten it. Grease the cork on the neck if necessary2. Put the neck strap around your neck. Hook the body of the instrument to neck

strap. Remove the end plug.3. Put the mouthpiece on the necks so that half of the cork is exposed. The flat

side of the mouthpiece should be on the bottom side. 4. Put on the ligature, and slide the reed behind it. Center your red on the flat

part of the mouthpiece with only a hairline of mouthpiece visible above the reed. Tighten the screws on ligature only until snug. Over tightening can damage your ligature.

5. Put the neck onto the body carefully aligning the connecting lever. Tighten the neck screw.

Neck straps Neck straps are important to help promote proper posture Neck straps are important to help promote proper hand position Neck straps help prevent long term physical damage to joints

Hand positionBasic Both hands should be kept in a natural arched position. Place the left hand pointer, ring, and middle fingers on the indented keys on

the top of the saxophone Place the right had pointer, ring, and middle fingers on the indented keys on

the bottom of the saxophone. Embouchure

Basic Similar to clarinet embouchure, think “ooo” or more forward

Tone Production

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Starting a beginner15. open the case and remove the bell16. remove the lower part of the body17. grease the cork if dry18. place cork end into the bell19. remove the upper section of the body from the case20. grease the cork if dry21. place the cork e of the upper section into the lower section, 22. align the open keys into a straight line while pressing the bridge key23. place the barrel onto the top of the upper portion of the body24. then place the mouth piece into the barrel25. algin the open keys26. align the reed so that the tip is even with the tip of the mouthpiece,

make sure that it completely covers the hole on each side27. slide the ligature over the mouthpiece and reed and pit it down toward

the barrel. the top of the ligature should be just below the cut of the reed

28. Tightening the ligature will vary depending on the brand and design, but generally tighten the bottom screw first then the upper holding the reed in place, but allowing it to vibrate

Common problems and solutions The student’s reed is too hard

o stuffy sound, unable to produce tone, very resistanto have the student try using a softer reed

The student’s reed is too softo the sound is bright, with a slight buzz, high notes choke offo have the student try a harder reed

The student is using too much mouth pieceo high notes are difficult to playo have the student try not putting so much mouthpiece into their

mouth The student’s lower lip isn’t covering the teeth

o the sound is bright and the lower notes don’t sound goodo have the student use their lower lip to cover the bottom teeth

The student is using too little mouthpiece in moutho the sound is softer and the high notes are difficult to playo have the student take more of the mouthpiece into their mouth

The student is puckering the lips to mucho the sound is muffledo have the student not pucker as mucho have the student think about not bunching up their embouchure

The corners of the student’s mouth is pulled to far backo the sound is airy and air is leaking out of the embouchureo have the student not pull back the corners of their mouth so

much

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o tell the student not to smile while playing The student is puffing the cheeks

o there is a delay in the initial sound production and a bright toneo have the student concentrate on not puffing out their cheeks.

Tonguing The tip of the tongue should touch the tip of the teeth Anchor tonguing is also acceptable, but probably shouldn’t be taughtDouble tonguing

Double tonguing is possible, but not recommendedVibrato

Vibrato is produced when the pitch of a given note is varied slightly sharp and flat in a wave like manner

Teaching Start by having the student variant the pitch slightly in quarter notes, then

eighths, and so on, by slightly slowing and speeding up the air stream. the student should avoid shaking the instrument to produce vibrato the student should avoid using the throat to produce

IntonationDynamics

Louder dynamics goes flat softer dynamics goes sharp

Range low register goes flat thigh register is flat

Temperature cold goes flat hot goes sharp

Octave keyThumb position

The thumb should be held at 2 o’clock When to use

The thumb key should only be pressed for fingerings above D in the staff.

Range of the saxophone Low Bb to G above for high school much higher for professional

Name of range above high F Altisimo

Palm keys The palm keys are the flat keys in the right hands.

Side keys the side keys are the flat keys in the left hand

Fingering f#/Gb – R1, R2, R3, L1, fork, should be used chromatic passages including f and f#side c – R1, side 2, should be used

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Top f keyHigh f#High g on soprano

Bb fingerings2 best 3 alternatesbis key locations and use

ReedsRecommended Beginner Brands

Rico Royal (strength 2, 2 ½, or 3) Vandoren (strength 1 or 1 ½)

Recommended Intermediate: Vandoren (strength 2 or 2 ½)

Recommended Advanced: Vandoren (strength 3, 3 ½, or rarely 4) Rico Grand Concerts (strength 3 or 3 ½)

Jazz mouthpieces and reedsMouthpiece

MyerReeds

Vandoren JavaDoubling

Doubling is recommending for all saxophone players Saxophone isn’t commonly used in classical situations so being flexable will

help long term work Methods

Beginner• Rubank Elementary Method

Intermediate Rubank Intermediate Method

Advanced Rubank Advanced Method

SoloBeginner

Bach Menuet in G, from the Anna Magdelena NotebookIntermediate

Beethoven Beloved from Afar, op 98/6Advanced

Desenclos Prelude Cadence et FinalEnsemble

Beginner Niehaus Rapid Transit

Advanced Mozart Eine Kleine Nachtmusik

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Handouts Saxophone playing test requirements (10 pages) Saxophone Intonation Pitch and Intonation (2 pages) Alternate Fingering Exercises (3 pages) Saxophone Range Career Management Saxophone study Guide

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