YouTube Video Blog Posts

In this week's free online saxophone lesson you'll be learning the funkiest sax riff I've ever heard - Quincy Jones' The Dude, which features the killer tenor sax of LA session legend Ernie Watts. The song was originally released on Quincy's 1981 album "The Dude" and features a whole host of famous session musicians. This one should be quite manageable if you're a beginner on sax, although the high F# might be a bit high on tenor! 

Be sure to pick up your free PDF sheet music transcription for The Dude here, which has got the sax hook written out for alto AND tenor. Here are the Q&A topics covered in this lesson, with video time stamps...

In this week's free online saxophone lesson you'll be learning a real rock/pop classic from Men At Work, and that's the iconic 1981 sax hook from Who Can It Be Now, featuring the gravelly tenor sax of band member Greg Ham. This was originally released on Men At Work's 1981 album "Business As Usual". This one should be quite manageable if you're a beginner on sax, although the high F# might be a bit high on tenor! 

Be sure to pick up your free PDF sheet music transcription for Who Can It Be Now here, which has got the sax hook written out for alto AND tenor. Here are the Q&A topics covered in this lesson, with video time stamps...

On this week's free online saxophone lesson you'll be learning a real smoochy classic from Grover Washington Jr, and that's his iconic 1980 sax hook from Just The Two Of Us featuring Bill Withers. This was originally released on Grover's album Winelight. Whereas last week's Native New Yorker Brecker solo was a real killer, this one should be much more manageable if you're a beginner on sax. 

Be sure to pick up your free PDF sheet music transcription for Just The Two Of Us here, which has got the sax hook written out for alto AND tenor. Here are the Q&A topics covered in this lesson, with video time stamps (min:sec). Clicking on the time stamp will take you...

This week you'll be learning one of my favourite sax solos of all time, and that's Michael Brecker's awesome 1977 tenor solo on Native New Yorker by disco legends Odyssey. Make no bones about it though - this is a really hard solo! If you need help with your high notes, check out my Ultimate Guide To Altissimo.

Be sure to pick up your free PDF sheet music transcription of Native New Yorker here, which has got the sax solo written out for alto AND tenor, plus the scales that Brecker uses. Here are the Q&A topics covered in this lesson, with video time stamps (min:sec). Clicking on the time stamp will take you straight to that portion of the video on YouTube (in a...

I'm all about the classic, famous sax breaks on Get Your Sax Together, but this week we're going right up to date with Tivon Pennicott's lyrical tenor solo on the Gregory Porter track "Hey Laura" from his 2013 album Liquid Spirit. For me, this is the perfect blend of jazz and soulful pop.

Be sure to pick up your free PDF for Hey Laura here, which has got the sax solo written out for alto AND tenor. Here are the Q&A topics covered in this lesson, with video time stamps (min:sec). Clicking on the time stamp will take you straight to that portion of the video on YouTube (in a separate tab). Full Time stamps for the video and a complete transcript are available at the...

Never let it be said that I'm "saxist" on this channel - this week it's your time to shine if you're a bari player! Moanin' by Charles Mingus (not to be confused with Bobby Timmons' Moanin') has one of the most iconic sax riffs of all time, belted out by the irrepressible Pepper Adams on his Selmer Balanced Action baritone. Of course, you don't have to play bari to enjoy this one - it's just as great on alto or tenor. Well...maybe not quite as great ;-)

Be sure to pick up your free PDF sheet music for Moanin', which has got the full theme written out for bari (or alto) AND tenor. Here are the Q&A topics covered in this lesson, with video time...

I'm so excited about bringing you this week's lesson on Pick Up The Pieces by the Average White Band! Firstly, it's one of my favourite tracks of all time, but on top of that I've got three fantastic musicians to record the rhythm track this week. It's helluva funky folks! At 10:08 you can hear us play the whole song from start to finish.

Be sure to pick up your free PDF sheet music for Pick Up The Pieces, which has got the whole song written out, for alto AND tenor. You'll also get the harmony parts, a transcription of my tenor solo and a structure sheet to print off. Here are the Q&A topics covered in this lesson, with video time stamps (min:sec)....

Got a bit of fun for you guys this week - it doesn't always have to be technique and hard solos! I'm all about bringing you the world's most iconic sax lines, and what could be more iconic than the "Epic Sax Guy" riff, taken from the song "Run Away", which was The SunStroke Project's 2010 Moldova Eurovision Song Contest entry.

Be sure to pick up your free PDF sheet music for Epic Sax Guy, which has got a fingering chart for every note, for alto AND tenor. Boom! If you want to play along you can use the backing track here. Here are the Q&A topics covered in this lesson, with video time stamps (min:sec). Clicking on the time stamp will take you straight to that...

Nothing says smoochy, romantic saxophone quite like Sade's Smooth Operator. The track was released on Sade's debut 1984 album Diamond Life, and features the tenor saxophone of multi-instrumentalist band member Stuart Mathewman (aka Cottonbelly). For this video, which is Smooth Operator part two, we'll be learning the famous solo section in the middle. If you want to learn the recurring melody section go and check out Smooth Operator Part 1.

Be sure to pick up the free PDF sheet music for Smooth Operator and if you want to play along you can get the backing track here. Here are the Q&A topics covered in this lesson, with video time stamps (min:sec). Clicking on the time...

Night Train is a tune that holds a special place in my heart. When I was a teenager I used to play in pubs in Falkirk with my Scottish mates Dru and Baz and the song we used to play every gig was Night Train. We were all obsessed with Back To The Future back then and we could quote every line!

Night Train was mainly composed by Duke Ellington and recorded by Jimmy Forrest, but at that time the only version we knew was by the fictitious 1955 dance band Marvin Berry And The Starlighters, who played the Enchantment Under The Sea Dance in Back To The Future. Of course, later on I discovered all the other great versions of Night Train and in today's free online saxophone lesson...