The Science and Art of Saxophone Teaching

by Ray Smith

Overview

Dr. Ray Smith is the saxophonists' saxophonist, the teachers' teacher. His 50+ years of saxophone playing and teaching have prepared him well to bring together perhaps the greatest breadth of practical saxophone information ever assembled under one book cover in The Science and Art of Saxophone Teaching. This book is valuable to saxophone teachers and serious saxophone students alike covering such topics as basic tone production (embouchure, oral cavity, breath support) and solving problems with tone, playing low notes, slurring down over intervals, solving reed issues, saxophone repair and adjustments, coordinating classical and jazz study and practice, warmup exercises and practice routines, articulation basics and articulation styles, development of technique and speed, choosing fingerings, solving vibrato issues, working on intonation problems, playing dynamics, rhythmic development, learning altissimo (may be worth the price of the book alone), phrasing musically, choosing good breathing places, working with ornamentation and cadenzas, dealing with differences between styles, becoming a multilingual musician, doubling other woodwind instruments and helpful information on clarinet, flute and double reeds, dealing with stage fright, and much more. This volume belongs in the library of every earnest saxophonist. There are also a series of video tutorials on a coordinated YouTube channel that bring all the concepts to life.

Ray has been blessed to be a master pedagogue and is sharing in this book the concepts, insights, and approaches he has used to help countless young players become great saxophonists and musicians. His track record as a professor at Brigham Young University is enviable. His students teach at many of the nations' universities, perform in the Broadway pits, play in the service bands of the Army, Navy, and Marines, and write for Hollywood movies. One is playing with the Dukes of Dixieland, and one is currently holding down the first tenor chair in the famed University of North Texas 1 O'Clock Lab Band. Ray, himself, a disciple of Eugene Rousseau, is a fine performer and well-recorded artist. He is equally at home in classical and jazz-related styles and adept at all five woodwind instruments. He has been heard frequently on the airwaves of this country (ESPN, ABC, NBC, CNN, etc.), on movies such as The Sandlot and The Swan Princess, and on Television series such as He-Man: Masters of the Universe, Xena, and Hercules.

Product Details

BN ID:	2940162479680
Publisher:	Outskirts Press, Inc.
Publication date:	02/24/2021
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
File size:	10 MB

About the Author

Dr. Ray Smith is the Professor of Saxophone at Brigham Young University. In The Science and Art of Saxophone Teaching, Ray brings over 50 years of saxophone playing and teaching experience to the table to help serious teachers and students of the saxophone. He is truly a teachers’ teacher—a master pedagogue. Ray has also recorded on about 250 albums as well as movie soundtracks and jingles well-known to the public. He has performed many of the standard orchestral saxophone solos with the Utah Symphony. He is also a member of the classical Utah Saxophone Quartet, and FOUR, a jazz saxophone quartet. He has been a regular presenter at the World Saxophone Congresses as well as the NASA, IAJE and JEN Conferences. Smith’s students have gone on to teach at respected universities, to play with the major military service bands, to play with the University of North Texas 1 O’Clock Lab Band and Eastman and Indiana University top bands, and to professional recording and performing careers.