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Step 1
Start by learning the fundamentals of saxophone playing. Learn all of the major, minor, and jazz scales and practice technique for at least 30 minutes a day until you have memorized and can recite all scales at will.
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Step 2
Begin with the classical genre and learn the difference between jazz tone and classical tone. Jazz tone is typically a little more reedy and more raw sounding, whereas classical tone is supposed to be crisp and clean and have little reed sound in it if at all.
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Step 3
Listen to famous classical saxophone players and notice their technique and phrasing. Saxophone phrasing in classical music tends to be a bit more staccato than in jazz or pop playing because it is typically an embellishment sound with the orchestra. Familiarize yourself with saxophonists like Eugene Rousseau who are famous for their classical playing.
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Step 4
Move on to jazz as soon as you have grasped the fundamentals of music theory and classical playing. Notice the difference in jazz saxophonists by listening to numerous famous jazz players. The tone should be more legato and expressive. You are allowed to take more liberties in jazz music than the more rigid classical style.
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Step 5
Now take some time and listen to your favorite pop music. See if you can identify the saxophone parts in pop music and allow yourself to experiment with improvisation on a traditional pop piece. Look online for music books with pop sheet music so you can become more familiar with pop playing, which tends to be embellishment. like classical styles.
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Step 6
Follow along with your favorite songs from different genres once you are good enough to improvise. This talent will come from working on jazz music. Practice adding a sax part to genres like blues, which is typically heavy with sax. Then branch out to jazz, pop, country, classical and salsa.
