How to Play Jazz Saxophone

Summary: Jazz is a style of music particularly suited to improvisation, and a lot of jazz musicians use the form as a backdrop to play more freely expressed riffs and melodies, and to expand on general musical themes. Thus, while having an increased risk of chaotic polyphony, bordering on discord, jazz opens the field for the musical explorer to go forward.

Through the years, jazz music has featured an instrument that has been popularized in our day by Stan Getz, John Coltrane, Charlie Parker, and yes, Kenny G. In case you haven’t guessed, I'm talking about the saxophone. The sax is a woodwind instrument, despite its brassy appearance. It was introduced to the world circa 1840 by a Belgian-born man named Adolphe Sax, perhaps borrowing elements from the clarinet and oboe in its creation.

In these free saxophone video lessons, our expert will show you how to get started playing jazz sax, one of the most popular, and most experimental, styles of saxophone playing. Here's everything you need to get started on jazz sax, including tips and techniques on saxophone improvisation, playing jazz saxophone licks, and saxophone scales and chords.