private teacher in boulder

Saxophone Teachers in Boulder

Our Saxophone Teachers

Taylor Clay

Born in Brooklyn, NY, Taylor began his musical journeys at the age of 13 on the saxophone. In high school he won awards with his school's jazz band as well as performed in the All-County concert band. Taylor then studied with Dr. Christopher Creviston and Bret Zvacek at the Crane School of Music in Potsdam, NY. During this time Taylor also studied briefly with such artists as Eric Alexander, Mitch Frohman and Lenny Pickett. After completing his degree in Music Performance in 2012, Taylor moved to Colorado to attend the University of Norther... Read More

Camden Johnson

Camden Johnson is a multi-instrumentalist, pursuing a BM in jazz alto saxophone at the University of Colorado Boulder. He started playing drum set at age 5, and would go on to play viola, cello, bass, guitar, piano, and alto saxophone throughout grade and middle school. He attended Denver School of the Arts where he would win various awards such as “Outstanding Reeds” at Essentially Ellington jazz competition and festival, as well as “superior with distinction” at various state wind ensemble competitions. Although his focus is currently with sc... Read More

Camden Johnson

Camden Johnson is a multi-instrumentalist, pursuing a BM in jazz alto saxophone at the University of Colorado Boulder. He started playing drum set at age 5, and would go on to play viola, cello, bass, guitar, piano, and alto saxophone throughout grade and middle school. He attended Denver School of the Arts where he would win various awards such as “Outstanding Reeds” at Essentially Ellington jazz competition and festival, as well as “superior with distinction” at various state wind ensemble competitions. Although his focus is currently with sc... Read More

Camden Johnson

Camden Johnson is a multi-instrumentalist, pursuing a BM in jazz alto saxophone at the University of Colorado Boulder. He started playing drum set at age 5, and would go on to play viola, cello, bass, guitar, piano, and alto saxophone throughout grade and middle school. He attended Denver School of the Arts where he would win various awards such as “Outstanding Reeds” at Essentially Ellington jazz competition and festival, as well as “superior with distinction” at various state wind ensemble competitions. Although his focus is currently with sc... Read More

Ethan Mead

Ethan Mead is an educator and saxophonist currently pursuing an undergraduate degree in music education at the University of Colorado, Boulder. An accomplished saxophonist, Ethan played with the Colorado All-State Band for two years and was acknowledged as an outstanding soloist at the 2019 Greeley Jazz Festival. During his studies under Tom Meyer and Lucas Hopkins, he has played as a member of both the CU Wind Symphony and Symphonic Band in addition to his work in the Mousai Saxophone Quartet. Ethan has taught private lessons for over 5 years ... Read More

Ethan Mead

Ethan Mead is an educator and saxophonist currently pursuing an undergraduate degree in music education at the University of Colorado, Boulder. An accomplished saxophonist, Ethan played with the Colorado All-State Band for two years and was acknowledged as an outstanding soloist at the 2019 Greeley Jazz Festival. During his studies under Tom Meyer and Lucas Hopkins, he has played as a member of both the CU Wind Symphony and Symphonic Band in addition to his work in the Mousai Saxophone Quartet. Ethan has taught private lessons for over 5 years ... Read More

Ethan Mead

Ethan Mead is an educator and saxophonist currently pursuing an undergraduate degree in music education at the University of Colorado, Boulder. An accomplished saxophonist, Ethan played with the Colorado All-State Band for two years and was acknowledged as an outstanding soloist at the 2019 Greeley Jazz Festival. During his studies under Tom Meyer and Lucas Hopkins, he has played as a member of both the CU Wind Symphony and Symphonic Band in addition to his work in the Mousai Saxophone Quartet. Ethan has taught private lessons for over 5 years ... Read More

Ethan Mead

Ethan Mead is an educator and saxophonist currently pursuing an undergraduate degree in music education at the University of Colorado, Boulder. An accomplished saxophonist, Ethan played with the Colorado All-State Band for two years and was acknowledged as an outstanding soloist at the 2019 Greeley Jazz Festival. During his studies under Tom Meyer and Lucas Hopkins, he has played as a member of both the CU Wind Symphony and Symphonic Band in addition to his work in the Mousai Saxophone Quartet. Ethan has taught private lessons for over 5 years ... Read More

Ethan Mead

Ethan Mead is an educator and saxophonist currently pursuing an undergraduate degree in music education at the University of Colorado, Boulder. An accomplished saxophonist, Ethan played with the Colorado All-State Band for two years and was acknowledged as an outstanding soloist at the 2019 Greeley Jazz Festival. During his studies under Tom Meyer and Lucas Hopkins, he has played as a member of both the CU Wind Symphony and Symphonic Band in addition to his work in the Mousai Saxophone Quartet. Ethan has taught private lessons for over 5 years ... Read More

William Heinz

William Heinz is a Denver native. His musical life started at the age of ten when he began studying saxophone with an after-school enrichment program offered by Denver Public Schools. Once acquainted with the horn, he began his first inquiries into wind band and jazz literature with Colorado Honor Band. During middle school, William added Colorado Conservatory for the Jazz Arts to his after-school repertoire. Under the keen eye of local jazz-giant Keith Oxman, he attended Denver East High School. Upon Oxman’s direction, William attended Metropo... Read More

How Our Saxophone Lessons Work

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Easy

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Convenient

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Awesome

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Affordable

1

Book a $25 Intro Saxophone Lesson

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2

The teacher comes to you

(we also offer virtual lessons)

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3

Decide to continue

Enjoy weekly lessons all month long

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4

Receive an invoice at the end of the month

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1 Saxophone Lesson Review

Steve Weber

We love Mountainside! The saxophone instructor has always been encouraging and supportive.

2021-8-30

All about Saxophone Lessons

Saxophone Lessons:

The saxophone (also called the sax) is a family of woodwind instruments. Usually made of brass and played with a single-reed mouthpiece. Saxophone mouthpieces can either be made of metal or plastic. The reason saxophones are woodwind instruments is that they use a wooden reed to produce the sound. It’s a bit confusing because they are made of brass, but they are not a brass instrument. It is also common for woodwind instruments to control the pitch of the note by covering holes in the body tube. This controls the resonant frequency of the air column in the horn. On a saxophone, the player covers or uncovers the holes by pressing keys.

The most common saxophones are soprano, alto, tenor, and baritone. We recommend students be at least 8 years old before starting the saxophone. Saxophone requires a decent lung capacity and it is a pretty big instrument, without sizing options. The standard saxophone has 23 keys! Some of these keys are played with the fingertips, some are played with the palms of the hands. When you are playing the saxophone you cannot see your hands, so muscle memory is very important. Did you know - playing the saxophone is actually good for the environment? Saxophone reeds are made out of an invasive plant, Arundo Donax, so every time you switch your reed, you can feel good that you are throwing away an invasive plant ! Arundo Donax is native to the Mediterranean Basin and the middle east. It is one of the fastest-growing plants on the planet. It can grow up to 10 cm a day - that’s basically a new reed!

Saxophone History:

Believe it or not, the sax was originally invented to perform in orchestras by Adolphe Sax in the early 1840s. It was not a huge success at first, as most people did not like the sound of the sax. Composer Hector Berlioz was the first prominent figure to actually champion the new instrument.

Even though Berlioz loved the new instrument, Adolphe Sax continued to struggle throughout his career. He was sued by rivals and even attacked! Who knew it was so dangerous to be an instrument inventor. He ended up dying impoverished at age 80. At least his invention ended up being one of the world’s most popular instruments.

Even though some classical pieces were composed for the saxophone, it became a popular Jazz instrument. Sax was eventually incorporated into R&B and Rock.

Our Favorite Saxophone Players:

John Coltrane: On Green Dolphin Street

Charlie Parker: Hot House

Lester Young: Jammin’ The Blues

Nubya Garcia: Pace