PGSaxLab

Raw Do***ng a Chorus of Sonny Stitt 🎷😬

Sonny Stitt. "The Eternal Triangle." One chorus, no backing track. Just him in my ear and me trying to keep up. 🎷

Sometimes you just want to play that.

And one of the best things you can do for your playing is transcribe, get that player in your ear, and try to copy them as close as you possibly can.

You'll never get 100% like them. But the process of trying to sound like them is how you start to sound like you.

Who's in your ear right now? Drop the name below. 👇

🎯 Free live training on how to build that ear-to-horn connection: https://smpl.is/am9ve
Or you can register in my link tree in the bio. 👆

Shedding Some Bb Rhythm Changes 🎷

This video was made with Musical Captions, an app that puts scrolling sheet music on your videos in real time without complicated editing. If you're a musician who makes content, this is about to change the game. We're opening it up to early users soon. Hit the link in my bio to join the waitlist and be one of the first to try it out 🎶

If you're a saxophone player who can hear what you want to play but can't get it out of your horn, I'm doing a free live webinar on Wednesday, August 12th at 11 AM Pacific / 2 PM Eastern. I'm breaking down the exact system I use to close the gap between your ear and your fingers. Spots are limited.

👉 Register here: https://smpl.is/am3fz
🔗 Or grab it in my bio in my link tree.

Minor 11th Arpeggios Into the Stratosphere 😬

Minor 11th arpeggios ascending in half steps, all the way up into the extreme altissimo. Still a work in progress. Not perfect. But that's the point -- you don't wait until it's clean to put in the reps. You do the work and let the work clean it up.

This is what real practice looks like. No shortcuts. No hacks. Just showing up and running the drill.

If you want to understand how I think about the saxophone and how I help my students build real skills from the ground up, I'm doing a free live webinar:

📅 Saturday, August 1st
🕦 11:30 AM Pacific / 2:30 PM Eastern

👉 Register here: https://smpl.is/aluk3
🔗 or grab it in my link tree in the bio.

🎷I Tried to Cover Baptiste Herbin's Insane Solo on "All The Things You Are" 😬

Baptiste Herbin is one of the most terrifying saxophone players alive. His solo on "All The Things You Are" is absolutely ridiculous, so naturally I had to try and learn it. 🎷

I transcribed the whole thing and put it on screen so you can follow along. Definitely check out his original recording because I probably don't do it justice 😂 but I did my best.

If you want to understand how players like this actually think through changes and build vocabulary, I break the whole process down in my free live webinar this Saturday, July 25th.

🎯 Register here: https://smpl.is/alob2
🔗 Or grab the link in my link tree in my bio.

🔔 Hope you'll follow and sub for more transcriptions, breakdowns, and real talk about getting better on the saxophone.

If You're Not Working on the Blues, Your Horn Doesn't Respect You 🎷

I said what I said.

The blues is the foundation of everything in jazz. It's where your sound lives. It's where your feel comes from. And if you're skipping it to go learn Donna Lee... we need to have a conversation. 😬

This is just me and the horn. No backing track. No chart. No safety net. Just the blues.
If you want to learn why so many saxophone players stay stuck year after year and what actually works to break through, I put together a free webinar that breaks it all down. 🎥

🎯 Register here: https://smpl.is/algyv
Or grab the link in my bio. 👆

Playing Acapella Exposes Every Sax Player 🎷 😱

🎷 Can you play over changes without a backing track?

Most players can't. And that's the problem.

Backing tracks are great tools — but they can seriously harm your progress if you're not careful. They fill in all the harmonic information FOR you, which means you never have to prove you actually know where you are in the form.

Playing acapella strips all of that away. No rhythm section to lean on. No bass player telling you where the root is. Just you and the changes.
If you can't hear the progression moving in your head while you play, you don't own it yet.

This is how you build real ownership of the harmony — away from the rhythm section.

🔗 Want to learn how to actually hear and navigate changes from the inside out?
Register for my free live webinar: https://smpl.is/alduv

🔗 You can also grab the link in my bio in my linktree.

Minor 9 idea moving down in half steps 🎷🔥 (Take this through all 12 keys)

🎓 Free live saxophone webinar this Saturday, July 11th — I'll show you how to actually hear and use ideas like this, not just memorize them.

👉 Register using the link in bio, or go to https://smpl.is/alc5a

3 Hard Truths About Learning The Saxophone 🎷 😤

Here's the top three hardest truths about learning the saxophone. No sugar coating.

Most people quit within a year or two — not because the instrument is too hard, but because they expected it to feel easy by now. The ones who stick around? They're avoiding the one thing in the practice room that would actually change their playing. And number 1 is the reason players stay stuck for years without even realizing it.

If you're tired of feeling like you're putting in the work but not hearing the results, I run a free live webinar where I break down exactly what's keeping you stuck and how to fix it.

🎷 Register here: https://smpl.is/al9u2
🔗 Or grab it in the bio link.

If You're Not Transcribing Baptiste Herbin, You're Dishonoring Your Whole Family 🎷 🔥

I said what I said. 🤷

Baptiste Herbin is one of the most dangerous saxophone players alive right now and if you're not studying him, we need to talk. 🎷🔥

In this video I'm breaking down a few of his lines note by note — showing you what makes it hit so hard and why this kind of vocabulary belongs in your ears.

Want to learn how I teach my students to actually USE what they transcribe — not just collect licks that sit in a notebook? 👇

🎷 Watch my free webinar: https://smpl.is/al81q
🔗 Or grab it in my bio link

Do you suck at the saxophone? 🎷🤔

I don't know. Do you? Only you can answer that.

Here's what's funny — the people who said "no" the fastest? Some of them absolutely suck. Zero self-awareness. Having the time of their life. God bless 'em.

But if you winced a little? That's not because you're bad. That's because your ear is good enough to know the difference between what you want to sound like and what's coming out.

That gap isn't a talent problem. It's a connection problem. And it doesn't get fixed with more YouTube or a better mouthpiece.

I break down exactly what causes it — and how to fix it — in a free webinar.

🎷 Register here: https://smpl.is/al6s8
🔗 Or grab the link in bio.