The following are a list of exercises, etudes and excerpts that every student works on. As you would expect solo repertoire is a focus but is too vast to display here.
48 Famous Studies- Ferling
An essential part of any saxophone curriculum, these 48 etudes cover all major and natural minor keys. Each page contains one slow and one fast etude, but do not be misled as the slow etudes contain just as many challenges as the fast.
As the title implies this book contains great general purpose exercises for inclusion in a students daily practice routine. Again dealing with both major and minor modes the book takes a student through the 12 keys with a variety of scales, arpeggios, extended intervals, ornaments and alternate fingerings.
This is a great technique book, but is not meant to be the bulk of any saxophone study. These "Mechanical Exercises" are short and are meant to be played slowly, the goal being to play them perfectly. Between the three volumes, this series works all intervals throughout the entire range of the instrument.
An often overlooked area of study, there are many great orchestral pieces that include the saxophone. Composers such as Adams, Bernstein, Bizet, Gershwin, Milhaud, Prokofiev, Rachmaninoff and Ravel have written beautifully for the instrument and the excerpts provide a great opportunity for the progressing saxophonist to learn about music of which they are often left out.
A three-part series (Basic, Intermediate, Advanced) these tried and true etudes allow students to explore the core rhythms, articulations and phrasing essential to this style of playing. The fruits of this labor will go beyond reading music to improvisation by giving students a deeper knowledge and comfort level with the style.
