Where can you get free tenor saxophone jazz lessons?

Answer 1

That's hard to do. You're probably going to have to teach yourself. Butthat's the way some pros have learned it:

Learning generic jazz:

• Listen to expert Jazz Music with a Saxophone in it.
• YouTube and the internet.
• Find a teacher with free time.
• Visit the Saxophone Symposium (free event hosted in George Mason University, near DC), or things of the like.
• Try to play a common song (like Jingle Bells) and attempt to make it sound "jazzy". Fiddle around with it, still playing the same notes, but try to swing it, or syncopate it. Don't play DA DA DA, play DOO DUT DA. Play it like Jingle Bell Rock. IN 4/4 time, put the emphasis on beats 1 and 3, rather than 2 and 4. That kind of thing.
• Try going to United States Navy Band concerts (especially the Commodores), which are often free of charge, then try to copy what you hear.

Learning smooth jazz:

• Listen to the radio and elevator music.

Learning improv[ised] jazz:

• Play a song through normally. Make it simple (Jingle Bells). Then, try changing a note here and there. Add little twirls, slides. When you play a B, play B-A-G, really fast. If you like what you just did, do it again. If you mess up, playyour mistakeagain, like you meant it. Squeak intentionally. Experiment until you've found something that sounds good (or at least not like a dying animal).

Not great advice, I know. But I have the same problem. These are just all the little tips I've picked up from people like music teachers and instrument repairmen who pity my lack of skill, and I have to say, some of them actually work. Good luck.