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Reviews

Vandoren V16 A7S Alto Mouthpiece

August 13, 2009 by Steve 4 Comments

This is the new Vandoren V16 A7S.  This was my main piece for a year or two when I first started playing alto again about 8 years ago.  This mouthpiece has a bright powerful sound to it. Nice big full sound with some edge.  It has what I would consider a small chamber. the smaller […]

Filed Under: Alto Medium Baffle Reviews, Alto Mouthpiece Reviews Tagged With: alto mouthpiece, vandoren V16

Mouthpiece Cafe NYC 6 Alto Mouthpiece

August 13, 2009 by Steve 14 Comments

I received this piece a few days ago from the guys at Mouthpiece Cafe(Brian and Eric).  Everyone knows that I’m a big fan of Brian Powell’s work so when I heard they were coming out with their own line of mouthpieces I just had to try one. I really love this NYC mouthpiece.  It has […]

Filed Under: Alto Medium Baffle Reviews, Alto Mouthpiece Reviews Tagged With: alto mouthpiece, brian poell, mouthpiece Cafe

LAW MCB 6* (Prototype)

August 13, 2009 by Steve 2 Comments

I received this piece a few weeks ago from Laurie Waldron in the UK. He’s been making great tenor mouthpieces for awhile and now he’s taking a shot at some alto mouthpieces. These are two pieces that are prototypes that he wanted to get my opinions on.  This piece is metal and has bullet shaped […]

Filed Under: Alto High Baffle Reviews, Alto Mouthpiece Reviews Tagged With: alto mouthpiece, LAW MCB, Lawrie Waldron

Law Buzzer 6* Alto Mouthpiece (Prototype)

August 13, 2009 by Steve 1 Comment

Here is another LAW prototype alto sax mouthpiece from Lawrie Waldron.  This one has a baffle that is similar to the LAW “Buzzer” tenor piece.  It looks like it is made from the same blank as the LAW tenor mouthpiece but is shorter. It has a fatter smoother sound than the bullet chamber prototype. I […]

Filed Under: Alto High Baffle Reviews, Alto Mouthpiece Reviews Tagged With: alto mouthpiece, Law Buzzer, Lawrie Waldron

Aizen 6 Alto Mouthpiece

August 13, 2009 by Steve 7 Comments

This is from a new mouthpiece maker out of Japan. I must say that who ever owns this company pays attention to the details. The packaging of the piece is beautiful and it even comes with cork grease and a mouthpiece patch. The mouthpiece looks perfect. It’s got that quality hard rubber look to it […]

Filed Under: Alto Medium Baffle Reviews, Alto Mouthpiece Reviews Tagged With: Aizen, alto mouthpiece

LAW LCD 6*

August 13, 2009 by Steve 6 Comments

This is a new LAW mouthpiece I received in the mail yesterday from Mr. Waldron. I really dug this one and played it for awhile this morning.  The LCD stands for Large Chambered Dark but I don’t consider it a really “dark” piece.  It’s not as bright as the “Buzzer” or the “MCB” but it […]

Filed Under: Alto Medium Baffle Reviews, Alto Mouthpiece Reviews Tagged With: alto mouthpiece, LAW LCD mouthpiece, Lawrie Waldron

LAW Buzzer 6* Alto Mouthpiece

August 13, 2009 by Steve Leave a Comment

This is a new LAW mouthpiece I received in the mail yesterday from Lawrence Waldron in the UK. This is similar to the LAW Buzzer Prototype I played earlier. I’m not sure what the difference is but this one is plated where as the other one was raw brass because it was a prototype. This […]

Filed Under: Alto High Baffle Reviews, Alto Mouthpiece Reviews Tagged With: alto mouthpiece, LAW Busser, Lawrence Waldron

LAW MCB 6* Alto Mouthpiece

August 12, 2009 by Steve 2 Comments

This is a new LAW alto mouthpiece I received in the mail yesterday from Lawrence Waldron. This piece is similar to the other bullet chambered MCB LAW piece I play tested but this one looks to have a slightly bigger chamber on it. MCB stands for Medium Chamber Bright.  This piece looks perfect! Great finish […]

Filed Under: Alto Medium Baffle Reviews, Alto Mouthpiece Reviews Tagged With: alto mouthpiece, LAW mouthpiece, Lawrence Waldron

Drake Contemporary Tenor Mouthpiece

August 11, 2009 by Steve 5 Comments

This is a tenor mouthpiece by Aaron Drake at Drake Ceramic Mouthpieces.  Aaron has been generous enough to send two tenor mouthpieces for me to try.   This one is called the “Contemporary” .  It has an 8 (.110) tip. These mouthpiece are very unique in that they are made of ceramic.  I was a […]

Filed Under: Tenor High Baffle Reviews, Tenor Mouthpiece Reviews Tagged With: aaron drake, contemporary, tenor mouthpiece

Drake Double Ring Ceramic Tenor Mouthpiece

August 11, 2009 by Steve 7 Comments

This is a tenor mouthpiece by Aaron Drake at Drake Ceramic Mouthpieces. He has been generous enough to send  two tenor mouthpieces for me to try.  These are called “Double Ring” Jazz and a Contemporary.  They are both .110 tips.  These mouthpiece are very unique in that they are made of ceramic. I  was a bit […]

Filed Under: Tenor Medium Baffle Reviews, Tenor Mouthpiece Reviews Tagged With: aaron drake, ceramic mouthpiece, double ring, tenor mouthpiece

Drake Double Ring Ceramic Alto Mouthpiece 5

August 3, 2009 by Steve 4 Comments

This is a new alto mouthpiece by Aaron Drake at Drake Ceramic Mouthpieces. He has been generous enough to send  two alto pieces to me to try. These are called “Double Ring” Jazz pieces.  One has a .075 tip and one has a .080 tip. These mouthpiece are very unique in that they are made […]

Filed Under: Alto Medium Baffle Reviews, Alto Mouthpiece Reviews Tagged With: aaron drake, alto, double ring, drake ceramic mouthpieces

Theo Wanne Gaia 7* Tenor Mouthpiece

July 27, 2009 by Steve 20 Comments

This is a new Theo Wanne mouthpiece called the Gaia.  He advertises this on http://www.theowanne.com/ as being close to a Florida Link type of sound.  I have to say that out of the Theo Wanne pieces I have played so far this is my favorite. The higher baffle Wanne mouthpieces were too bright for what […]

Filed Under: Tenor Medium Baffle Reviews, Tenor Mouthpiece Reviews Tagged With: Gaia, tenor mouthpiece, Theo Wanne

Morgan Fry Floridated Link

June 19, 2009 by Steve Leave a Comment

This is a mouthpiece that Morgan Fry sent me from the UK. He’s been advertising a Floridated link on his site www.morganfrymouthpieces.com. I was curious about how they played so I sent him an email to see if i could try one. In looks it is very similar to my very good Florida Link that […]

Filed Under: Tenor Low Baffle Reviews, Tenor Mouthpiece Reviews Tagged With: floridated link, morgan fry, refacing, tenor mouthpiece

Mastering the Dominant Bebop Scale

May 15, 2009 by Steve 2 Comments

Mastering The Dominant Bebop Scale The Dominant Bebop Scale is a scale that can be used over a dominant chord. It has both the major 7th and the flat 7th in the scale so in the key of G the scale would be GABCDEFF#G. The reason that the dominant bebop scale sounds so great is […]

Filed Under: Book Reviews, NeffMusic News Tagged With: blues, circle of fifths, dominant bebop scale, dominant chords, improvising, steve neff

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Testimonials

I must say again how much I appreciate all your material. Including the video tutorials. It help keep me focused and knowing what to aim for. And your laid back teaching style appeals to me too. 

Thanks

P

P

After reading your story I will never feel quite right about complaining about any of my MINOR health issues!!    God bless Steve and I really hope that your health doesn’t stop you from fulfilling your calling.    These books have been such a help to open up my jazz vocabulary…   Thanks so much for sharing your story and for providing these great teaching tools…   John Leclerc   Saxophonist / composer/ EWI player and professional working musician of 35 years….

John Leclerc
I’m an experienced player in the pop/soul/funk areas of music and, previously, classical.  Over the decades I’ve been playing, I’ve always felt that I could do what I needed in those styles of music.  However, recently I began to feel limited by my use of the same old licks. When I discovered Steve Neff’s website, and heard the audio examples based on the exercises in his books, I realized they were what I needed.  I purchased all of them and have been working on them since.  It’s very hard work… Read more
Paul
I am a music book junkie and I have to say that your books are the most clear, user friendly, and helpful books I own.  They are my absolute favorites and I only wish I had them years ago.  I wouldn’t change a thing about the experience I had in acquiring my degree at Berklee, but my playing has perhaps grown more in the time I’ve spent buried in your books and lessons.  Keep up the great work!!! Thanks, John
John
Thank you for all the educational information you provide.  I am a classically trained musician.  Professionally, I am a 4th and 5th grade band teacher.  I have played piano and sax for many years, but now I am starting to gig out more. I have always improvised by ear in the past. I have gotten by with my strong sense of pitch, rhythm and melodic contour. However, I want to go deeper. I want to play with a greater variety of melodic and rhythmic ideas to pull from.  I have studied to gain a … Read more
Ray

Hello Steve,

I just want to say thank you so much for your unbelievable work, it is just mind opening, thanks for sharing it.

Wolfgang from Berlin

Wolfgang from Berlin

Mr. Neff,  I want to thank you for sharing your God-given talents through your on-line lessons.  My husband, Michael, is blind, but he is a great sax player and he has been enjoying your lessons for quite some time now.  It’s not unusual for me to hear “Hey, babe, listen to THIS!” – and he will cut loose on his sax, just thrilled at what he learned during his session with you.  His excitement warms my heart!  You have no idea how much you have poured into my husband.  You have opened musical … Read more

Carole B
Two years later I began a search for a sax teacher and happened to come across Steve Neff when I was searching YouTube for sax teachers.  I went to neffmusic.com and was very impressed with the lessons Steve Neff was offering.  The concept of selecting lessons was an approach that I thought was unique and purchased a few lessons.  I liked the lessons so much that I signed-up for a 6 month package. I was very happy with all the lessons I selected.  I also purchased Steve’s book Mastering the B… Read more
Michael
I can’t say enough about my membership at Neff Music. Steve has taken the mystery out of playing the saxophone well and improvising both jazz and rock music. Like most struggling players I have a load of all sorts of books on my shelf just gathering dust. Books that I didn’t understand or know how to put to use…or just have the time to go threw them. Steve’s lessons really simplify things and he puts it in a way that I can understand. They inspire me to keep pushing and having him as my guide or… Read more
Ken
Just to say thanks for your advice and lessons.  I’ve just read your amazing story.  I really appreciate what you do in regards to teaching.  I have bought a couple of your lessons and frankly they’re undersold.   I’ve learned much more with these two lessons than with 2 years of sax teachers.   Thanks so much………..
Mike

Love your lessons!  I have been using your lesson packages for many months now, and am learning a lot.  It is so perfect for me with a very busy adult schedule and difficulty in taking jazz/improv music lessons from reputable instructors who live and hour or more away from me.

Lenore

Hello Steve, I’m getting so much out of your lessons and books, amazing how much one may think one knows, there is always a new frontier or new way to view something you think you had somewhat down. You have taken it all to a new level and am so grateful. Your lessons are so down to earth and understandable and clear!  Thanks so much Steve! Cheers, Eddie

Eddie Parente
I have been a member of Neffmusic for more than a year now and have enjoyed every minute of it! I have not only been going thru the Dominant Bebop Scale lessons and book (OUTSTANDING!) but the mouthpiece reviews, solo clips and transcriptions are very interesting. Steve approach to beginning and intermediate improv have given me many new pathways to teach my high school jazz ensemble students. Congratulations Steve, great product!
Craig
I just started looking at my lessons and I have to say, dude you are awesome.  I ABSOLUTELY will learn from you!  I started the tenor about 1 ½ yrs ago and have since picked up an alto, and more recently a soprano.  I spend most of the time on the tenor, followed by soprano, and have only gotten to the alto a few times.  I think I’ll be sticking with tenor.  I’m having a great time and hope one day to play well enough to get regular gigs.  I’ve been playing keys for about 35 years (… Read more
Wil
Steve’s monthly lessons are entirely valuable. Without brow beating, he tells you all the stuff you deep down know you really should be working on, instead of just relying on the same old patterns. In spite of the fact that you’re taking a video lesson, Steve’s presentation is comfortable and “real”. In a little more than a year, he’s developed a library of lessons that seem to offer any player a lifetime’s worth of practice material. I’m just glad I stumbled upon it.… Read more
Grant
Thanks so much for putting all this great learning material out there. I don’t often have the time to take a lesson with a teacher, so the ability to download lessons is really invaluable. My playing has improved enormously (I think :)) – and the lessons are so varied there’s always something to be inspired by. Incredible value too!
Roger
Your lessons on playing the blues is so clear . I have been through many books on blues playing and not one of them explains as clear as your lessons . Most of them say “Play the same blues scale over all three chords of a 12 bar blues ” Its very misleading .     Thanks
Martin
Absolutely the best learning experience in my 40 years of playing.These books are awesome!!
Alfred LaBella

Thank You Steve. I think that I will be busy for years. Thank You for your great contribution to jazz music. Your books, more than teaching “how to play jazz”, actually teach “how to speak jazz”. I wish I found your methods years ago.  

Jean-Eric
Steve- I joined your site this month and have downloaded 4 lessons and also purchased your new book and video on diatonic patterns. I just want to say I am very pleased with your approach and teaching techniques. I am getting back into playing after laying off for some time. The information you offer on your site is of great value and I am enjoying being a member. Thank you for what you are doing for the saxophone community.
Tony
Your major diatonic patterns book is great. I”m studying the first twenty patterns (first twenty pages) each day with different articulation each day and slowly increasing the tempo each week or so.  There is a noticeable improvement in finger coordination across all keys and its amazing how much more secure I feel on the difficult keys when attempting to play pieces with 5+ flats/sharps. I’m able to sort out the fingerings for these pieces now much more quickly than before, often in one or two … Read more
Geoff
I bought Steve’s dominant bebop book and took a couple of online lesson from him. I really appreciated Steve’s careful listening of what I wanted to get done in a lesson and his clear, concise ideas on next steps to improve my playing and musical interpretation.  His mastering  the Dominant Bebop Scale has lots of exercises to use a scale that addresses the largest percentage of chords I come across in pop/blues music. The dominant V7.  Needless say it has improved my playing.  I teach and a… Read more
Keith
I have found your videos and publications inspiring and your contribution to the world of saxophone playing is immense. Paul
Paul
I’ve been a member of Steve’s site for about six months now and the difference it has made to my playing is immeasurable. The (many) benefits of this membership are that you can have lessons at time convenient to you, they work out A LOT cheaper than face-to-face lessons with a teacher of the same calibre and you can replay them ad infinitum. I don’t know how many times have I had lessons in the past where I’ve ended up covering the same concepts when really a ‘replay’ of the last lesson would h… Read more
Nick

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