Over the last term at university, I’ve been teaching my friend Lucas how to play Alto Saxophone. In this portfolio I will be exploring how I chose to format the lessons I gave, the choices in the pedagogy techniques I was using and also talking about how I presented myself in a teaching position.
I also have written out my lesson plans below. I found that it was essential to pre plan my lessons so I could go into each one with a clear head, knowing exactly what I was going to cover in each one. (Department for Education, 2022) states that “music should be planned and taught as robustly as any other foundation curriculum subject”. This explains my thought process behind planning lessons as I believe that whether in a formal or informal learning environment in this case, any student deserves to be given lessons that have had thought gone into them.
Lesson Plan:
Lesson 1:
Teach student how to properly assemble a saxophone whilst naming and explaining the different parts. Use a diagram to explain where the tongue needs to sit on the mouthpiece. Patiently let my student explore making their first few sounds of the instrument.
Introduce student to basic notes B, A, C and G.
Lesson 2:
Use techniques provided by Ed Jones to improve embouchure. This involves explaining how the jaw is like a mechanism and from this using an O shape with the mouth, explain how changing the shape you make with your mouth effects the sound. Explain how when playing notes, most of the tension is coming from the abdominal area rather than the lungs.
Lesson 3:
Discuss the importance of dexterity and how the position of a player’s hands can affect their ability to reach notes and maintain fluidity. Make sure student’s hands are in a comfortable and effective position. Teach student their first arpeggio using the notes G and B from previous lessons but then also teach them D which ties in with teaching them proper usage of the octave key. This piece of material can be used to tie in everything covered in the lesson e.g hand positioning for higher notes etc. Set practice at the end of the lesson based around long tones exercise of new D note in the context of an arpeggio with G and B.
Lesson 4:
Teach student scales using some of the notes they’ve already been taught as well as a few new ones. Help them with the technique needed to enhance the performance of these scales. This will build on hand positioning, breath control and articulation. Go into more detail on articulation, explaining different tonging techniques e.g staccato, legato etc
Finally, I will teach my student an easy and memorable tune such as Hot Cross Buns or Mary had a little lamb. Give student saxophone key chart so they can learn more notes after the lessons have concluded if they want.
Explanation behind pedagogy and reflection:
At the start of the first lesson, Lucas explained that he’d previously tried out his friend’s saxophone in the past. Despite this I thought that it would be important to start with some of the basics. In terms of assembly of the instrument, I made it clear to name each component. Putting a name to an object or component in this case is a valuable way for a student of any age to learn how something works more easily. This is more commonly found used in studies of younger children, where it’s been found that putting a name to an object improves their categorisation skills. Although this is skill developed at a younger age, I believe that it was necessary for me to teach Lucas the names of the different components, to help boost his general interest in the instrument. I then explained the concept of embouchure, using a diagram from the internet.
In this case I found it easier to explain this using external materials from the internet. It’s important as a teacher to use a range of teaching materials as it creates an extra layer of engagement, maybe more than just explaining a technique and concept would. A 2015 study found that Music teachers using teaching aids is beneficial to attaining goals in the progression of music tuition as a whole by supporting students’ interests in music, boosting their ambition to actively play music and stimulate their aesthetic development. After explaining and showing him this concept using visual aids, I let him try and get some sounds out of the horn. It was key that I was patient whilst letting him do this and conducted myself in a supportive manner. This was completely free of judgement to make Lucas feel more confident in these baby steps he was taking. I went on to teach him 3 or 4 of the easiest notes on the sax. These were B, A, C and G. I started with these notes as they naturally fall under the fingers in one hand. Nigel McGill from sax school online explained this in a blog saying “when learning the saxophone, it’s best to start with notes in the middle range of the instrument. These are often easier to play because they require less precision with air support and embouchure” (McGill, 2024). At the end of the lesson, I showed Lucas how to safely, dismantle and clean the saxophone. This is important not just for instrument preservation but also general hygiene. ‘A routine that involves cleaning, disinfecting and safe storage goes a long way towards achieving optimal condition and preventing the build-up of bacteria’ (Sorial, 2026).
In the second lesson, I started by applying suggested techniques recommended by my own teacher Edgar Jones. I had my one to one saxophone lesson before I gave Lucas one of his lessons and out of curiosity, I asked Ed if he had any suggestions of exercises or techniques that he would use when giving lessons to a beginner student. These techniques were useful for improving Lucas’ embouchure and helping him to understand where the natural projection of air comes from when playing the saxophone. Taking expertise from a professional saxophonist was useful in developing my pedagogy as it allowed me to explore new methods in technique whilst also learning new materials myself. We then went on to recap the notes I had taught in the first lesson, and whilst doing this I noticed that the pitches of the notes he was playing were a bit out of tune. To combat this I got him to focus more on his embouchure and guided him to notice how by tightening it, he could hone in on the correct pitch and almost bend up to it. In hindsight, one element of saxophone teaching that I feel I could’ve looked more at in the lessons was tuning. This is because, when watching back through the videos I realised that the poor tuning was down to the position of the mouthpiece on the cork. Although this was something I mentioned briefly in the first lesson, if we had more lessons I would’ve made sure to properly highlight the importance of being in tune. I feel like it’s essential to be self-critical as a good teacher as it can help for delivering future lessons. (Mohammed, Ab Rashid and Harb Alqaryouti, 2024) mentions that “individuals will only reach an effective level of reflection when they are able to be self-critical in their judgment and reasoning and can expand their thinking based on new evidence.” This new evidence in my case was the realisation that tuning was a larger issue in the second lesson than I had previously thought it was.
CAt start of the third lesson, I asked Lucas to see if he could set up the saxophone from memory. I did this to see if he had retained some of the information that I had taught him in the previous lessons. I then spoke about dexterity as I felt as though it was an important time in Lucas’ progression to improve his hand positioning. When watching him play through some of the notes I had previously taught him, I noticed that his left hand was at an odd angle. Attention to detail when teaching is incredibly important especially when trying to help a student progress in the ‘correct’ manner when learning an instrument. A study written by Eleonora Concina highlights the importance of this by saying “an effective music teacher has a good level of social competence, which is necessary to develop positive relationships with students that are based on mutual respect and attention to other’s needs and requests (Concina, 2023). This backs up my approach to guiding Lucas as although I had a friendship with him before we started lessons, it was important that I also had to be communicative in a way that would progress his learning. Also, it’s important that when a student is doing something incorrectly, to be supportive and patient when guiding them in making changes to their technique. Below is a table from the California learning resource network that shows the benefits of being patient as a teacher. (team, 2025)
I then taught Lucas a G major arpeggio, which I used as an exercise to tie in the introduction of long tones practice. I taught him to go up the arpeggio normally on G and B but then to blow out a long tone on D so he could think about his tone in general. Long tones are a key part of any saxophonist’s practice as they are useful for developing breath control and bettering a player’s tone. Long tones are also a form of sonic meditation, and a relaxing way to help a player become centred and explore their own sound (Syos, 2022). At the end of the lesson I asked him to practice the above exercise before the next lesson, highlighting that repetition is key.
At the start of our final lesson, I taught Lucas how to play a C major scale which used some of the notes I’d already taught him but also some new ones, using both hands this time. I chose this scale as it’s naturally the easiest scale on the instrument with no accidentals. I walked him through it as we played it together during which I noticed he was closely watching my hands to get the positions correct for the notes he was playing. Visually speaking I made it as clear as I could to show him my hand positions as we were playing as I could see that he was using me as a visual aid. It’s important that as a teacher that I was able to adapt my method of teaching someone if it is benefitting from you making that change.
I finally taught Lucas how to play Hot Cross Buns using some of the notes he had learnt over our lessons. This is an easy, nursery rhyme with a simple and repetitive structure. I used this tune in particular as it only contains three notes and therefore allowed Lucas to focus more on his technique rather than being overloaded by notes. This version of Hot Cross Buns was simplified from the original song, to better fit the vocal capabilities of children and because the original version had too many notes with larger intervals. I wanted to incorporate a different method of pedagogy when teaching this tune and I felt that Dalcroze Eurhythmics was the most suitable for a song of this level. Dalcroze Eurhythmics is a teaching construct where the student uses body movement to express how they feel in response to hearing music. This is beneficial as when learning in this way “students must be continually present, alert, and invested in such a classroom dynamic, resulting in heightened listening skills, improved flexibility, and a bolstered intuitive response to music (Dittus, 2025).” Lucas intuitively started tapping the rhythm of the song on his chest when I played him the instrumental which in turn made it easier for him when playing it. We then played it through together a few times before he played it by himself. By playing it through with him first, it enabled him to make mistakes and to gain the confidence to be able to attempt it alone. I then explained a couple of articulation concepts to Lucas which were legato and staccato playing. Legato came pretty naturally to him, being the easier of the two but with staccato I used an analogy of visualising the tongue jumping on top of the reed to help him understand the methodology behind it more clearly. (Gray and Holyoak, 2021) concludes that analogy is a useful tool in education for “fostering conceptual understanding and transfer”. At the end of the lesson, I gave Lucas a saxophone key chart that I have attached below. My intention here was to give him something that allowed him to do his own personal practice and learning after our lessons had finished.
In conclusion, I had an amazing experience in teaching Lucas how to play alto saxophone. It has given me a great sense of satisfaction knowing that I’ve been able to shape a friend’s learning experience of an instrument that they made it clear to me that they were interested to learn. I’m glad that lots of pre-planning went into the lessons that I delivered and that I used multiple different types of pedagogical techniques and materials. In terms of what I found most useful in terms of methodology, I would have to say that either Dalcroze Eurhythmics due to its connection to rhythm or the tips I got given by my own teacher because as well as helping Lucas, they also helped my technique improve. In terms of reflection, I would say that the part of teaching I need to work on the most is how I speak. Watching back over the clips, I found that sometimes I could be a bit vague when explaining certain things or on occasion I’d trip over my words. Despite this, with time and practice I feel like I will develop into a better teacher.
Bibliography
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