Teaching a music class about saxophones? here are a few ideas

Here are a few Lesson Plan Ideas that can help your students learn about the saxophone in their music class.

Saxophones are a very popular instrument, having uses in many genres of music, from Classical to Jazz and Rock. Saxophones are often featured in “big band” music.”Big Band” music often features the saxophone. The typical “big band” sax section consists of two altos, two tenors, and a baritone. Players typically double on other woodwind instruments in the saxophone section.

Here are a music lesson plan
ideas for learning the names of the saxophone family. Students can be divided into groups of four Left over students can be incorporated into groups of five. Within each group students can then arrange themselves by height, and then make cards or labels for a saxophone corresponding to their size – soprano, alto, tenor, and baritone saxophone (groups of five can continue onto bass saxophone). In other words, the shortest student will be the soprano saxophone, the next smallest the alto saxophone, and so on.

This activity could be repeated with other attributes like shoe size, length of hair and birthday if you wished.

If the students can read notes, distribute pieces of paper with single notes on them, and ask the students in each group to arrange the notes from lowest to highest and match them to the appropriate saxophones.

Students may respond to completing some of these tasks without speaking for a quieter classroom and an extra challenge.

An excellent piece of listening featuring the saxophone can be found in: World Saxophone Quartet, Metamorphosis album. Elektra Nonesuch 9 79258-2