The June 2026 warmups for saxophone are offered to focus on one’s tone. As I mentioned in the flute warmups for June 2026, practicing long tone studies are very worthwhile but to really improve one’s sound on any woodwind instrument, I feel it is most beneficial to play great melodies that are attractive to the Continue reading →
Category: Warmups
A listing of all warmup exercises published on this website.
This month’s warmup focuses on tone. I have found that the best way to improve one’s tone is to play beautiful melodies. Standard tunes from the Great American Songbook (works by Jerome Kern, George Gershwin, Irving Berlin, Cole Porter, Richard Rodgers, Duke Ellington, etc.) and solos from the orchestral repertoire offer an abundance of wonderful melodic solos to choose Continue reading →
This daily arpeggio warmup is excerpted from the Eugène Gay Complete Method. It encompasses nine different chords in each of the twelve key centers while moving in a circle of 5ths sequence. The beauty of this exercise is that only one note changes from chord to chord while maintaining the same base note. The seven Continue reading →
This month’s saxophone warmup is one that I have used since I first transcribed it several years ago. It is an alto saxophone solo played by George Young on the tune Passing Pastels in 1962 from his record, “Gold and Satin.” I had included this solo in the latest version of my woodwind doubling book Continue reading →
The attached arpeggio exercise was one that I became acquainted with several years ago in an edition of Flute Talk. The great French flutist/teacher Michel Debost, who recently passed away on 5/2/26, produced a monthly column of thoughts on all aspects of flute playing and I have found this exercise to be a useful part Continue reading →
I once asked Stanley Drucker during an interview if he played long tones during his practice sessions. Stanley’s reply was: “Life’s too short for long tones.” While his sense of humor is reflected in that statement, I believe that there is something to be learned from his response. It has been long understood that long Continue reading →
This month’s warmup exercise was inspired by a YouTube clip of a clinic given by the great jazz saxophonist, Ernie Watts, at the 2012 JEN Conference. Ernie demonstrated a simple major triad exercise that he uses to help coordinate his finger technique at the beginning of his practice sessions. I have modified it, somewhat, to Continue reading →
The flute warmup for April, 2026 is excerpted from Daily Exercises For The Flute by André Maquarre, principal flute of The Boston Symphony Orchestra from 1893-1918. This book of scale-derived studies is more harmonically challenging than the typical scale study text. It was a required purchase for students of William Kincaid, the former principal flute of the Philadelphia Continue reading →
When studying with Eddie Daniels in the 1970s, I asked him how he had developed such astounding technique on all his instruments—saxophone/clarinet/flute. He said that he practiced minor 3rds and their inversion, major 6ths, up and down the full length of his horns. I took that to heart and have at various points over the Continue reading →
The saxophone warmup for March encompass several exercises that I learned from my studies with Joe Allard. Overtones/Undertones are important fundamentals for all saxophonists to master regardless of the style of music one performs. They help to improve the ability to connect what one hears in the inner ear to the larynx and ultimately to Continue reading →
Paul Taffanel and his prize pupil, Philippe Gaubert, created the most important pedagogical method for flute–Méthode Complète de Flûte. Initially published over 100 years ago, it remains the gold standard for all woodwind methods. The exercises that I have cited below are excerpted from #7 of the 17 Daily Exercises that comprise Part IV of Continue reading →
The clarinet warmups for March are concerned with developing greater speed and clarity with the use of the single-tongue approach. The exercises shown below are based on techniques referred to as “Stopped-Tongue” and/or “Fingers Ahead.” These approaches to tonguing were popularized by the great Daniel Bonade, master clarinetist and teacher of the finest American orchestral clarinetists in the Continue reading →
This month’s warmup for the saxophone is derived from my studies with the great jazz alto saxophonist, Charles McPherson. (www.CharlesMcPherson.com) It is a great way to start the day because you are forced to play up and down the entire length of the horn while at the same time developing technical, rhythmical, and improvisational skills. Continue reading →
This month’s flute warmup is borrowed from the many wonderful exercises compiled by the renowned English flutist and teacher, Paul Edmund-Davies. After a long career as principal flute with many of London’s greatest orchestras and a first-call studio recording artist, Paul has in recent years increasingly dedicated himself to teaching and as such, has created the Continue reading →
This month’s clarinet warmup is excerpted from Tone, Technique and Staccato by Avrham Galper. Mr. Galper was a well-respected Canadian orchestral clarinetist and teacher who had a long and fruitful career. This book was published 25 years ago as part of the Avrham Galper Series from Mel Bay. There are many wonderful and unique offerings Continue reading →
I have devised this warmup to work on multiple aspects of playing including activating the use of one’s inner ear and larynx, finding the optimum placement for creating the embouchure, and determining the strength and flexibility of the reed. It is applicable to any saxophone. This exercise should be played in its entirety, very slowly, Continue reading →
This flute warmup is one that flutist/conductor/educator Sam Baron (1925-1997) often shared with his students. I have found it particularly useful for finding the low register at the beginning of one’s practice session. Each succeeding measure differs by only one note from the previous one so that it’s quite easy to memorize. Every 5-note grouping Continue reading →
This warmup was designed by legendary clarinetist, Louis DeSantis (1893-1940), and is excerpted from his book, New Studies for the Clarinet. (https://azmusicmasters.com/products/new-studies-for-clarinet-by-louis-desantis) The book was originally published in 1920 and has been beautifully reconstructed by clarinetist Russell Harlowe. It is a wonderful compilation of etudes based on famous clarinet cadenzas from the orchestral repertoire in Continue reading →