Last updated on April 8, 2024

Saxophone Mastery by Jerry Bergonzi

This is a short review of the Jerry Bergonzi – Saxophone Mastery (How to Play Saxophone Masterclass) DVD. After watching a short clip at Jazzheaven.com, I decided to buy a copy. I bought it at Amazon.com for 45 USD including shipping to Croatia and it is worth every penny.

Jerry studied saxophone at Berklee College of Music with Joe Viola and he took a few lessons with Joe Allard, so I assume his approach is the best of both worlds. He explains basically all the things about saxophone playing from the sound production, embouchure, tonguing, vibrato, intonation, finger/hand placement to alternate fingerings, multiphonics, altissimo and overtones, with simple words and camera close up to his face and hands, so it is clearly seen what he is doing. There are some more chapters on technique and practicing scales/modes and modal sequencing. The DVD is accompanied with two pdf files with fingerings charts and scales exercises.

I think this DVD is a great value and it is affordable, so I would recommend it for all levels, from the beginners to advanced players/pros, no matter jazz or classical players. I wish I had such a video some thirty years ago.