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The article focuses on the components of a saxophone warm-up. It states that a sound saxophone warmup entails manipulation of pitch, use of overtones, and exercising finger coordination with the five note scale to improve playing skill and music performance. Moreover, it discusses the significance of tone or sound quality, intonation and technique for saxophonists who are doing daily warm-ups.

The article discusses the principles of shaping notes. It explains the most common problem in shaping notes. The three parts of a note are presented and how to make different shaped notes, such as the square shape and the rectangle. The process of connecting two notes and the two ways of ending a note are noted. Some habits of ending a note are cited such as the flare and the way the tongue is used. Symbols used in musical pieces are also provided that influence the shape of notes.

The article introduces new products for piano teachers. Level 3B of the method series, "Piano Adventures," by Nancy Faber and Randall Faber that introduces octave, minor scale, chord inversions, and 16th notes has been released by F.J.H. Music Co. Inc. Levels 1-4 of the "Noona Comprehensive Piano Library," published by Heritage Music Press will now include a book of duets written by Walter and Carol Noona. The new "Basic Group Piano Course" which includes student books, teachers' handbooks, and disks has been released by Alfred Publishing Company.

The article presents musical notes of the song "Viens, Mallika," by Leo Delibes and arranged by Christopher O'Riley.

The article offers information on how to translate jazz chord symbols. It states that the cryptic shorthand employed in jazz chord symbols can baffle directors unfamiliar with jazz. It also mentions that Frank Mantooth's system of writing jazz chords is ideal because with just a little background knowledge the symbols cannot be misconstrued. Moreover, the popularity of Rich Sigler's JazzFont has made publishers to print chord symbols using only the uppercase letters. By this method of writing jazz chords the standard approach of applying uppercase letters for major chords and lowercase letters for minor chords will be prevented.

The article provides information on how music instructors can create variety of practice sessions to prevent boredom among students. Teachers can loosen up without abandoning discipline so that students can have more fun in their practice sessions. They can allow their students to play whatever notes or patterns they like without thinking of keys and rhythms. Another way to vary routine practice is to spend time in improvising, playing matches, pop tunes, and operatic excerpts in their musical instruments. Playing simple pieces can improve concentration and accuracy of the students.

The article relates the musical story about the mistake during the concert that features the Eroica Symphony composed by Beethoven and was played as the last piece. Although everything had gone well, the author stresses that during their performance, he blew hard to support the sound on the final E flat major chord, but instead the F sharp came out. The author relates that the sound was horrible and the other brass players searched around to identify who had missed it with the a half-step dissonance. He tried to sneak away after the concert, however, orchestra members snared him and explained their wonder about the new arrangement of the classic.