Belwin Saxophone Method, Book II: Saxophone Book

Gekeler's Book II strikes the ideal balance between methodical technical development and genuine musical engagement. Students progress through clearly defined concepts without tedium, and the systematic pacing means your section stays cohesive as players develop comparable facility at the same time.

Purposeful and straightforward. The material respects the student's growing musicality while refusing to cut corners on technique, creating a satisfying sense of earned mastery as difficulties increase steadily across the pages.

Saxophone students progressing beyond beginner fundamentals who are ready to develop intermediate technique and range. Directors seeking a reliable, structured resource to build consistent fundamentals across an entire section will find this method indispensable for group lesson planning and individual student assignments.

• Establish a consistent daily routine with these exercises before tackling new repertoire. Five to ten minutes working through the material yields better results than sporadic practice.
• Use the exercises to diagnose specific technical gaps. If a student struggles with a particular passage in ensemble music, isolate the corresponding exercise in the method book and drill that skill in context.
• Practice scales and arpeggios from the book at varying tempos, starting slowly enough to ensure clean articulation and even tone production across the range.
• Have students mark passages that challenge them and return to those exercises regularly over several weeks rather than moving forward prematurely.

Integrate specific exercises from Book II into sectional rehearsals as warm-up material or targeted skill-building for your second-year players. Assign individual exercises as practice requirements that directly address passages appearing in your concert repertoire that semester.

• Articulation control across different tonguing styles
• Intonation stability in the upper register
• Scale and arpeggio facility in multiple keys
• Finger dexterity and coordination across wide intervallic leaps
• Tone quality consistency and dynamic control
• Chromatic scale facility and accidental reading