ArtistWorks Eric Marienthal Saxophone Lessons Review
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There are a handful of jazz sax gurus out there worthy of praise and your attention, and Eric Marienthal is one to be reckoned with. The renowned jazz saxophone player has leveraged his rich experience and wealth of knowledge from a longstanding and colorful career to bring forth to you learnable online lessons.
They offer a unique and exciting approach to learning jazz saxophone, whilst engaging students with a fresh collection of tutorial videos in a plethora of styles, backing tracks, and myriads of other study resources.
As if that isn’t good enough, learners have unfettered access to a huge batch of exclusive interviews, opines from special guests, and a chance to connect with a vibrant community of jazz sax fans from across the globe. As such, Jazz Saxophone Lessons Online with Eric Marienthal are as educational as they are motivating and fun.
What’s more, students are able to submit their video samples using the state of the art ArtistWorks Video Exchange platform, making Eric’s saxophone lessons truly stand out in a sea of competition.
And that isn’t all; Eric himself goes through each submitted work and responds with a detailed video critique in which he provides thoughtful advice and additional techniques to practice.
Moreover, every student can sift through his comprehensive video library that’s ever-burgeoning. Each lesson offered by Eric is detailed, well-designed, and richly complimented, offering students the very best of experience to unleash their inner jazz sax aficionado.
ArtistWorks Jazz Saxophone Lessons Online with Eric Marienthal Review
Eric Marienthal: A Little Background
Born in 1957 in Sacramento, California, Eric Marienthal is a Grammy award-winning jazz saxophone player well known for performing alongside A-list musicians like Billy Joel, Elton John, Dionne Warwick, Stevie Wonder, and Barbra Streisand, just to name a few.
He graduated with a BA from Berklee College of Music and has been playing jazz sax on a professional level since 1980. His first stint was with Al Hirt’s band on sax, before switching to Chick Corea Elektric Band and later Gordon Goodwin’s Big Phat Band.
In his fantastic career spanning over three decades, Eric has managed to whip up 13+ solo albums, perform in more than 80 countries worldwide, and feature in lots of films, records, TV shows, and ad jingles. Today, Eric is a respectable figure in the jazz saxophone world, and teaches especially tenor and alto saxophone.
Student Experience
Perhaps the best way to learn playing jazz saxophone is to practice it right off the bat. That’s exactly what Jazz Saxophone Lessons Online with Eric Marienthal offer students.
Right from the outset, Eric doesn’t overwhelm the students with jargon and music theories. They are presented with an impressive video library that gives them a chance to get a feel of the instrument right from the word goes.
Those interested in Basic Saxophone lesson will learn the fundamentals like hand positioning, choosing the right saxophone & mouthpiece, reeds, head angle, fingerings, and the ABCs of music reading.
Intermediate Saxophone students, on the other hand, get to learn warm-up practices as well delve even deeper into the world jazz saxophone. As you’d expect, the advanced lessons kick it up a notch, enabling students to hone sax facets like tonguing techniques, improvising skills, funky licks, soloing, twisters, and how to phrase a melody.
Curriculum
Again, Jazz Saxophone online lessons by Eric Marienthal are broken down into three: Basic Saxophone, Intermediate Saxophone, and Advanced Saxophone. If you are a total rookie, it’s a no-brainer to kick off your sax journey with Basic lessons, but if you are a highly skilled player who is looking to add a few cords up your sleeve, you might want to choose lessons from the advanced package.
More importantly, there are a ton of both individual and group lessons, and practice exercises to keep players of every skill level interested. What we absolutely love is that the students can submit practice videos directly to Eric via Video Exchange learning platform.
There are 3 plans available: the 3-month, the 6-month, and the 12-month package respectively.
Help & Support
Eric Marienthal sax lessons offer several different ways to get ahold of support 24/7. You can go through the rich FAQ page to get answers to some of your queries or reach the teachers directly via email.
Key Features
- Hundreds of jazz saxophone lessons to choose from
- Video submission to tutor via Video Exchange learning platform
- Custom feedback on practice videos
- Video Exchange archive
- Backing tracks for all instruments
Pros of the Jazz Saxophone Lessons Online with Eric Marienthal
- Incredible teaching system with an enriching learning experience
- There are lessons for students and sax players of all levels, from beginner to advance.
- The lessons are broken down into small, easy to understand sections
- Video exchange learning platform take it to next level
- Students can connect with a robust, vibrant community of other like-minded jazz saxophone enthusiasts across the globe.
- Students get customized feedback from teachers so that they constantly improve their skills and knowledge
- High-quality lessons from a Grammy award-winning sax player, musician, and teacher all wrapped into one.
Summary and Verdict
Eric’s lessons are a fun, fairly inexpensive, and all-inclusive way to learn jazz saxophone online. His wealth of knowledge and experience in playing jazz are manifested in a great way in his rich video library.
But, the icing on the cake is the game-like format of the lessons and the students’ ability to submit practice videos through Video Exchange learning platform and get personalized feedback. There are hundreds of top-notch quality lessons which chunk playing sax down into fun, easy-to-understand sections.
They are surprisingly not overwhelming, and the overall student experience is positive. And with a pricing of less than $35/month, you will certainly get a bang for your bucks.