Ever wished it was your music we played at our station, but you never quite figured out how to master the Saxaphone? The Sydney Conservatorium of Music can help you learn to rock out on that instrument you’ve always-wanted-to-learn-but-never-had-the-time!

Short music courses at The Con kick off again on 10 October. With over 30 courses on offer through the Open Academy, there’s bound to be a course to suit you – whether you are a beginner or just someone who wants to develop your skills.

Music Fundamentals is perfect for anyone who wants to learn how to read music. There are also some great singing courses available. Songwriting, Impro Basics and Blues Guitar are taught by some of the best musicians around and this term for the first time we’re offering Beginner Jazz Sax.  There are group piano classes, composition classes and a Live Sound engineering class as well!

Ed Schots is a sax player who has been playing jazz since his teens. We spoke with him about one of the courses, the Beginner Jazz Sax Course he will teach at Open Academy @ the Con from Thurs 13 October.

Why do you think the saxophone has such a reputation for being cool?

Because it takes groovy centre-stage in all sorts of modern music styles around the world. And it’s the most marvellous bling to start a new wardrobe with!

How did you start playing the saxophone and what lead you to Jazz?

I used to play jazz piano but because it didn’t look as hip I swapped to saxophone in my late-teens.

On sax you only have to play one note at a time so I could fit a lot of them in one second.

I dug another sax player doing that and decided to jump right in myself. That landed me straight into jazz circles – never looked back again.

Who do you think this course will appeal to?

I reckon this course is just the ticket for anyone who loves the sound of sax and wants to do their own thing with their instrument.

It’s easy for anyone to get sax chops, and the sound you achieve is a powerful voice to put your soul out there.

Jazz is a pretty broad field of music, what genres will the course cover?

Contrary to popular attitudes: jazz is a verb, not a noun! So there’ll be BeBop, Latin-American, Rhythm’n Blues and even a bit of Rock music. All these genres came about by ‘jazzing’ older music styles together into new forms that make perfect prototypes for educational use in this course.

What are some of the techniques and skills that separate jazz sax from classical sax?

Jazz sax sounds differ wildly, from bright and peppy to soft and smokey. That’s the nice thing about saxophone, you can personally tailor your sound because there’s so much suppleness built into the design.

The other big difference is that modern jazz saxophonists use a lot of African rhythm while improvising (that’s making up your own melody while the band around you continues to pump out the pocket). Rrrroll your rooty-toot or squeal a sissy shim-sham if you feel, it’s all jazz.

Improvising isn’t as difficult as people say it is. I know loads of tricks for booting a sax solo along.

What do you need to sign up for this course?

An adventurous attitude and a saxophone.

What: Short Courses at the Con

Where: The Conservatorium of Music Sydney

When: Courses start October 10

Anyone interested can enrol here via the Open Academy’s web site.