French and american school of classical saxophon: comparative analysis of teaching methods

Jiang Wenjie

The article is devoted to the issues of teaching saxophone teaching methods within the framework in two classical teaching approaches developed by two famous teachers: French teacher and saxophonist Marcel Mule and his American colleague, Larry Teal. The purpose of the article is to identify the features of two classical approaches to learning the saxophone in French and American traditions. The objectives of the study are to disclose the basic principles of the pedagogical system by Marcel Mule; identifying the features of the technique by Larry Teal; comparing two schools on the basis of historical criteria for the development of teaching methods. The research methodology consists of the general scientific methods (analysis, synthesis, deduction, induction) and includes special methods: a content analysis of scientific literature on the topic of research, a retrospective analysis method. The scientific novelty of the article lies in the fact that the specificity of the teaching methodology of the classical saxophone is considered in a historical perspective, and all the basic principles of two pedagogical schools are summarized as part of a comparative analysis. From the practical significance point of view, the materials and conclusions of the article can be used for special courses in such subjects as “music literature” and “methods of teaching the classical saxophone”. The author of the article concludes that at the present stage, the differences between the two methodological systems for teaching the classical saxophone are beginning to gradually level due to the process of international exchange of knowledge and the rapid globalization of the process of teaching music. Nevertheless, the main characteristic features of the French and American pedagogical systems remain to this day and can be clearly identified thanks to the comparative analysis carried out in the article.

Keywords:classical saxophone; vibrato, tone, Marcel Mule’s pedagogical system, Larry Teal’s pedagogical system, French and American classical saxophone schools.