When you get your saxophone the first time, you obviously want to start right away and get some sound out of that amazingly sounding instrument.
But with all the music in the world, you might realize that some of the ones you always wanted to play might not fall into the list of the easiest songs for saxophone beginners and is not that easy to start with at all.
In this article, I wanted to share with you some of the easy songs for saxophone beginners that you might want to check out and practice before you start mastering some professional tunes.
Here are 10 easy songs for saxophone beginners:
- Fly me to the moon
- Summertime
- Amazing grace
- Pink panter
- Miss Otis regrets
- Happy
- Hit the road jack
- Time of my life
- Ain’t no sunshine
- I want to break free
Fly me to the moon
One of the easy saxophone songs is fly me to the moon. Bart Howard wrote the song ‘Fly Me to the Moon’ in 1954, originally titled ‘In Other Words’.
The song was first recorded by Kaye Ballard the year it was written.
A 1964 version of Frank Sinatra’s hit song was closely associated with Apollo missions to the moon.
This song is frailty easy to play if you have your basic saxophone playing skills already figured out.
You can get a piece of sheet music here
Summertime
Another classic, to learn on saxophone is Summertime.
George Gershwin’s 1934 composition Summertime was one of the first pieces he wrote for his upcoming opera Porgy and Bess.
The jazz-inspired lullaby is sung several times throughout the opera by Clara to her child. Thousands of artists have covered the versatile hit in various styles
Billie Holiday, whose version of ‘Summertime’ was the first to reach the US charts.
Despite this, Summertime was relatively unknown until Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong’s Jazz album.
The song quickly became a jazz classic and a global hit thanks to Fitzgerald’s cover.
The melody is quite repetitive and is quite easy to play for a beginner, it might take you less than an hour to get the tones right and then work up to perfection.
You can get a piece of sheet music here
Amazing grace
This hymn has been one of the most popular of the last two centuries. In addition to appearing on more than 11,000 albums, the spiritually elevated song has been estimated to be performed 10 million times annually.
A fairly easy piece to play as a beginner saxophonist. It might take you a couple of practices to get all the note progressions down in a smooth manner, but overall it’s a truly rewarding experience to play this amazing song.
You can get a piece of free sheet music here
Pink panter
Academy Award-nominated score “The Pink Panther Theme” was composed by Henry Mancini for the 1963 film The Pink Panther.
The theme song is one of the most recognizable out there and has been played by multiple artists since its composing.
Because of its repetitive nature, this piece is quite satisfying to play on a saxophone and easy to learn for beginners.
Moreover, you can easily generate various alternative solos from their standard progression for your future jam sessions.
You can get a piece of sheet music here
Mis Otis regrets
The song “Miss Otis Regrets” is about a woman who was lynched after murdering her unfaithful lover. This song tells an unusual tale of seduction, abandonment, and murder.
Cole Porter composed the song in 1934, and Douglas Byng first performed it in Hi Diddle Diddle, a revue that opened at London’s Savoy Theatre on October 3, 1934.
With its minor scale melody and a slow pace, this song creates an ambiance of a mild sentiment, equally mesmerizing listeners of any genre of music.
the song is quite easy to learn on a saxophone, and after the basics are covered it leaves much room for improvisation making the play even more rich and joyful.
You can get a piece of sheet music here
Happy
Switching to more modern music. Pharrell Williams’ song “Happy” was released as the first and only single from the Despicable Me 2 soundtrack in 2013.
The song broke the charts and was one of the most popular tunes to vibe on for a long time.
Learning this song is quite easy, however, to improvise on it might take you some time and practice.
Overall it’s a nice song to play along with during the jam sessions, or if you want to just remember those idyllic moments of happiness in your life.
You can get a piece of sheet music here
Hit the road jack
Ray Charles recorded the song “Hit the Road Jack”, written by the rhythm and blues artist Percy Mayfield.
Charles’ song was the number 1 hit in the US in 1961 and won a Grammy award for Best Rhythm and Blues Recording.
The song was first an a capella song recorded in 1960 by Percy Mayfield and the original a capella version has a female lead singing.
Ray and Margie Hendrix gave it music in 1961 and embedded their emotional interplay in the sound making it one of the most recognizable songs in the history of Rythm and blues music. (They had a rocky relationship.
The song is an all-time hit and is quite easy to learn on a saxophone. One of the great songs to play indeed.
You can get a piece of sheet music here
Time of my life
“(I’ve Had) The Time of My Life” from Dirty Dancing, starring Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey, is the kind of evergreen song every songwriter dreams of writing.
The worldwide hit is packed with dramatic moments and inspired performances that everyone can enjoy regardless of their language.
No matter how jaded and cynical music purists become, these types of evergreen songs remain a guilty pleasure. They are timeless classics.
You can get a piece of sheet music here
Ain't no sunshine
In 1971, American singer-songwriter Bill Withers released his debut studio album, “Just As I Am”, which includes the song “Ain’t No Sunshine”.
The song is an amazing work of art recognizable within seconds of its play. Many bands and ensembles covered the song in various styles and genres however the saxophone versions do claim the spotlight most often.
The song is quite not complex by any means, has a gradual development thus is quite easy to learn and enjoy playing.
You can get a piece of sheet music here
I want to break free
“I Want to Break Free” is a song by the British rock band Queen, written by their bassist John Deacon.
This song talks about someone who feels trapped in their relationship and wants to ‘break free’ of their lover.
Although it was originally intended to be a male perspective of the women’s liberation movement
The song is almost impossible not to know and not to love, while playing this song on a saxophone you will notice slight challenges compared to the other mentions in this list,
however, it’s still a beginner level song to play and is worth every minute of the practice.
You can get a piece of sheet music here