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Saxophone Clarinet Flute

Better Music Lessons

Private lessons with Jeff Fennell, a nationally touring performer and music educator based in Western Massachusetts. Clear goals, honest feedback, and a practice plan that's tailored to you.

Book a lesson Meet Jeff
Jeff Fennell seated beside his tenor saxophone, smiling

This week's practice

  • Long tones10 min
  • G major, two octaves♩ = 80
  • Ferling Étude No. 3bars 1–16
  • “Autumn Leaves”learn the head

Lessons

Saxophone, clarinet & flute

Every student starts somewhere different. Some want a stronger sound for school band, some are getting ready for auditions, and some are picking the horn back up after twenty years. We start with your goals and build from there.

Whichever woodwind you play, every lesson builds the skills great players share, tuned to your instrument and your goals.

  • Tone productionA full, focused sound built on breath support, embouchure and voicing.
  • Technique & facilityEven fingers, clean articulation and dexterity that hold up at any tempo.
  • Range & virtuosityThe control to play all dynamics with full expression, never sacrificing tone.
  • Reading & rhythmConfident sight-reading and a steady sense of time for band, orchestra and auditions.
  • Style & improvisationClassical phrasing, the jazz language, and the freedom to compose your own lines.
  • Confidence on stageMindful practice habits that keep nerves in check for recitals, auditions and gigs.

Beginners through advanced players. Kids, teens and adults.

Book a lesson

15+

Years teaching, kindergarten through post-grad

35+

Public schools taught in Massachusetts

1,000+

Students reached through Sonido Musica

300

Hours of mindfulness teacher training

Bio

Meet Jeff

Jeff Fennell came to the Pioneer Valley in 2008 to study at UMass Amherst, where he earned degrees in jazz performance and psychology. He performed concertos as a soloist with the orchestra, played the World Saxophone Congress, then spent years touring with big bands and folk and jam bands at festivals, concert halls and clubs across the country.

Jeff has taught for more than 15 years, from kindergarten through post-grad. In 2015 he began working with Sonido Musica, an El Sistema–inspired program that now serves 1,000+ students in 35+ Springfield and Holyoke public schools.

At the Community Music School of Springfield he founded The Artful Heart, an accredited mindfulness series that helps teachers and school staff across Springfield and Holyoke handle stress and bring social-emotional learning into their classrooms. As a Mass Cultural Council META Fellow he also helped create Mindful Music Matters, an organization of teachers working to bring somatic mindfulness practices into classrooms and music education. He is certified to teach the Mindful Schools curriculum.

In addition to Jeff's extensive performance career, he has run his own private lesson studio for more than 13 years. He's dedicated to each student's musical journey, meeting them where they are and helping them grow through proven methods passed down in a living musical lineage.

Jeff Fennell playing flute on stage at the Springfield Jazz & Roots Festival Photo: Isa Rose

My approach

Good lessons make practice clear, not overwhelming. You leave every lesson knowing what to work on, why it matters, and what it should sound like. I also bring in simple mindfulness tools for focus and performance nerves.

Jeff FennellFounder, Better Music Lessons

As a performer

Making music across the country

Big band, R&B, ska and reggae, with projects around the United States and in the studio.

The Valley Moonstompers Society, nine musicians with horns in front of a red barn; Jeff stands at the center with his tenor saxophone
The Valley Moonstompers Society
Jeff with his tenor saxophone at a studio session, working through a chart with a baritone saxophonist and a trumpet player
In the studio
Jeff playing saxophone under stage lights at Off the Rails Outdoors, with the crowd in silhouette
Off the Rails Outdoors
A packed club in Boston, MA, seen from the stage under bright lights
Boston, MA

Projects I play with

Credentials

  • Springfield CollegeAdjunct Professor, Applied Saxophone
  • Sonido Musica Educator & Program CoordinatorCommunity Music School of Springfield
  • UMass AmherstB.A. Jazz Performance & B.A. Psychology
  • Engaged Mindfulness Institute300-hour teacher certification
  • Mass Cultural CouncilMETA Fellow

How lessons work

Start with one lesson

  1. Send a note. Tell me your instrument, your level and what you want to work on.
  2. Pick a time. We find a weekly or every-other-week slot that fits your schedule.
  3. Play. Your first lesson sets clear goals and a practice plan for the month ahead.
Ask about lessons
Jeff Fennell

Your teacher

Jeff Fennell

Saxophone Clarinet Flute

Contact

Let's get you playing

Questions about lessons, scheduling or which instrument to start on? Send a note and I'll get back to you.