Lessons for Sincere Musicians
internalization, personalization, embodiment
“The most regretful people on earth are those who felt the call to creative work, who felt their own creative power restive and uprising, and gave to it neither power nor time.”
―Mary Oliver
Common Topics
Resonance
Melodic Improvisation
Playing Alone / Playing Together
How to Compellingly Play by Ear
Sound CONCEPT and Sound PRODUCTION
The Myth of “Control” in Our Pursuit of Mastery
Lyrical Phrasing vs. Mechanical Phrasing
How to Play with Clarity and Conviction
What is a Musical Idea?
Form, Function, Flow
Embodiment
Efrain Ribeiro Photography
Saxophonists
My overarching sound concept is that a saxophone ought to sound a bit more like a human voice and a bit less like a kazoo. I've also gone a bit deeper into it than that:
Sound production (physical) and sound conception (imagination)
defining and developing “projection”, “presence”, and “power”
dialing in appropriate “resistance” for a flexible and supported tone
breath support / tongue position / embouchure / articulation
the role of our equipment in our search for beauty
(Blood Moon Quintet) Efrain Ribeiro Photography
Improvisers
Whether STUDYING an established musical idiom or INVENTING your own personal musical language, a visceral connection to musical resonance and creative flow is imperative.
Connect your ears with your instrument
develop spontaneous ideas with clarity and intention
embody your phrasing
explore the elements of form from a creative mindset
Develop the confidence and skillset to sustain this flow in a room alone with your instrument
Elevate your collaborative potential, bringing depth and heightened sensitivity to any style or instrumentation.
Peabody Jazz Rehearsal Room
How’s Your Confidence?
Are you confronting performance anxiety, fear, or self-doubts about your place in the world of music?
It’s never too late to develop a healthy and nourishing relationship with your creative process, no matter how alienated you may feel from it. It’s right here waiting for you, and you don’t have to go it alone.
I have my own personal relationship with these struggles, and it can be challenging to find a mentor that knows this headspace intimately and is willing to “go there”.
Baltimore School for the Arts
The Real Work
“It may be that when we no longer know what to do
we have come to our real work,
and that when we no longer know which way to go
we have come to our real journey.
The mind that is not baffled is not employed.
The impeded stream is the one that sings.”
— Wendell Berry
self portrait in Rhode Island
Your Instructor:
I am currently a jazz/classical saxophone instructor at Baltimore School for the Arts, a substitute instructor in the Peabody Jazz program for the past three semesters, and for the spring 2025 semester, I am an adjunct teacher at Towson University — teaching applied jazz saxophone and applied jazz composition (filling in for Jason Rigby during his sabbatical).
Baltimore-native Derrick Michaels is a tenor saxophonist and improviser with a deep sound and a bold, imaginative presence in the creative music community. With roots in both the lyrical and exploratory branches of the creative saxophone tradition, his wide expressive palette brings a soulful, melodic sincerity to a wide range of musical environments.
He has been described by Jazz Weekly as a “thick-toned tenorist”, and by Downbeat magazine as wielding a “large sound and free flowing style”. The Baltimore Jazz Alliance says: “Derrick Michaels' saxophone playing comes right out of his soul; the instrument sounds like a human voice.”