Abstract
This literature review investigates a total of 46 sources pertaining to the teaching of three saxophone fundamentals: embouchure formation, articulation, and voicing/vocal tract manipulation. The goals of this review are to discover what texts exist for these fundamentals, what ability levels are targeted by the literature, and what gaps might exist in the current materials. The most covered fundamental is embouchure formation, with 85% of the sources offering an explanation of this fundamental. 68% of the sources covered articulation and 56% addressed voicing. Four audience designations are determined to aid in gauging the distribution of literature across ability levels: beginner, intermediate, advanced, and band directors/instructors. The most targeted group is a combination of the intermediate and advanced audiences. Band directors/instructors are the next most frequently targeted audience and are the intended audience in 14 sources. Only 24% of the sources address beginning saxophonists making them the least targeted audience. The combination of findings for the coverage and intended audience of these sources exposes a gap in the literature pertaining to voicing explanations intended for beginners. The development of a method that targets these underserved areas is encouraged with the evidence provided by this literature review.