Brass & Woodwind Lessons for All Ages

Saxophone, Brass, & Woodwind Lessons

Learn to Play Saxophone, Brass, & Woodwind

Are you interested in learning a brass or woodwind instrument from a top professional? The Merriam School of Music offers a variety of lesson formats for all brass and woodwind instruments including soprano sax, alto sax, tenor sax, baritone sax, flute, clarinet, trumpet, trombone, and many more.

Whether you’re playing your very first notes or are an experienced player seeking to enhance your technique and expression, the Merriam Music faculty is dedicated to helping you reach your musical goals.

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Saxophone, Brass, & Woodwind

Preschoolers • Kids • Teens • Adults • Seniors

Top Brass and Woodwind Lessons

Trumpet, Clarinet, Saxophone Lessons & More!

You are never too young or too old to pursue your musical ambitions. Regardless of your age and previous musical experience, the Merriam School of Music can help any aspiring brass or woodwind player accomplish their goals. Whether you’re playing jazz saxophone or classical flute, we will teach you everything from how to properly adjust your neck strap and mouth piece to improvisation and how to play within an ensemble.

For students already studying an instrument through their school’s music department, our experienced teachers can take your level of playing to even greater heights and ensure that you ace all of your performance exams.

Brass Lessons

Good Fit Guarantee

Love Your First Lesson, or It’s Free

Your first lesson with a new tutor is protected by Merriam’s Good Fit Guarantee. If you’re not satisfied with your lesson, you don’t pay. No questions asked.

Expert Instructors

Get matched with the perfect teacher, who understands your style of learning, the type of music that excites you, and who can encourage and coach you towards your goals.

Convenient Scheduling

Merriam School of Music is open 7 days per week offering lessons at two convenient locations in the GTA (Oakville & Vaughan Campuses), with 150 teachers to choose from, both on location and in your home.

RCM Exams

Merriam has been training students for RCM exams for 30 years and knows exactly how to prepare you for success. They can be done on their own, or together with Merriam’s own university-endorsed exam system.

HD Performance Videos

Receive an individualized High-Definition Video Log of all of your performances throughout the year - never miss a special moment again, and easy to share with friends and family

Ensembles & Bands

Merriam offers a variety of ensemble courses, some paid, some free so that music students have a chance to expand their learning beyond a solo instrument experience.

15+ Recitals

Students have 15 chances per year to perform their music. The performances are a mix of formal and informal, solo and group, and are offered in a variety of settings including our performance hall.

No Long-term Contract

We’re confident you’ll be with us for years. But for any reason, if you need to end your journey with us, 30 days' written notice is all we require to stop lessons, penalty-free.

5-Star Google Rating

The most reviews, the highest rating. Merriam serves over 3000 weekly students, and our customer satisfaction rating is over 97%.

Trombone Lessons

Lessons in Person or Online

In-Studio, In-Home & Online Lessons

Taking music lessons should never feel like a struggle. That is why Merriam Music provides a variety of lesson formats to ensure that you can study at your own pace and convenience. Our internationally-renowned instructors are available for online sessions as well as in-person lessons at one of our GTA-based campuses.

Merriam Music’s online lesson format is unlike any other in the world. By utilizing the most cutting edge education technology, we ensure that our online video lessons are just as effective, engaging, and interactive as our in-studio lessons. 

Brass & Woodwind Teachers With Degrees

The Perfect Teacher For You

The key to any great education is a great teacher. At Merriam Music, we guarantee that you will be matched with a professional teacher that is perfectly aligned with your areas of interest and learning style. From perfecting your major scale fingerings to refining your embouchure, you will be amazed by how quickly you progress through your brass, woodwind, or saxophone lessons.

Merriam School of Music’s brass, woodwind, and saxophone teachers come from the most elite, competitive, and well-respected music programs in the world including Berklee, Julliard, University of Toronto, and Laurier to name a few. Have fun learning from a seasoned professional and fast-track your way to playing smooth jazz or the most virtuosic repertoire from the classical music tradition.

Brass and Woodwind Teacher

Dedicated Customer Support

Exceptional Customer Service

The Merriam School of Music has grown to be the largest private music academy of its kind in North America. We assist over 3000 students through their musical journey each and every week. Despite our constantly growing student body, our unparalleled customer service team prides itself on being intimately familiar with every student and family that joins our community.

Whether you are looking to connect with a customer service agent on-location or online, Merriam Music ensures that all of your questions are immediately addressed. We are dedicated to offering each of our students the absolute best possible learning experience, which is why our customer care representatives work around the clock 7 days a week. There are a plethora of reasons why Merriam Music holds a 97% customer satisfaction rating and our exceptional customer service is certainly one of them.

Earn School Credits with Music Lessons

Earn Highschool Credits

As a certified private high school, we’re proud to offer a range of Ontario High School credits – if you’re interested in earning high school credits as a brass or woodwind student here at Merriam, please let us know and we’ll tell you all about it.

Merriam School of Music is one of the only private music schools in North America to offer high school credits. We’re internationally recognized, university-endorsed, and one of the most respected leaders in brass, woodwind, and saxophone lessons & education.

Trumpet School

Classes & Programs

Private • Group • Enriched • Online

Saxophone Classes

Saxophone Lessons

Our one-on-one private lessons ensure that your lesson plans are custom-tailored to your needs and interests at all times, while the choice between in-person and online saxophone lessons allows you to acquire a more intimate understanding of your musical instrument in the environment of your choice.

You will study soprano, alto, tenor, or baritone sax with a true professional that will expedite your progress and put you on the path to success.

Saxophone Lessons

Brass Instruments

Brass Lessons

At the Merriam School of Music, aspiring brass players have the opportunity to learn trumpet and trombone with a professional music teacher that knows exactly what it takes to prepare you for every musical situation you will face.

With your choice of in-person or online lessons, you can learn at your own pace and in the environment that best suits your needs.

Trombone Lessons

Woodwind Instruments

Woodwind Lessons

Merriam Music is proud to offer flute and clarinet lessons from highly-educated instructors with extensive experience. Through weekly private lessons, you will develop all of the pertinent skills required by a contemporary woodwind player. 

With the Merriam Music School of Music, every student is given the opportunity to take in-person or online lessons. Study at your own convenience and in the environment that suits you best. 

Woodwind Lessons

Online lessons are here to stay, and our experience offering them has been amazing. We began building our online offering pre-pandemic, in November 2019, with the goal of bringing our classrooms to the world. We worked with dozens of our top teachers, and thousands of students, analyzing every aspect of the lesson to understand how we could make an online lesson even more fun and more effective than an in-person one. 

The feedback has been overwhelmingly positive, with most teachers and families reporting that they appreciated many aspects of our new online lesson offering more than in-person lessons. 

Online Lessons

Learn Music Online

Best Brass and Woodwind Lessons in Toronto

Music is Fun. Lessons Shouldn't Be Any Different

Learning a brass or woodwind instrument should never feel like a chore. They are some of the most exciting instruments within any band and ensemble so learning to play them should be a fun and exciting experience at all times. It is for this very reason that Merriam Music’s teachers are not just professional musicians, but professional music educators too.

Having an inspiring and passionate teacher is one of the most important components to ensuring that lessons stay fun for students of all ages and levels. While many brass, woodwind, and saxophone players have access to playing in school and community ensembles, the level of personalized attention can never match private one-on-one lessons.

Merriam Music has a proprietary teaching system that offers students a holistic approach to learning music that is simply unmatched by any other curriculum. We ensure that lessons always feel relevant through well-defined short, mid, and long-term goals. You will explore everything from tone production, dynamic control, and vibrato at all-new depths while learning to function both as a soloist and within ensemble situations.

Whether your goal is to play tenor saxophone in a stage band or successfully win a chair in one of the world’s leading orchestras as a flutist, you will always be learning repertoire that is conducive to your goals.

Through inspiring instructors that possess years of teaching experience, you will learn brass, woodwind, or saxophone tips, tricks, and techniques that will make your playing feel effortless. Your teacher will help you overcome the hurdles of your instrument and allow you to experience joy from your playing that you never could have imagined.

If your dream is to play saxophone or a brass/woodwind instrument, realize that dream by joining the fastest-growing, internationally recognized, and industry-leading music school: The Merriam School of Music.

A Music School Beyond the Notes

Simply put, music is a language, and the only way to feel more confident speaking it is by understanding its mechanics. By learning the inner workings of the repertoire you play, you will have a deeper understanding of how to successfully interpret and express your favourite pieces of music.

Since we began educating aspiring musicians, we’ve fervently believed that even the most seemingly complex concepts of music like harmony, rhythm, and form can be taught to musicians of any age and at any stage of their educational journey. When concepts are discussed and taught progressively through carefully considered methodologies, even the youngest of students can have an impressive mastery of the language of music.

Especially within the realm of monophonic instruments from the brass, woodwind, and saxophone families, understanding how the musical phrases you speak through your instrument fit into the larger conversation that is the arrangement is imperative to becoming a proficient ensemble player. More specifically, knowing details like which chord tone you are playing or which scales you can use to solo over a specific section of a piece will make you a more complete musician.

If you’ve been searching for a complete and holistic approach to learning a brass or woodwind instrument, Merriam Music’s proven curriculum can take you there.

The Science of Musical Excellence

Merriam Music’s proprietary curriculum has been thoroughly reviewed by universities and colleges all across the world. Unanimously, even the most elite post-secondary music programs in the world have been blown away by the results of our educational approach.

We infuse 9 areas of musical literacy into each and every lesson to ensure that all of our students receive the most comprehensive, relevant, and engaging music education possible.

Progress is regularly measured through Merriam Music’s revolutionary examination system which covers everything from harmony, rhythm, technique, repertoire, composition, improvisation, ear training, and much more.

In addition to this already extensive curriculum, all of our students are given the unique opportunity to join a variety of extracurricular courses that range from ensemble playing to music production and perform in up 15 concerts annually. Beyond feeling the thrill and rush of performing to a real audience, these concert environments provide students with the perfect medium to learn and workshop all-new musicianship skills.

Every step of the way, a student’s musical journey is overseen by a team of the most experienced department leaders that continue to revolutionize the way music is taught. The culmination of these ingredients is what we call the ‘The Science of Musical Excellence’.

The Merriam Curriculum 

A Complete Music Education

Students at Merriam don’t just learn differently. Their entire experience is broader and more engaging. They learn creativity and free expression while building confidence, self-esteem, and friendships. It all begins in the classroom, but where it takes them, goes far beyond.

Private Piano Lessons

One-On-One Piano Lessons

Merriam School of Music students are more inspired to learn, more motivated to excel and more confident as a result. We believe the best way to nurture music education and personal growth is in a social setting as a part of a group classroom. Personal development and socialization are a big part of what we do. And even though we’re just trying to teach them music, they learn a lot more than that.

Family Piano Program

Group Piano Lessons

Merriam School of Music students are more inspired to learn, more motivated to excel and more confident as a result. We believe the best way to nurture music education and personal growth is in a social setting as a part of a group classroom. Personal development and socialization are a big part of what we do. And even though we’re just trying to teach them music, they learn a lot more than that.

Advanced Piano Lessons

Enriched Piano Lessons

Merriam School of Music students are more inspired to learn, more motivated to excel and more confident as a result. We believe the best way to nurture music education and personal growth is in a social setting as a part of a group classroom. Personal development and socialization are a big part of what we do. And even though we’re just trying to teach them music, they learn a lot more than that.

"Our mission and purpose is to help foster and inspire creative, connected, and well-rounded lives with the power of music."

- Alan Merriam, President of Merriam Music
Common Questions & Answers

Frequently Asked Questions

Private one-on-one brass and woodwind lessons cost $25-35 USD on average in North American per 30-minute session. While Merriam Music charges a premium rate ($30-50 USD per lesson), students are given access to the finest state-of-the-art facilities and instruments as well as special events like master classes with guest artists. Established performing artists with advanced credentials or degrees from leading post-secondary music programs can charge upwards of $100 USD per hour.

The cost of your lessons at Merriam Music is ultimately determined by the coaching level, length of lesson, and program type (Enriched, Bandchops, etc.).

To select the program that best suits your needs as well as its related costs, please call 647-417-1125 to connect to our expert admissions team.

The lifelong benefits of taking music lessons are countless, but one of the most important reasons to consider enrolling in music education is that it is one of the most fulfilling and fun things you can do. In addition to improving cognitive ability, coordination, and dexterity, social music activities like ensemble playing is often a vehicle to meet new people and build lifelong friendships.

Brass and woodwind students are particularly very social musicians due to the fact that one of the primary functions of these instrument families is ensemble playing. Playing with an ensemble is challenging but unquestionably rewarding. Students will learn important teamwork skills and gain a deeper understanding of how the individual elements of a musical arrangement work together to form the macroscopic end product.

Furthermore, brass and woodwind students will also experience being the focal point of an arrangement when taking on the role of a soloist. The confidence established from this training will provide a strong foundation for presenting and public speaking which are skills that are transferrable in virtually all jobs and industries.

Both students and parents often look back on their music education as being one of the best time, energy, and financial investments they ever made.

As with any industry, there are numerous manufacturers making brass instruments, woodwind instruments, and saxophones for all levels and their corresponding price points. With that said, Yamaha and Conn-Selmer have a justifiably great reputation as making some of the best student level instruments on the market.

Most parents don’t want to make the mistake of either overspending or spending too little on their child’s first instrument, so those two brands are an excellent choice to explore to ensure that you’re getting a quality instrument that will give you longevity at a great value.

Learning a brass or woodwind instrument is not without its obstacles, but the rewards certainly make up for the challenge these unique instruments present. While most students find learning and executing fingerings on their instrument relatively easy, establishing correct embouchure, which is the way a player applies their mouth to an instrument’s mouthpiece, can be difficult at first. However, experienced teachers, like those on the Merriam Music team, are able to help students navigate these obstacles much more easily.

Although it will take many students some time to refine their tone production and sound, wind instruments are some of the easiest instruments to feel connected to because of the physical process involved with playing them. Next to the voice, playing brass and woodwind instruments is arguably the most organic musical sensation you will find.

As previously discussed, the highly-social nature of these instruments given their connection to ensemble playing also helps sustain interest and motivation levels which will lead to consistent practice and, of course, faster progress. In that regard, brass and woodwind instruments are some of the easiest for students to get excited about and stay excited about.

The simple answer is yes! Merriam Music’s proprietary MMOA platform allows for brass and woodwind teachers and students to connect anywhere in the world with a level of interaction and engagement that was previously never thought to be possible outside of in-person learning. Developed in conjunction and collaboration with dozens of our top teachers and thousands of students, every detail and aspect of the experience was meticulously examined and engineered to ensure that online lessons were just as fun, effective, and engaging – if not more so – than in-studio lessons.

Both the brass and woodwind families of instruments are incredibly extensive and include instruments of all shapes, sizes, and ranges. From the rumbling lower frequencies to the most piercing upper frequencies, the entire spectrum of human hearing is well-represented in this family of instruments. More specifically, the most common woodwind instruments that people learn to play are piccolo, flute, oboe, clarinet, bass clarinet, and bassoon to name a few. Conversely, the most common brass instruments that people learn to play are trumpet, French horn, trombone, baritone, and tuba. While some people believe saxophonists are brass players because of the fact that their instruments are made of brass, they are actually considered woodwind players because they use a wooden reed to generate sound. There are many types of saxophones which include soprano saxophone, alto saxophone, tenor saxophone, baritone saxophone, and bass saxophone.

Blog Posts About Brass & Woodwind Education

Learning Brass & Woodwinds Blog Posts

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