Tenor and or Alto

[Big Jim]

I am relearning the Sax after many years off. I have an Alto and a Tenor. I practice with each of them at least 2 hours every day. I seem not to be progressing like I would like to. :( My questions is, should I just practice with one horn until I get it down then go to the next one? Thanks for your reply. Regards,
Big Jim

[Troy]

Oh yeah. Keep the tenor, junk the alto. heh heh heh
Who needs those screechy horns anyway.







it's a JOKE, ok?

[ferrari]

Big Jim; I don't think there's a pat answer to your question, so why not experiment. Which of the two do you prefer? Let's say it's the tenor. Just play the tenor exclusively for a couple of weeks, concentrating on your tone in particular. The reason I'm suggesting this is because the embouchure and the 'voice' of the tenor and alto are different. After doing the two weeks on the tenor, switch to alto and see what happens. This won't be an earth shattering experiment, but you may learn something useful.

[alsdiego]

Jim,

Here's another perspective. I would start with the alto, and spend several months building a good embouchure (a teacher could help significantly). Once you've built your embouchure muscles on alto, learning to "relax" your embouchure on tenor should be relatively easy, much easier than building the embouchure muscles in the first place.

Another reason to stick with one horn for a while: when you're developing technique, you'll progress much faster if you use the same "keyboard" every day. Of course, eventually you'll have to adapt to a different keyboard, but again, it should be relatively easy.

Having played both tenor and alto extensively, I feel that the alto is much harder to learn from the standpoint of a good embouchure. However, I am not a teacher, and a real teacher might be able to offer suggestions to help you find your way faster with less frustration. I returned to the horn after a 40 year layoff :oops: and found that just a few lessons were immensely helpful in speeding the process.

Al

[Big Jim]

Al, Thanks for your reply. I have noticed the Alto is a little harder than the Tenor. I really like the sound of the Tenor. That's what I played in the 50's. Yesterday when I practiced I played the Alto first then the Tenor. I just can't "like" the Alto sound. I think I'll stick to the Tenor for a couple of months and see if that's better. (BTY, I have to justify the purchase of the Alto to my wife by playing it.. But I'll try to explain to her what I'm doing. hahaha) :lol: Thanks again, Big Jim

[Media Lint]

I'm a relearner but I relearned on a tenor, it was much more comfortable and still is than an alto. However, I did go from alto in grade school and junior high to bari in high school. That may explain matters ... I'd play the one you like best. Having studied composition the transposition was never an issue, I think in relative pitch.

[colibri]

Dave Liebman once said to me that you should try playing all saxophones. Eventually one will stick out and sound better, then become your main horn. People will then associate you with it, like Liebman and his soprano or Phil Woods and alto.

[Big Jim]

Thanks so much for all the reply's. I am sorta like Media Lint, Alto in Jr. High, Bari in High School and Tenor in the 50's. Well, I have tried the Alto and Tenor, but keep going back to the Tenor. I think I'll play it for a while, then maybe try the Alto again, but for now, it's the Tenor. Again, many thanks to all reply's. I really appreciate all the information I receive on S.O.T.W. Regards, :D :D :D
Big Jim

[Biff]

I'd say that it would depend on the style you want to play. if you want a lot of melody lines, go for Alto, but if you're going for solos (and in my opinion, a better sound) go with the tenor.

[tdewinter]

I played alto through school and had never as much as blown a note on another sax. I picked the alto up after a 38 year hiatus. Even after a year I just couldn't seem to get my embrochure to strengthen or to stop biting for control.

I switched to tenor and the embrochure problem went away. People tell me that I've developed great tone on the tenor. After a couple months playing tenor exclusively I picked up the alto. To my surprise my alto tone and intonation was much improved. And I no longer had biting problems.

Now I'm playing tenor in two bands and alto in another. The only problem I have switching gears is with the left hand pinky keys. I seem to have trouble finding the B key on alto, often overreaching and hitting Bb. Both horns are Yamaha 62's.

Regards,

Tom

[marton]

yeah, play the one you like.

bit tough if you don't like the sound of whatever it is you're playing.

[crazydaisydoo]

I was told by many here to play both at the same time (not literally) The truth is though that I only picked up my tenor for 5 - 10 minutes at the end o the odd practice (not every day) It sounded OK, but I had no control.

Two weeks ago I decided to switch for a while, just so i could get competent on the thing, and I am really enjoying it, like a breath of fresh air.

If you can do both equally then good luck!

[Ralfy]

I say you should go with bari. If you can't go with bari go with alto 'cause it's in the same key as bari.

[JL]

I heard you answer your own question loud and clear. You like the tenor. I can relate to that all right. Everyone is different, but for me I like to stick to one horn most of the time. Occasionally I'll pick up the alto to mess around, but tenor's the horn I use on gigs and it's the one for me. There's a lot to learn in any case.

[themacintrasher]

Bari's for pansies. Contrabass!!!!!!!!!!!:) :) :) :)

[bari_sax_diva]

Play whichever makes you want to practice. If you like to practice tenor, then work on that and come back to alto. You'll probably develop great breath support, and when you feel like tacking alto again a good teacher can walk you through the embouchure differences you'd need to address.

[jrvinson45]

Uh. Looks like we lost Big Jim somewhere back in about 2005. Still some good advice for Late Bloomers here though.