Good sound?

[aneider]

I have one more beginners question:
How long does a beginner need, if he practices half an hour a day, to sound professionally?
As far as I have understood it, this depends much more on the embouchure and the kind of mouthpiece you use than on the instrument itself.
Another question is: how different is the sound you hear when playing yourself from the sound others hear it? I mean, is it similar as with your own voice, which sounds completely different to yourself than to others (everybody who first hears his own voice on a taperecording is astonished, how strange his own voice sounds)?
I hope these questions don´t seem too strange to you, but for my practicing I find them important.
And for the right choice of the horn: is it right, that the Yanagisawa horns are easier to play for a beginner than Selmer and Keilwerth saxes?

Thanks for help
Andreas

[Peterk]

How long does a beginner need, if he practices half an hour a day, to sound professionally?


Sound Professionally? I don't think half hour a day is anywhere near enough for that. Sound Good? Depends on you and what exactly you spend your half hour practice on. With a half hour, you really cannot afford to waste any time fooling around if you're hoping to improve as quickly as possible.

how different is the sound you hear when playing xourself from the sound others hear it?

Quite a bit different. If you practice directly into a wall you will hear it a little more the way someone else would if they were standing close to you.

[kcp]

How long does a beginner need...

Everybody is different, so to each his own for that matter... and then it takes some practicing too. Some players are able to sound nice from the very start, while some others struggle through their entire sax-playing-life searching for "that sound". Generally speaking however (remember everybody is different!) I find that most amateur players only begin to sound somewhat decent after 2 or 3 years.

how different is the sound...

Well that is a good question. Personally I don't think so (asside from reverb and other effects that might be added) I used to find that I sounded different years ago. But not anymore. Maybe that's just me who's gotten used to my sound, or maybe that playing experience has something to do about it. I'd be curious to know what others think about that.

Anyhow aneider, keep honking and have fun while playing, those are the most important things of all :D

[chayjazz]

How long does a beginner need, if he practices half an hour a day, to sound professionally?


Everyone is different, and peoples opinion of professional is different also. As you become a better musician your views about what sounds good will grow and expand. So for now just concentrate on getting better, not so much on the end result.

how different is the sound you hear when playing yourself from the sound others hear it?

It's a good idea to tape a few of your practice sessions, so that you can listen to yourself from a different perspective. I think at some point you get use to the way you sound. It may be strange hearing yourself on tape but as a teacher once told me "the tape dosen't lie".

[aneider]

Thanks everybody for the hints. Its interesting to hear experienced players opinions on that question I put.

Andreas

[colibri]

If you spend 30 minutes everyday only on long tones, you'll sound nice in about 5 years.

[Paul Coats]

First, I would like to refer you to my menu page here on Sax On The Web. I think you will find many articles of interest to you, especially the Beginner's Corner Series and the Tone Production article.

http://www.saxontheweb.net/Coats/index.html

Sounds too easy, huh? It is JUST that easy!

What to practice is one thing. How long to practice is another.

First, a young player, age 10-11, 30 minutes per day is enough. Beyond that, fatigue sets in, attention wanders. I do not recommend longer, and a parent should not push a young student to play longer.

Also, if the parent has to cajole or force practice, the student is not serious about playing and should probably take up another hobby. Children do need reminding. "It is 5 pm, time for practice," should be all that needs to be said.

But you cannot expect a child to practice an instrument, play little league baseball, soccer, dance classes, and all sorts of other things and still have time to practice. Do NOT overload a child in these extracurricular activities. Give the child time to come in from school, relax a little, take care of homework, then practice.

DO NOT criticize a child for not making lovely sounds. That is all a part of learning.

Do not scrimp on reeds, or gripe about how much they cost, or how many reeds the student uses. Buy his reeds by the full sealed box. Keep the box at home so other kids do not steal them. Give him a few at a time. Buy two Lavoz Reedguard IV. These hold four reeds each. They cost about $3.50, a little more than a sax reed. The protection they give reeds, and the flattening action as reeds dry in the Reedguard will save the cost many, many times over. Start the student with just 4 reeds, and tell him to alternate the reeds. Do not play the same reed day after day. Do not leave it on the mouthpiece, but remove it and replace in the Reedguard after use. If you want to help your child, this is the way. And they break reeds, live with it.

For an older student, age 12-13, 45 minutes a day is good. For a really serious student, who can keep his mind on it, 1 hour a day is better.

For older players, 14 and up, they should be practicing at least an hour a day if true progress is to be made. A serious student who really wants to play well will practice 1 1/2 a day.

These times are in addition to rehearsals, band classes, etc. This is at home alone.

Older high school students, really serious about making music a career, no less than 2 hours a day, and 3 hours is better.

College, as a music major, besides all the band, orchestra, and other playing, should practice 4 -5 hours a day.