How are you other beginners progressing?

[Tenorette]

Hi 8-)

I finally am getting my lowest notes on the first octave!! (E to Bb)
Very happy. I've been playing about 4 weeks (came from clarinet).

I already loved the tenor but now i'm totally excited. What a powerful sound and tone.

The tip that helped me most was to blow like you're trying to 'fog a window'

Anyone else had breakthroughs and how have you done it?

[Greyduster]

Hitting top F# straight off for a solo. I just practised, practised, practised.

[Jolle]

Starting on low B or even low Bb without a steamboat-effect. Again, practice and practice. Oh yeah, and buying a decent sax. I was playing a Jupiter student instrument. Nice to start with, but got tired of it after two years.

I have to admit, this latest break trough demanded two years of exercise...

[luther66]

Hi ,i ve been learning now for 5 months,i started on alto but moved to tenor round 3 months ago,i can play 3 ballads with ease,i can also go through the whole chromatic scale of the sax,i have felt my practise getting better and better all the time.

[sopranofreak]

Been playing my soprano for just over three months now (came from a couple of years of self-taught bass clarinet) and I'm working on:

- getting digital patterns and arpeggios cleanly and accurately up to high metronome marks (started s-l-o-o-o-o-w, now up to about 130 in quavers)

- widening my repertoire of standards (lawks I'm glad I can memorise tunes fast)

- overtones

Proudest moment? Finally getting decent bell notes out of my boyfriend's vintage bari! :D

[AlistairD]

Most satisfying moment is when my fingers react quicker than my brain... and they find the note even though my brain hasn't registered it yet....

[Doghouse Riley]

Hmm..

I'm not sure how well I'm progressing. I only play for between thirty and forty minutes and not every day.(other "hobbies")
I've been playing for about a year and can play all notes in the lower register and up to d2 in the upper register without a struggle. I know my tone is improving all the time. I can play most ballads in a couple of keys, "by ear" with very few mistakes after a couple of "run throughs." I can also "improvise" a bit.
My timing is good as I've played a "leccy piano" for years, so I record mostly "left hand" backing tracks to standards on the piano's "floppy", so I can modulate the recording to any key on playback. I've probably got about 100 of these tracks at the moment and I add to them whenever I hear a tune I like. I can get the piano "tabs" for pretty much any standard tune from a variety of internet sites.

I've also used many tunes out of "A Jazz Chord Book" by Lionel Gregson and from two "Frank Mantooth" books which I've had for years to record these tracks.

I don't know if this would be called progress, I'm rubbish at reading music. I haven't the patience, as I just want to get on and "play." Which of course I can.
I'm not interested in progressing any further than "our backroom."

I'm pretty self indulgent in that I bought a new YAS275 a year ago as my first sax, a student tenor last summer which I have since sold and I now have a new YTS62 which I bought a month ago, which plays great. My "GAS" admissions are a metal Link tonemaster and a MkIII Rovner lig.

[cleger]

Work keeps getting in the way of practicing plus I don't have the motivation to effectively use the practice time I do have. I find that I just end up playing tunes and noodling. I just don't have the patience right now, but I hope that by the summer I will have some more time to devote to some serious practice. Have a listen on the beginner's recordings thread for evidence of all this.

[fballatore]

I picked up the sax a little over a year ago, but due to a severe case of bronchitis and troubles holding on to teachers, I've only been playing seriously for 7-8 months. I feel like I'm making good progress, but not as good as I'd like. I still struggle with reading the notes when I'm learning a new tune. I've been happier with my phrasing and tone over the past couple of months. I've had a severe case of GAS (some would call it self indulgence), and have been through about 5 or 6 altos before settling on my YAS-62II. I've also experimented quite a bit with moutpieces, ligs and reeds (even a new neck on my 62). I guess my breakthough came when I hooked up with my current teacher. He's been great, and has me on the right track.

Frank