Problem

[Peter342]

Recently my practices have gone bad. Last week I was playing wonderfully until my lesson,my teacher told me I kept on changing speeds,then recommended using a metronome( but i don't work well with them) anyway, after that I got this etude and it's pretty tough but i can work with it,but my tone stunk and yesterday I didn't play,because my brother and mother told me to take a break because I practice everyday,anyway my tone still sounds like a bari sax being sucked up my a vaccum and it sounds really out of wack. I was also thinking it could be the reed,due to it being plastic and I have been using for about4 months,or is it that I don't know when to take a breath. I need some advice.
Thanks.

[Razzy]

You need to take care of a number of things. But first and foremost:

- Don't listen to the advice of family members as regards your practicing. Respect their wishes in terms of how late is too late, and leave it at that. Only you know when you need to stop and when you should keep going.

- Learn to "work well" with the metronome, hah. It's a relationship that takes a lot of time to foster, but eventually produces a wonderful child: good time! Practice with a metronome ALL the time until you have a solid foundation of good time. Then, keep it up!

- Start purchasing reeds and cycling through them regularly. Break in your reeds. 4 month old plastic is doubtless responsible for some of your problems with tone.

- Ask your teacher about a few things: mouthpieces, reeds, what he recommends, tone exercises, etc.

[jaysne]

Peter,

I have had many students over the years, and they all have had one thing in common: they all hated using the metronome. One even claimed that the metronome made him a worse player.

Of course, that's not true: the metronome reveals to you shortcomings that you're unaware of. Then you can correct them. When I was in high school I never used it. Then in college I gradually came around, and then when I was in grad school I used it all the time. Now, as a professional, I use it almost 100% of the time in my practice sessions. I love it.

Any musician who is at least semi-serious about what he or she is doing will use a metronome. I know it's a pain, but if you stick with it, the metronome will help you reap rewards that you can't imagine.

My advice concerning that plastic reed is that you should chuck it. Get yourself some real reeds and use them all the time. It will improve your tone immeasurably.

My final thought is that when you've been practicing faithfully and you feel like you're in a rut or even getting worse, that's prime time to take a break. Take three or four days off and completely forget about playing. When you return to your horn, you won't believe how good you sound and how much fun it will be to play again.

[Peter342]

Thanks for the advice man!

[jaysne]

You're welcome!