playing sax when you were in school... please share

[saxamaphonegirl]

i'm not sure if my experience is unique or not, but here goes.

:Rant: :Rant2:
there was always this other sax player that used to irk the doodoo out of me. this girl always thought she was better than everyone. she thought her American Made Student Model Selmer/Selmer Stencil was the greatest thing on earth. she used to rub it in the faces of all of us who played school owned or student models. she would call it her "secret weapon" and tell us how bad she was going to beat us at playing.
i can't begin to explain how this irritated me and the other players. she was downright vicious to the younger students who didn't know any better. the rest of us eventually learned that she was just full of it.

when i graduated and finally purchased my series 3 tenor i wanted to run over to her house at 3am and tell her how ignorant she had been all those years and how her sax was a piece of JUNK!! but i didn't. i'm a nice girl and that would have been as wrong as how she acted in high school.

needless to say she works at skyline chilli now and i am a music/saxophone major.

to her i would like to say, in sing song fashion, "neener, neener, neener".

i have been wanting to get that off of my chest for YEARS!!! *sigh*

does anyone else have a story like this about high school or college?

hey, it's free therapy! i feel so much better now.


:D :D

[Razzy]

I'm currently in high school, and am happy to say I've never had to deal with anything like that. We have a unique program with very fine directors who don't have the silly "weed out the weak" but rather the "make everyone a better player" philosophy, which is great. Also this doesn't sacrifice skill or talent at all... some of our musicians are the finest in the country, and I dare say that our jazz band and wind ensemble are some of the finest on the east coast. It causes so many people to take interest in more sophisticated types of music and to stick with it through their adult lives... but your story does remind me symbolically of my own. I play a Vito student model alto, and all of my musical peers, who used to be more skilled players than myself, play top of the line instruments like Yamaha customs, Mark VI's, etc. But about a year and a half ago I simply practiced much more than they did and surpassed them... now I play four saxophones about equally well and play in almost every band in the school, including the saxophone quartet that I formed there. So see, anything is possible if you put your mind to it :D

[Amy]

When I first joined our school jazz band on saxophone, there were already two other alto players there. They were a bit snobby towards me, not talking to me, always giving me the easiest parts and once when I questioned that they basically said I wasn't good enough for first alto and had to play second or third. One of the mistakes that the band director made, IMO, was that he thought we were mature enough to sort out who would play which part as we are all as skilled as each other so he thought we would all play first on some songs and swap round. Unfortunately, the other two altos were not as mature as he thought. I spoke to my band director about it and he no longer leaves the first chair-second chair thing up to the students anymore. Last year a new alto sax joined our group and I am now quite friendly with her. I don't really talk to the first two saxes if I can help it but in the beginning I got quite upset about it all. Hey, kids can be cruel.

[saxguy9345]

Razzy: I am unbelieveably jealous of your high school, not in my wildest dreams could a program like that exist within reach of where I live. If only my school wasn't between 2 cornfields and 2 Plain Town USA's...

My experience in band has been up and down, but boy was my first year the hardest ever. I remember the older kids telling me how bad I was, my director let me in the senior high band in 7th grade and they thought it was funny to sit me next to that current senior musical prodigy and watch me struggle with first part. Maybe thats why I'm as good as I am today, who knows.

Annd now that I'm a senior, everything has gone downhill since then. We used to win marching competitions and go on wonderful band trips, not anymore. We lost every competition this year, went down in score, and we had to cancell our week long trip to Virginia and settle for 6 hours in NYC to see a show (something I could do by myself). Kids just don't care anymore. The junior class is sick of competing and opted to just have a "football game" show next year.

Right now I'm just waiting to graduate, keeping fingers crossed for college.

[Owner_of_Artemis_R_Sax]

I love band. Quite simple.

See, last year (my junior year), my best friend and my boyfriend were both seniors. I hung out with them constantly, joking around, having a great time and even letting my little brother- then a freshman- tag along with us. They were great times, we all knew always what the other was up to, because we were usually all together. We had fun.

But of course May rolled around, and they both graduated. Soon, August came, and both of them moved to separate colleges on the same day. Though my boyfriend's college was only 40 miles or so away (he comes down every weekend and he's here on break now), and my best friend's only about 200 or so, I was lonely. Suddenly, I was the one doing the tagging along with my younger brother.

Back up a few months- my brother was telling my best friend and I about how a friend of his, who is in band, was bugging him about joining band. She and I thought it was a great idea, because my brother didn't want to play high school sports (he's a fine baseball, golf, and tennis player, but a lot of the student atheletes aren't very nice) and yet he grows restless when he's not busy with activities. We coerced him into doing it, and our band director, who was also my chorus teacher, loved the idea. He was going to play baritone, but our school's one baritone player decided to march trumpet that season. My brother had never picked up an instrument before in his life and barely knew how to read music. A trombone was placed in his hands and he adapted quickly. He loved playing, was skilled at marching, and the trombone section consists of four other very friendly guys. We were all happy.

But then my friends left, and suddenly I was without my main people to hang out with in school. We would arrive early for school- band is zero period, technically before school starts- and I would mostly just hang around outside of the band hall, listening to them play. After school marching practice began, and I watched them most every day. Gradually, I came to be close friends with some of the band members. I liked their ability to be both silly and serious.

But I felt like I had no real purpose there, for some time. Eventually, football season started. Ironically, it was the mother of the boy who talked my brother into band that suggested I help out with the auxilliary. I got my band T-shirt for free- everyone else had to pay- and I rode the bus with the band to each event. At FBA, I got a pin that says, "Future Band Kid."

I had tossed around the idea of pulling my dad's old alto sax out of the closet and playing it. I mentioned it to the band director and again, she loved the idea- but no one thought there was enough time. I finally made up my mind- I wanted to play- and pieced together the old sax. I had to buy a new mouthpiece, ligature, neck strap, and reed....I can still remember that day so clearly, when I first put it all together. It took me a while before I could even make a sound on it, but once I did....I was hooked. Repairs were made, and soon, lessons were set up. My first song was a very airy "London Bridge."

I feared that soon I would lose interest in practicing, but oddly, that didn't happen. I only wanted to practice more. I kept reporting my progresses to my band director and bought a practice book. One night, after a booster meeting, she asked me if I wanted to join them in the morning the next week. I was thrilled. The Christmas concert music was hard, but we were all getting it at the same time so I had just as much time to learn my music as everyone else. I even marched in the Christmas parade.

Chair auditions were a few days after the concert. I was determined to get second chair (there are three of us). I nervously approached my director and was relieved when she revealed the piece I was to play off- my favorite part of my favorite piece, Winter Wonderland. I only messed up once, and she said to me as I was getting my music back together that she was so proud of how far I'd come in that last two and a half months. And when I looked at the results, sure enough, there I was- second chair.

Everyone was happy to see that I had gotten second chair, and I got many congratulatory pats on the back for it. I realized that while I still missed my best friend and my boyfriend, band had worked its magic on both me and my brother. All of us were like a family- we have our ups and downs, but we love each other. It's great. And that's why I love band.

Yes, I know it's a novel of a post. But it's what I feel....

[tubbycub]

My beginnings in a school band was not at all pleasant. The first band I played was my college band and I had joined them as a beginner. My playing then was really crap and I could hardly read my scores well. All the other members had so many years of experience ahead of me and the entire sax section scorned and looked down upon me :( The year which I had joined this band had a big influx of new capable sax players and I was told by the section leader to quit.

I don't know if it was by sheer luck or what, one of the french horn players who happened to be a classmate approached me and asked me to rejoin them. To my surprise, those new players had suddenly quit and the sax section was only left with the section leader (who sacked me) and another girl. This second opportunity gave me a new hope and I would have stopped playing music if not for this. I was still being ostracized by some of the members and they were still giving me those nasty looks but I was lucky enough to have acquainted with some of the nicer non-sax-playing people who sympathized with me and gave me very good encouragements. To prove that I could make it, I had to work extra hard to be able to play the music.

Perhaps, it was this horrible experience that made me paranoid of other saxophonists whenever I play in a new environment.

But come to think of it, sometimes you need to experience some $hi+ in your life in order to appreciate you presently have....

[Owner_of_Artemis_R_Sax]

That really sucks, tubbycub. I guess I was lucky because my section leader was one of the nicest, most laid-back people in the band. Instead of losing his patience with how little I knew, he actually seemed to remember when he was in a similar position, and he'd whisper cues on what note to start with for warm-ups and such.

Come to think of it, I don't think anyone in band scorned my lack of experience....I guess I was lucky. I mean, I know the piccolo player who sat in front of me certainly got tired of hearing me blow sharp right into her ear, but I don't think anyone really ever got upset with me....

[Vortex]

Razzy: I played on a Vito student model alto for many years before upgrading to a YAS-23, and later finally getting a SIII. You've got my respect for being able to surpass those guys on VI's and Yamaha Customs with such a limiting horn. It's always impressive when someone plays well on troublesome equipment. On that note, if I were in your situation (and not currently saving for a pro horn) I'd at least save up a couple hundred to get a YAS-23. Lots of people make fun of them, but let me tell you: they're not all that bad, and seriously durable horns to boot. If you get a 23 set up well it's a decent horn.

[saxamnphone]

at least you guys have proper bands!
my band experience started off brilliant,and has gradually disintegrated, mainly thanks to my school getting a new head of music.
i joined the school concert band on clarinet at the tender age of 11, was scared out of my mind by playing Bach's Toccata but survived!l later, when i took up the sax, i joined the school jazz band. it was great, really friendly atmosphere and it encouraged my playing. then our head of music (and conductor) left...
the new head of music was appointed swearing he'd keep the bands going (there were 5 or so), but it's gradually disintegrated. there are now no bands left except a 'music school' comprised of everyone from people who've just picked up an instrument to me and my friends who are in our last year at school and have been playing for years. naturally we're playing stuff the standard of the worst players.
me and my friends have tried setting up our own jazz band, but there's just not enough players any more (eg 1 trombone player in a school of 1000+ where there used to be 5, and no trumpets)

this has turned into a bit of a novel...but i'm glad i'm leaving school next year and going to 6th form where there'll be actual bands! at the moment all that's keeping me in bands is the local music centre...

[Razzy]

Vortex, I've thought of that, but I've played a few 23's and found my horn to be superior to them. There's something about this horn... it's limited, definitely, but it is good for what it is. Probably because I've been playing on it so long and have gotten accustomed to it. Best $700 I ever spent. The biggest problem is intonation, which I've found on most student model horns. It's actually not too bad on this one.