Starting over

[Steve St.Laurent]

I'm hoping I can get some help here. First a little background on me. When I was a kid I was a pretty accomplished musician. I took to it naturally. By the time I was in high school I could play every wind instrument with the exception of flute, oboe, and trombone with bassoon and sax being my specialties. I solo'd with the Oklahoma City Symphony when I was 14 and made 1st chair in every honor band I ever tried out for except my first one (where I got 3rd chair) - all that was on bassoon. I picked up sax at a band camp when they needed an additional tenor for the stage band and there wasn't anyone available. I learned tenor in 4 days (length of the band camp) and received the directors award at the concert (not because I was the best OBVIOUSLY but because of how much I had learned in 4 days). I picked up soprano for kicks one day and was able to play it easily and fell in love - played it regularly in our stage band after that. I then had a falling out with my band director when I was 17 and put my horns away and never picked up again :( - stupidest thing I've done in my entire life.

Fast forward 10 years and I was missing having music in my life. I really enjoyed sax more than any other instrument I could play and wanted to get back into it. I tossed around for a while whether to get a tenor (for the versatility) or a soprano (because I enjoyed it the most). After thinking about it for a while decided to get a soprano. I found a King Marigaux (s/n 25700) which seemed to be a very good quality horn used in a local shop and bought it. Now for the hard part. My fingers still worked well, I knew all the fingerings still, could read the music no problem, my ears still worked great - but my tongue and my embouchre obviously are horrible. The sound coming out of the horn was absolutely painful to listen to. I tried for about 2 months and just couldn't take the pain and really wasn't seeing any progress.

Here we are another 6 years down the road and I still miss music. I'd love to play the soprano again but am not sure if I have it in me. Any advice on what to do? How do I get started again? Any exercises that I could do to get in shape, etc? I can get most of the notes out (up to high C #) - just poor tonal quality. I have an SML R4 mouthpiece and am using 2 1/2 reeds. I really didn't think it was going to be this hard to pick it up as it was so easy when I was a kid. Now I realize I probably made a mistake trying to jump right to soprano and should have started with a tenor but I don't have the money to purchase another horn and think I have a good quality horn that I got for a good price. Maybe part of the problem is that the horn is out of whack and I need to get it tuned?

Any help would be greatly appreciated - I would love to have music in my life again. I'm considering selling the soprano and buying an instrument that I've never played before so that it wouldn't be so frustrating but think I'd be happiest if I could play the soprano again. Thanks in advance.

[BobMac]

Steve, yes, you have it in you. You can play. You can get better.

Let me see if I understand the problem: You were the stud horn player in every section you were ever in. You were a useful tenor player three days after you picked up the horn.

You are accustomed to getting enormous positive feedback (and probably well deserved) every time you play.

Now, you've let your chops wither for 16 (?) years. You pick up the horn, and it tells you, bluntly, that you suck when you blow.

Bad news: the horn isn't lying. Horns, barbells, scales and stopwatches are the kind of friends who will tell you the stinkin' truth, no matter what you think.
Good news: horns (and scales, barbells and stopwatches) won't hold a grudge. When you get better, it will tell you.
Right now, you need to play regularly, and for maybe three years, to get back to where you were. It may help to use much softer reeds for the first few months. It may help to get a teacher.

It will help to go get the beginner/intermediate books (Rubank, etc) and play them. Of course, being an experienced musician, you will play them with more understanding, and better tuning and musicianship than a 10 year old. Still, your major requirement now is to get the physical stamina back. I really hope you stay the course. It will be worth it.

BobMac

[Steve St.Laurent]

Thanks for the reply Bob. I hope I didn't come across as arrogant as it sounds like I may have :( . I know it's going to take a while to get it back. I didn't mean to sound like I expected it to come back overnight. It's just that the last time I tried I practiced consistently 1-2 hours a day for about 2 months and really wasn't seeing any improvement. Finding this site last night really got me excited. Somewhere in one of the posts I saw a recommendation to try the tone production exercises in this article - http://www.saxontheweb.net/Coats/tone_production.html . After reading it I recall starting with just the mouthpiece when I was first learning (started on clarinet) - and remember not liking that at all at 11 yrs old :wink: . I downloaded the soprano sax midi file from that article and tried to match the tone with just the mouthpiece. Wow did it sound horrible at first!! After about 5-10 minutes though I had a much steadier tone. I tried playing on the horn again and the sound is at least bearable now. How much we forget! I think I'll try that exercise for about 5-10 minutes at the start of each practice session for a while and start working on my method books and such. I have the "Universal Method for saxophone" by Paul Deville which seems to have a good progression of exercises - probably enough to keep me busy for a couple years. Any additional advice will be appreciated.

[Hurling Frootmig]

You're going to be fine. Just repeat that.

Grab some Rubanks and work through them methodically. Do long tones to build up your chops. Keep yourself inspired. Join a local community band. They'll be happy to have you.

[gary]

Hey Steve...you can do it! It might come as some consolation that the soprano is the most unforgiving of the saxes wheras tenor, which you played, is more forgiving in comparison forgiving. Soprano takes some firm chops, so it's normal for you to tire more quickly than on tenor or lose control quicker. Take heart. You're just going to need time.

Also, don't worry, I don't think you came across as arrogant. You were trying to let us know your background. If you were good, you were good. I don't think BobMac was commenting on that as much as just adding some light humour to the post. Actually, I was laughing as I was reading his summary of your background, not at your expense believe me, but just at the cleverness of it. Although this is a pretty civil Forum, stick around long enough and you'll see some real (hopefully seldom) arrogance and some responses in kind.

Regarding your equipment, I haven't played the Marigaux so I can't comment on it, other forum members might, but I can say that when I got a modern Yamaha soprano, when compared to an old Conn I had, my soprano-playing life became easier.

Also, and most important, you should take your horn in to a good repairman and have it checked out top to bottom. Leaks on a soprano are definitely not going to be doing you any favors.

Good luck and stick with it. Soprano's a wonderful instrument (don't say it guys...the G-ster shall remain unmentioned ; ) )

[BobMac]

Well, arrogant isn't the word I would use, Steve. It's just that you have been very good, and have high standards for yourself. It's been a couple of decades since you've been at the (re)beginner's level.

Actually, I've seen this in several other contexts, particularly with music. Sooner or later, we all hit a point where there is really brutally unrewarding slogging to be done. Most of us hit this point pretty early. Most of us move past it.

From your narrative, it seems that the first time you went through this stage, you blinked, and missed it. :D

You may be doing it the smart way. At your present age, you understand that "two years of work" or "three years of enthusiastic practice" are periods of time that actually pass. I've seen a pretty good fiddler at the age of ten come apart entirely the first time he couldn't knock off a Suzuki piece in ten minutes. ("You mean I'll actually take four days to be good at it? That's forever"!) :shock:
You're at the start of a new stage in the musical journey; step out, and eat up the miles!

BobMac