Am I Mad

[wearthetunnel]

I wanted a new hobby and have alway fancied the challange of playing the Sax.

So off i goes and buy a 2nd hand Alto

Problems are I have never played an intrument in my life and cannot read music.

Oh well heres to some fun and hopefully a TUNE will follow soon

[johnsax]

You're not mad at all. Hopefully this will be a great adventure for you. One tip. If you've never played an instrument before, you're going to HAVE to get a teacher. You're looking for MAJOR frustration and discouragement if you don't.

Good luck and let us know how it's going!

John

[Troy]

Yes, you are mad...but normalcy is overrated. :)

[gary]

Yes, you are mad...but normalcy is overrated.
LOL!!

...nor can it be found here! :twisted:

[Mel]

Hey! I think I'm n-n-n-nor-

Seriously though, wearthetunnel, music is such an exciting adventure. I'm glad my childhood wasn't "normal" because otherwise, I may have never turned to music. :D

Good luck, wearthetunnel!

[WriterMom]

Best of luck, and have fun!! :D

[Sigmund451]

Ya got to start somewhere...insanity is as good a place as any :wink:

[Troy]

Yup...no law against it...in fact, it can get one around several laws!

[saxmangeoff]

Just remember, it's ok to stink at the saxophone! We all did at one point.

The idea is to stink less a year from now. :)

Geoff

[Homer]

Well, if you're mad I'm stark crazy.........
I hired a sax three and a half months ago, loved it so much I went out and
bought a second hand Selmer III Alto in new condition, practiced every
day for at least an hour, I've got 7 Major scales off pat now, know a few
tunes, but I'm very impatent with myself, the latest tune I'm learning
is Yardbird Suite, I should really find a teacher but haven't got round
to it yet.

Like you, I haven't played an instrument in my life, but always wanted to
play the sax, just never got around to it, the only regret I have is that
I didn't pick one up years ago...............

Happy blowing...................

[scherzo5586]

hey, can someone help me here? what is more important, knowing how to finger all the notes and being able to play a ton of songs first, or knowing the scales?

i taught myself the clarinet eight years ago and just last year i joined a band; they told me the clarinet didn't blend as well as a sax would, so i bought a second hand armstrong sax and taught myself that too. problem is, i've had absolutly no professional musical training, even tho i've taught music theory before.

[Mel]

I think it's a good idea to find a happy medium. If you ask someone to play all scales and no songs, it'll be easy to get bored and/or discouraged. On the other hand, if you're playing all songs and little foundation work, then you may be lacking in terms of building musicianship. I'm a true believer in learning theory as applicable, not as you read and complete questions out of a workbook, so it'd be ideal if there's a way for you to learn the foundations whilst you learn songs.

[Troy]

The only reason for learning all those scales is so you can do something musical with them.

On the other hand, if you don't push yourself to learn new "keys" you may get stuck in a rut and start sounding the same on every song...or you may be playing with someone (say, a guitarist) who needs to play in a key you don't know yet.

Balance is the key. Scales are good. Music is the goal.

[king koeller]

The most important thing as a beginner is to get a great book and a teacher. If you can't find a teacher right away, use the book to get started on your own until you can find one.
I feel the best begining method for saxophone is the Blue cover
RUBANK Elementary Method for saxophone.
With the fingering chart, and exercises that progress in order of difficulty, you will encounter step by step the different levels of sound production, and fingering technique. This is a time tested way of getting better. but you have to practice.
I recomend using a metronome to keep the time even.
use a 2 1/2 reed at first, but as your chops get stronger move up to a 3.
Listen to recordings of fine saxophone players, such as charlie parker, stan getz and a million more
good luck! "King"

[wianno]

I second the advice of the King. I'm self teaching and have made a lot of progress in a year and a half. I used the Rubank book (Hovey) that King mentioned and moved directly from it to advanced material, like the Ferling etudes.

The entire Rubank Elementary Method material can be found on Alastair Ingram's site http://saxlessons.com/ . You can hear him play each lesson! This really is an excellent learning aid.

There is a wealth of instructional material on the SOW site and plenty of useful advice from SOWF participants.

Good luck.

JD