Seems to me like you're building a pretty solid foundation.
One thing you haven't mentioned are long-tones. Just 5 minutes of long tones helps me if I can't practice anything else.
I think if you are into jazz, you need to start transcribing/ jamming along with your favourite players. Have you got a cd/ tape player in your car?

-Daniel

 

Hi Dan,
I do practice long tones, though I suspect I could use a better method than just
"hold an unwavering tone as long as I can, relax embouchure, and repeat". Any tips
are welcome.

Transcription would probably be very slow going right now. When I do ear training, it's usually just taking some well known kids song, like "teh Itsy Bitsy Spider" or "Skip to My Lou", figuring it out, and then trying to do it in all 12 keys. I got that idea from Jamey Aebersolds Jazz Handbook. I was figuring that in another year or so, after I've done
interval exercisies for a few months, and this kind of basic ear training, that transcription might be easier, my reasoning being that if I start now it'll take so long that other aspects of practice will suffer.

Oh, to be young again, and have 8 free hours a day!

 

It would really, really help if you were able to find a better practice environment. Its surprising how much WHERE you practice can affect how you play. Why do you have to practice in your car? Is'nt there anywhere in your building you can practice. If you can't think of anywhere try talking to your 'superiors' and see if they can accomodate your need to practice.

 

Sax_appeal,
I'm paid to be a software engineer, assisting in VLSI design. I'm not paid to play sax. So, no, there is no other place in the building to practice,
and it would be a bit presumpuous of me to request special treatment.

I may be able to just play outside, but I have no idea if I'm going to annoy anyone. I work in the heart of Silicon Valley, basically one giant industrial park.

I agree that lot's of things I do are suboptimal, but that's probably normal for non-musicians with day jobs.

On the plus side, if I ever get a chance to play in public, I'm not likely to be bothered by the surroundings.

 

Hey Altoist,

I've got a website with a lot of audio lessons you can listen to. Visit: http://www.jazz-o-matic.com

Let me know what you think!

 

Hey Altoist,

I've got a website with a lot of audio lessons you can listen to. Visit: http://www.jazz-o-matic.com

Let me know what you think!

 

CSharp,
Is it necessary that I register and login before I peruse the lessons?
If so, why?

I see that you're a late bloomer yourself. Good for you!

 

Currently, I focus more on sight reading

Since music is an aural art first and foremost, I would not prioritize the sight-reading over ear development.

I do practice long tones... Any tips are welcome.

The first part of the Sigurd Rascher "Top Tones" has some excellent exercises for tone development; expecially the one called "Daily Bread".

I'm paid to be a software engineer...not paid to play sax. So, no, there is no other place in the building to practice

Ahhh, nooo. Don't say that. You're in the middle of an undustrial complex and can't find a place to practice? I have practiced in underground parking lots and in storage facilities. I'll bet you can find something if you're resourceful. Good luck

 

Since music is an aural art first and foremost, I would not prioritize the sight-reading over ear development.

Point taken, but my lessons focus a lot on sight reading for now. I agree that the ear is more important. Do you have any tips for developing the ear? As I mentioned, I tried following the suggestion in Aebersold's Jazz Handbook, of figuring out childrens's songs that I remmeber in one key, and then trying to get them in all twelve. I could do this with simple songs. I notice that when I figure out a tune like this, I remember it for a long time, whereas when I learn to sightread a piece, I forget it fairly quickly after I stop practicing.

How about learning chords? I have an electronic keyboard, and I can practice that without waking up the wife and kids.

The first part of the Sigurd Rascher "Top Tones" has some excellent exercises for tone development; expecially the one called "Daily Bread".

Thanks, I'll look into that one ASAP. I remember reading some quote by Rascher about how you had to have the sound in your mind, and then it would come. When I first read it, I thought it was a bunch of mumbo-jumbo, but after playing for almost a year, I realize that he is absolutely correct!

Ahhh, nooo. Don't say that. You're in the middle of an undustrial complex and can't find a place to practice? I have practiced in underground parking lots and in storage facilities. I'll bet you can find something if you're resourceful. Good luck

Well, I have found a place, the back seat of my car :?

There aren't many underground garages in this area, CA is spread out on account of
the propensity for seismic activity. We don't make boxes, we sell bytes, so there isn't a
significant storage facility. I've been thinking that practicing outside may not be too bad,
there's a hill between my company and an adjacent one, and a ditch on one side. Maybe
if I go into the ditch the sound won't travel enough to bother people.

Thanks for the suggestions gary!

 

I made a mistake. There is an exercise that is similar to what's found in the Rascher called "Daily Bread" but it's from another book. My bad. But the suggestions still stand, only don't be looking for "Daily Bread".

Aslo, I wonder if we're talking about the same thing. When yo say "sight-reading" do you mean reading music per se or reading it for the first time, i.e. "on sight"?

 

Gary,
No problem about the mistake. Top tones is short enough that I should read it all.

I meant "reading music per se". I don't know if it's really worth it for me to be able to sight read perfectly new music at a glance. I started from zero a year ago. That's probably hard to understand if you're from Europe, but when I say zero, I mean zero. If you showed me
"Twinkle Little Star" in quarter notes and half notes a year ago, it would have been like
showing me hieroglyphics, or Cyrillic writing. I could have said "That's written music" but
I wouldn't have been able to tell you which things were quarter notes, which were half notes, etc.

Now, I can usually get a piece down after a dozen runs through it, though it isn't perfect.
Well, I can get "Twinkle Twinkle" perfectly, but I still stumble on pieces with lots of sixteenth notes, or heavy syncopation. I bet in another year I'll be far better, and still far from perfect.
As a musician friend told me, "You may still suck in a month, but you'll suck far less if you
practice every day".

 

I have a funny story about practicing outside an office complex. In my old office, I used to take a walk after lunch, and on a nice day I'd hear bagpipes! It took me a while to find out where it was coming from, but eventually I found a guy practicing his bagpipes in a field between 2 office buildings. I really don't think anyone minded, particularly not me. If you're concerned about "annoying" people, maybe you can use your outdoor practice time to practice songs.