[Pauly 6 String]

Hello all. I am looking for some advice in teaching a 9 year old. I have started myself only a few years ago and put it down for most of the last year and a half. I am new to the sax but have a teaching background and can teach what I understand and have been able to get him going so far.

We’ve had 2 sessions and after less than 10 minutes working with the mouthpiece only he was able to figure out the airstream and get a good tone out of that. Put it on the sax (Alto) and he was getting a good sound straight away. Started with B, A & G with my help keeping the keys pressed.

The second session he lost the embouchure for a bit and was just blowing air at the mouthpiece but With a few drills we were able to find it and get a decent sound again. Some issues are popping up as I would expect him being a small child so I was looking to see if I could pick your brains for some advice. Will begin with the Rubank Elementary Method book.


1. I’m trying to get him to try and let the neck strap hold the horn in place but its been a bit awkward trying to get it adjusted without gouging out an eyeball with the mouthpiece. He says its too heavy for him. Should a pretty solid 9 year old be able to handle an Alto Sax? Can his neck handle it alone? Any thoughts on a harness or is that really overkill even at that age?

2. Since he is small do I have him stand or sit? Hold it off his right side or between legs? Was thinking that to the side would be best for his size.

3. Any advice on getting the idea of breathing correctly conveyed to a kid? He is a ‘raise-the-shoulders’ breather. Trying to get air filled in lower

Thanks for any and all advice. I am enjoying this challenge. He got it pretty quick and feel he may just keep with it. He has a tendency to avoid things that are “hard” so I don’t want to make it harder for him. I also don’t want to hold the horn in place for him to play it because I feel he should be able to handle it with his size (4’7”)

 

[Jazz House]

Hello all. I am looking for some advice in teaching a 9 year old. I have started myself only a few years ago and put it down for most of the last year and a half. I am new to the sax but have a teaching background and can teach what I understand and have been able to get him going so far.

We've had 2 sessions and after less than 10 minutes working with the mouthpiece only he was able to figure out the airstream and get a good tone out of that. Put it on the sax (Alto) and he was getting a good sound straight away. Started with B, A & G with my help keeping the keys pressed.

The second session he lost the embouchure for a bit and was just blowing air at the mouthpiece but With a few drills we were able to find it and get a decent sound again. Some issues are popping up as I would expect him being a small child so I was looking to see if I could pick your brains for some advice. Will begin with the Rubank Elementary Method book.

1. I'm trying to get him to try and let the neck strap hold the horn in place but its been a bit awkward trying to get it adjusted without gouging out an eyeball with the mouthpiece. He says its too heavy for him. Should a pretty solid 9 year old be able to handle an Alto Sax? Can his neck handle it alone? Any thoughts on a harness or is that really overkill even at that age?

2. Since he is small do I have him stand or sit? Hold it off his right side or between legs? Was thinking that to the side would be best for his size.

3. Any advice on getting the idea of breathing correctly conveyed to a kid? He is a 'raise-the-shoulders' breather. Trying to get air filled in lower

Thanks for any and all advice. I am enjoying this challenge. He got it pretty quick and feel he may just keep with it. He has a tendency to avoid things that are "hard" so I don't want to make it harder for him. I also don't want to hold the horn in place for him to play it because I feel he should be able to handle it with his size (4'7")

Hi, sounds like you've got a fun challenge on your hands. I've found that at that age things are heavily dependent on the child and a lot will also hang on the suitability of the method book you're using. Annoyingly, books for young piano students tend to be way better than books for young sax students.

The Rubank is an excellent book, but there's a chance he might find it a little dry. You might want to look into a book like Andy Hampton's Saxophone Basics for a young student. I like this one because you can get a teacher book that gives some tips for moving past common issues with students and is full of easy piano accompaniment or teacher saxophone parts for the student exercises and pieces in the student book. It also has a simple and modern layout that would probably look nice to a kid.
https://www.amazon.com/Saxophone-Basics-Individual-Learning-Students/dp/0571519725

WIth your questions...

1 - This very much depends on the size of the kid and how much dexterity he has. Some kids are really coordinated at the age of 9 and others not quite as much just yet. I would say a regular 9 year old can handle an Alto provided you get him a strap of good quality with plenty of padding and no irritating sharp edges or exposed nylon bits. I personally wouldn't got with a harness unless you were confident he'd be able to put it on himself. Something that often helps with very young students is to really pay attention to the position of the RH thumb hook. I've even removed it from kids' horns in the past because it was affecting their hand position too much. You may want to explain this to a parent, though.

2 - I usually start with kids standing because it's kind of simpler to explain. He should learn both standing and sitting pretty soon, though. I would recommend the sax out the side unless he's very tall for his age.

3 - I use two exercises with young kids. For me it depends on the underlying cause of the breathing problem. Some kids raise their shoulders because it's a habit and other kids do it because they think the sax requires great effort.
Ex 1 - Don't tell the kid this is a breathing exercise or he'll force his shoulders up. Get the kid to lie flat on the ground stomach up with his hands by his side. As he breathes, make him aware of how his stomach is rising rather than his shoulders.
Ex 2 - This one is fun with little kids. I learnt this one from James Morrison at a PD session years ago. Do it with the child. Ask him to exhale until just beyond the point he strains. Then tell him to let go. He will inflate like a bag from the stomach. You will too!

 

[saxoclese]

I have some experience in this area I can share. The very first step has to be to determine if the student's physical size will allow the instrument to be played with the proper hand position. You can check this by first having the student sit with good posture and with the neckstrap set the correct length so the mouthpiece directly enters the mouth. Then check to see that placing the fingers of the right hand on the keys does not put the wrist or arm in an awkward or strained position. When children are not physically ready for a band instrument, having them take piano lessons is a great way to fill the gap till they have grown to the right size. The band method I like to use is the Standard of Excellence by Bruce Pearson. The enhanced version comes with CD's that are fun to play along with and serve as a practice metronome and give a pitch center to tune to.

Rather than write a lengthy post, I have attached a pdf file of a "work in progress" I started once I retired from teaching. This is not necessarily the right way to teach saxophone or the only way, simply ideas and methods that worked for me. Like they say at a buffet: "Take what you like, and leave the rest".

The only thing I might add is the importance of playing the "tone producer" (mouthpiece + neck) at the beginning. The note produced on alto sax should be an Ab concert (F2 on saxophone). This pitch insures the embouchure is the correct tightness. Playing long tones 15, 20, 30 seconds and more with a full tone using lots of air and keeping the tone and pitch steady is an excellent way to quickly develop tone production skills. If the student can make the "tone producer" (small saxophone) sound good, the full saxophone or "amplifier" is going to sound even better right from the start.

Once the student has progressed to where he/she can take beginning band, I have also written a (tongue in cheek) "10 Helpful Tips for Beginning Saxophone Students".

 

[Pauly 6 String]

Thanks to both of you for the tips. I’ll look over those PDF’s.

Thanks again

 

[hakukani]

You can teach a nine year old to play sax.