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Message: <blockquote data-quote="TimboSax" data-source="post: 145459" data-attributes="member: 2811">Hi Mark. Firstly, congratulations on your first year! I'm a beginner like you and so hopefully my mantra might help:"better than I was, not as good as I will be"<img src="data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns%3D%22http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%22%20viewBox%3D%220%200%2064%2064%22%3E%3Ctext%20x%3D%2250%25%22%20y%3D%2250%25%22%20text-anchor%3D%22middle%22%20dominant-baseline%3D%22central%22%20font-size%3D%2254%22%3E%F0%9F%99%82%3C%2Ftext%3E%3C%2Fsvg%3E" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="22" height="22" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" />You mention breath control issues and some problems with tonguing, but to be honest that's not what I hear when I listen. To me, the two biggest things that stand out are the things that stand out when I listen to myself play: tone and feel.Regarding tone, can I ask if the sound of your recording matches what you hear when you play? I've been playing with mic placement recently and some of the recordings I got sounded similar in tone to yours, so I wonder if that is worth playing with the mechanics of the recording. Moving the mic slightly can make a large difference to the recorded tone.Something I try to do to improve tone is linked to the feel, and is also linked to the fact that I don't read music or understand dots/theory etc. I pick out a line, work out how to play it, and then just play it over and over again, trying different rhythms, trying different ways of blowing, mouthpiece position, etc. It can be as little as three notes, but the key thing is that it's something to just mess around with, I'm not concentrating on trying to read anything, or keep in time to anything, it's all playing to something in my head and it's the repetition that works for me. (I'm aware that I'm not explaining this too well, I could send you an example of what I mean if you'd like). Last summer I got hooked on playing the sax intro to a Floyd track (I wanted to try and get the breathy subtones), and so I drove the family mad with a few weeks of me just playing this 30 second piece over and over and over...I agree with some of the other comments above that using a tutor will help, if only to get immediate feedback from someone knowledgeable who's in the room with you. If getting to a tutor is tricky, then you shouldn't have to sign up for life, just the odd lesson when you need it. I'm planning a trip to see the guy a went to a couple of times last year, as I have some issues that I'd like to go through with him. I know there are resources to help find a tutor, but here's a link to the site I used:<a href="http://www.musicteachers.co.uk/search?mode=submit&type=1&keywords=&instrument=saxophone&region=27" target="_blank">http://www.musicteachers.co.uk/search?mode=submit&type=1&keywords=&instrument=saxophone&region=27</a>Hope this helps, and keep blowing!Tim</blockquote>