phdezra
Member
- 7
Hi all.
I am a relatively new 30-something alto sax player (my son is 9 and he is taking lessons with me as well--he is much faster at picking things up!!). I can play fairly well (for a beginner
) and am using a Yamaha YAS-26 with Hemke or Vandoren 2.0 reeds. All sounds fine and learning scales, etc. I've got the fingering downpat pretty good for C and G scales.
Now I'm wondering about my Yamaha 4C mouthpiece. I played the clarinet (briefly) at one point, and used a Vandoren mouthpiece, so I will borrow/try a Vandoren AL3 alto sax mouthpiece (I liked their optimum ligature on my E11 clarinet, though I ended up using Rovner Versa quite a bit).
But my real question is that I am willing to try a PPT. Would a 5* be most appropriate for a beginner. I focus on more classical and, frankly, LEARNING to play than I can say "I'm a swanky jazz player" at this point. I do not want a PPT 5* to make things more complicated. Would a 6* make me sound totally different (in a bad way)?
One more question: any thoughts on Ishimori ligature? Right now I have a Rovner Versa which suits me quite well. My sons has the typical Yamaha metal ligature, and frankly, to a beginner, it seems like a very minor difference at this stage.... but I've head all this ooh and aaaah over Ishimori, so curious if anyone had thoughts on that too.
Thought and advice appreciated.
I am a relatively new 30-something alto sax player (my son is 9 and he is taking lessons with me as well--he is much faster at picking things up!!). I can play fairly well (for a beginner

Now I'm wondering about my Yamaha 4C mouthpiece. I played the clarinet (briefly) at one point, and used a Vandoren mouthpiece, so I will borrow/try a Vandoren AL3 alto sax mouthpiece (I liked their optimum ligature on my E11 clarinet, though I ended up using Rovner Versa quite a bit).
But my real question is that I am willing to try a PPT. Would a 5* be most appropriate for a beginner. I focus on more classical and, frankly, LEARNING to play than I can say "I'm a swanky jazz player" at this point. I do not want a PPT 5* to make things more complicated. Would a 6* make me sound totally different (in a bad way)?
One more question: any thoughts on Ishimori ligature? Right now I have a Rovner Versa which suits me quite well. My sons has the typical Yamaha metal ligature, and frankly, to a beginner, it seems like a very minor difference at this stage.... but I've head all this ooh and aaaah over Ishimori, so curious if anyone had thoughts on that too.
Thought and advice appreciated.

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