Feeling incredibly frustrated at the moment. I don`t seem to be able to blow the same notes. twice.
What exactly do you mean by that? Do you mean twice in a row during a single practice session, or do you mean from practice session to practice session?
The reason I ask is because how far you slide the mouthpiece onto the neck will affect the tuning of the sax. So if you're not paying attention to how far you're sliding the mouthpiece onto the neck this may change every time you remove and replace the mouthpiece.
Also, there's an idea location for the mouthpiece (i.e. when the sax is in proper tune). If the mouthpiece isn't in that position (i.e. not nearly far enough, or too far on the neck), then you may very well experience unstable notes. So find the proper place to set the mouthpiece, and mark it on the cork.
Also different mouthpieces may need to have different positions as well. So if you use more than one mouthpiece they may need to have their own marks.
When I first started I had a similar problem. It turned out that I wasn't pushing the mouthpiece onto the neck nearly far enough almost by a full inch. And my notes were quite unstable too until I fixed that problem.
These are the kinds of things a teacher can hopefully help you with to get you started off on the right foot.
I realise its VERY early days for me and I`m probably trying to "run before I can walk"
I'm a strong supporter of running before you can walk. ;}
Especially on something like a musical instrument. You're not going to scrap your knees when you fall, so go right right ahead and stumble all over the place! You'll eventually learn to run!
With that in mind, I wondered if I would be better off waiting until I have seen a teacher. As a total novice, I could be making fundamental errors that are actually doing more harm than good.
The thing is though, every time I see it I want to pick it up
Opinions anyone ?
I don't think it's going to hurt to mess around with it yourself. That depends on how long you mess around with it before you find a teacher. What is usually bad about learning to play an instrument without a teacher is that you tend to build up bad habits. But it takes time to create a "habit". So your mistakes aren't going to become habitual right away. But put off seeing a teacher for 6 months or a year, and your bad habits will have become far more difficult to break out of.
What are you goals?
I'm just asking this more in terms of food for thought for you.
What do you hope to accomplish on the sax? Classical music? Jazz? Playing with a large professional band of orchestra where you are expected to sight-read from sheet music? Playing with smaller more-relaxed ensembles where the focus is on improvisation?
When seeking a teacher you should consider your goals and try to find a teacher that is in harmony with what you hope to achieve. How easy or difficult that might be will depend on the pool of teachers you have to choose from. It's probably difficult to find teachers who are much good at teaching improv. You're almost better off just finding other saxophonists to jam with for that and just pick up on what they are doing. That's probably better than paying for a teacher in any case (assuming your main goal is to just jam).
Not to say that there aren't also good improv teachers to be had, but chances are they are going to expect you to at least have a fairly good knowledge of scales, modes, and keys.
But for right now it sounds like you need a "technique teacher" more so than a "music teacher" at this point. You say that you can't play consistent notes. That's a matter of "technique", not music theory. A good teacher should be good at teaching both technique and music theory, but that's not always the case.
Anyway, best of luck in your saxophonic journey.
