Thank you everone for welcoming me on board. I am back with a bit more about my journey as promised.
I have always had it at the back of my mind that some day I will learn to play the saxophone because I just love the sound.
That some day never seemed to materialise until one day I was watching a documentary about John Coltrane and was just fascinated by the way he made it look so easy and I said tomyself you know what I am going to give it a try. At the back of my mind Istill had my doubts about producing a note. As much as I loved the saxophone it looked like a very complicated instrument.
After summing up courage to take a leap of faith, I had my dreams crushed by a friend who said you cannot learn to play a saxophonewithout starting on a clarinet. I later decided if that is what it takes thenso be it. To cut a long story short I got myself a cheap clarinet, didn’t havea clue how to put it together, there was so much cork in the packaging I wasn’tsure what had to stay and what had to go.
It took a few days for me to figure out what part wentwhere. Thinking I was blowing a recorderI then tried to blow…nothing happened. I then went on to youtube, which I should have done in the first instance and learnt about wetting the reed and embouchure. I managed to get a sound out and felt so proud of myself. After afew more lessons on youtube I felt if I could conquer this then I should beable to conquer the saxophone. I got myself a cheap alto sax online and when it arrived it was just stunning! The beauty of the instrument (and this was acheap one).
It was much easier to put together compared to a clarinetand at this stage I believed the fingering to be the same. I wet the reed gaveit a blow…nothing. I felt so deflatedbecause I had built up to this moment, all that practice on the clarinet hadcome to nothing!
I went back to the internet and stumbled across cafesaxophone , what a saviour and thanks to Pete I managed to pick up so much info. I went back to the saxophone, tried again and I almost jumped out of my own skin from the loud honk that came out. I then decided it was a big mistake and I was not going to get anywhere. Ifelt some people were born to play a sax and I was not one of them.
I woke up the next day and saw the saxophone glistening inthe corner and I said to myself people have done this and so shall I. I lookedfor a teacher locally and my life has been transformed ever since. After learning the basics I decided to stop lessons for financial reasons and believed I would be okay on my own with the right book. This is where more problems began. I wasted a whole year on searching for the right book,mouthpiece, ligature, and reed combination. I was taking one step forward and two steps back. After buying every beginner book you could think of I decided to work on grade pieces and worked my way up to ABRSM grade 3. I really give credit to those who are able to self teach. I realised I was doing something wrong when I began to get breathless in the middle of a piece.
I discovered I had picked up so many bad habits along theway and decided I needed to start all over again from the beginning.
So that is exactly what I have done now. I have enrolled for beginner adult classes and I am learning properly this time and I am loving it,especially playing alongside other people. I love this instrument so much I am determined not to give up.
