Saxophone beginners how long do you all practice?

[Melissa]

I've had days like that but find if I can pick it up and go easy it lifts my mood 🙂

Jx

Yes Thanks for that Jx, did and mmm, something nice came out 😀

 

[Taz]

I don't get time to practice when I've got work on. I am employed through an agency at the moment as full time jobs in the driving/transport/haulage industry are really hard to find. When I get the call to work I tend to start early, anywhere between 3am and 6am. Because work isn't regular I try to get as many hours in in one shift as I possibly can and some days I'll work up to fifteen hours. By the time I get home I've got about enough time to eat and then go to bed, especially if I'm working the following day.
When I don't have any work on, I'll go busking. These are days that I love, I get to play my sax and not worry about the idiots on the road. I spend between four to six hours out busking depending on how the general public reacts to my performance. This is also the time that I try out new tunes as well. I have a system, as I don't read music, I have a virtual keyboard on my lap top. What I do is to find backing tracks on YouTube, put it on play and then use the keyboard to see if I will be able to play it on the sax. When I play a new tune live for the first time, I tend to turn the volume right down on my amp, and have a quick run through. If it sounds ok then I'll turn up the volume and hope for the best. I've been caught out several times with key changes that I didn't know were coming up! Jam sessions are also a great way for me to practice. I love it😉

 

[sizzzzler]

1 hr per day for the first 6 months. Then up to 3 hrs per day. No more than that, to preserve the bottom lip.

 

[MikeMorrell]

Only 1-2 hours a week in addition to 2 2-hour BigBand rehearsals.

 

[Jonesy]

I play every day, even if I have to force myself to do it, and sometimes it's just 15 minutes noodling on the soprano.
I don't do a set format, maybe a few scales and arpeggios round the cycle of fourths, a few tunes, and a bit of impro. Usually about an hour.
Band nights are 2 hours on Tuesdays during school terms, and 2 hours Friday, and a gig once a month.

 

[tatooandy67]

Sax around an hour each day, piano maybe up to a couple of hours each day depending on work commitments , I generally do my sax practice in a single session but piano is frequented throughout the day/night

 

[Bari251]

I had to play ten thousand 'wrong' notes before I started to get the hang of improvisation.
Malcolm

 

[Jazzaferri]

Practice?

Vaguely remember doing that.

Years ago I used to do 3 or 4 hours a day.

Not now.

ROFL Yah I remember those days too. I find it necessary to do an hour a day but I like to break it up into shorter really focussed sessions. I can miss for several days but after that need to focus again.

I dont count gig time or rehearsal time in this calculation.

 

[Ilona]

I practice everyday. At least one hour per day but usually 2-3 hours. When I started I couldn't practice that long, only 20 minutes or so.

 

[altissimo]

just long enough to keep my embouchure in shape, but not so much that my playing gets stale

 

[hedgehog]

My goals are to have fun playing and sometimes to play for family. I practice 45 minutes to 75 minutes, depending on what's going on elsewhere. I find 2 or 3 shorter sessions more productive than one long session. After 20 or 25 minutes I start to make more mistakes. I go away for a while, come back, and am not making those mistakes (at least for another 25 minutes!). I tend to follow the same routine: long tones, scales and arpeggios, tunes and improv.

 

[GCinCT]

I practice 3 to 4 hours a day, 6 days a week. Occasionally, when I have extra time, I will practice up to 6 hours. I spend a lot of time on long tones and overtones. I work on scales and arpeggios in all keys. I learn new songs and do a lot of improvisation with backing tracks. I practice alto, soprano and tenor.

 

[Jeanette]

I don't really practice enough at the moment. Used to be upmto an hour and at 6 days a week. I'm really need to get back in that habit.

Jx

 

[MikeM70]

My goals are to have fun playing and sometimes to play for family. I practice 45 minutes to 75 minutes, depending on what's going on elsewhere. I find 2 or 3 shorter sessions more productive than one long session. After 20 or 25 minutes I start to make more mistakes. I go away for a while, come back, and am not making those mistakes (at least for another 25 minutes!). I tend to follow the same routine: long tones, scales and arpeggios, tunes and improv.

this exactly, the quality of the practise is more important than the quantity. That is why I differentiate between practise, which is when I'm learning something new, and playing, which is when I run through stuff I already know (and is mostly for fun). I play a lot more than I practise, simply as I can't maintain concentration for more than about 1/2 hour before mistakes creep in.

 

[IGoddard]

I try and stick to a minimum of an hour a day but in reality I tend to do between 45 and 90 mins, every day. It’s tough to fit in some days with work and newborn but if times lacking I try and do 15 mins long tones and a few exercises from taming the saxophone, this tends to remove the guilt of not practising properly

 

[altissimo]

I think it's not a matter of how long you practice, it's more a matter of what you practice, how you practice and why you practice