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How much time should I at least practice my saxophone?

Having less time to play lately and struggling to fit any play time during the work week has already hit me and set me back. :(

I'm considering taking one of my horns in the car and blow for a short time before heading into the office. I work near an airport so I don't think i'll disturb the planes too much even if I'm loud. :rolleyes:

Not sure the mirror in the car will be much use though! :confused2:
 
Lot's of good advice here already.
Based on what my teachers have told me and my own experience:
  • practice every day (even 5 minutes every day is better dan 1 hour, once a week)
    In my own experience this is not always feasable.Work, houshold chores, other hobbies, caring for the family, house and garden get in the way sometimes.....
    But I try to keep up the dayly routine .....
  • How long do you have to practice?
    Personaly I couldn't get more than 10 - 15 minutes in one go, after that my embouchure starts to get tired. Generaly I take a break when that happens, do something else for 10 - 15 minutes and then start another session of 10 - 15 minutes
    But this is starting to improve, my embouchure is getting stronger now
  • My focus during practice changes, depending on what is most needed for my lessons.
    Sometimes I focus on long tones to get my embouchure and my tone in shape.
    Sometimes I realy have to work on some piece that we have to play in combo
    Sometimes I focus on playing that solo I have to play, focus on getting the feeling for that 4 bar-structure .....
    ........
  • PERSERVERANCE
    That is perhaps the most important thing!
    When you start out you are very motivated, eager to practice. But after some time, it might get boring, other pressing needs may present themselves, you might begin to loosen on that dayly routine.
    That in itself is no disaster, but you do need toget back to that regular routine as soon as you can.....
    keep up the good work!
 
I don't practice at all. I play. Even if I'm playing scales or playing a piece to perform. I'm playing, not practicing. These are probably just the ramblings of one deluded individual with issues with semantics, but it's really important for me to remove any formality or regime from my playing. If I don't play for a day, or week. Who cares. You can't compare where you are with where you could be in any case, so if a period of time gets in the way (unfortunately it has with me with work commitments and House Move) then just play when you can. If after a short period away from the instrument I feel 'Man I've missed this' then that's a good sign :thumb: Play on...:sax:
 
This morning I saw my tenor as I picked my bag before leaving to visit a customer and I couldn't resist. Played a few bars from 'Wave' and it was enough to get me started on the right foot. Rollins, Coltrane, Golson, Montrose, Mulligan and Desmond wonderfully completed the 'get in the right mood' exercise along the drive.
 
One part of your practice that will help create good tone ovr time is to do long tones 10-15 minutes each day.

3 suggestions

1. practice really really slowly, Slowly enough that you have time to feel where your fingers are just lightly touching key then feel it go down in a light relaxed way.

2. practice only as long as you have complete focus on what you are practicing

3. set a limited goal for each practice session and take a short break after achieving that goal to just sit and relax and think about the goal you achieved.

Many people do not realize that the brain is pretty quick to learn repeated motions (myelation) and once something is played incorrectly it takes more work to unlearn and relearn correctly. Rhythm/timing is particularly important and very prone to this error.
 
Many people do not realize that the brain is pretty quick to learn repeated motions (myelation) and once something is played incorrectly it takes more work to unlearn and relearn correctly.

Such a great point and so true. When I was a kid there was an acronym for programming computers - GIGO - Garbage In Garbage Out. Try and practice as @Jazzaferri says - really slowly. Try to play slowly enough that mistakes are almost eliminated at this point (not possible entirely I know, but as much as possible) and that everything going in is correct. This is what you are aiming for. If you can repeat a small sequence of notes five times without mistakes, then you've more or less got it and you can gradually increase speed.
 
I'm getting back into playing my alto. Just starting EE book 2 and I must say that I have "had it" with playing snippets of songs I don't care about with the backing tracks!
Book 1 was fine for learning notes and fingering but I can't do this anymore!

So . . . . . . I'm gonna try something different.
  • Good horn? - Yes
  • Good mp? - Yes
  • Good reed? - Yes, I hope it lasts for awhile
  • Good practice area / time? - Somewhat, needs improvement
  • Play-along tracks - No thanks, I will revisit this with jazz standards later
  • Metronome? - Definitely Yes
  • Rubank Elementary Method Book? - Yes! Goodbye Essential Elements, I'm moving on.
 

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