support Tutorials CDs PPT mouthpieces

Saxophones How soon is TOO soon to want a second sax? :D

Medusa

Member
Messages
21
Locality
Oxfordshire
Raw beginner... started after Xmas. (On a second hand Conn Selmer alto) ..doing the job for now. However I also really fancy having a go on a tenor... I love the sound but when I first saw them they looked so big :). I'm thinking of getting a second hand student one to try... and then next year I will have saved enough to buy a reasonably decent one depending which sax I love the most. Would that be mad? I'm having lessons on my alto but I know my tutor will teach me on either once I have a preference.

(so far my house contains 8 guitars (three are mine, the rest my son's), one sax and a flute... no one will notice another instrument :D )
Jules
 
Seven saxes, clarinet and trombone - I'm still not finished...
 
I have 4 as a beginner...nope, sorry, I remember now I donated one to the site :) ...so I have 3, but one is out on permanent loan, now I just need a bari :)

Depends on your end game I guess. what you doing it for? For me it's fun, so doesn't reeli matter. I play mostly tenor, soprano sometimes. Alto I lent to my teacher coz I don't reeli like it tbh, I just bought it coz it was a steal at the time.

Don't forget you need at least 3 mouthpieces for every sax you have... :)

Sure, try them, eventually you might decide you prefer one, maybe not.
 
Never too soon!

Seriously it depends, I started on sop and had a real yearning for tenor when I tried one I really wasn't sure, the seller actually advised me as a beginner to stick with one until I was competent on that then put it away and stick with whatever I bought until I was again competent on that. I didn't buy a tenor but for me I think that was good advice.

We are all different, keep it fun and follow your heart

Jx
 
Go to a shop and try a tenor. How it feels ... how it sounds .... if you feel more natural with a tenor go for it .....

(many many instruments here as well ......)
 
It was about 2 months for me.
Now after 3.5 years have 6 tenors, an alto, a soprano and a clarinet.
Haven't bought anything for a while, though a P. Mauriat tenor is tempting me, I might upgrade my soprano, and I also fancy trying a flute.
 
I've been playing 3 years and I have Soprano, Alto,Tenor and Baritone saxes. I think that I would probably progress faster if I were to stick to one saxophone and one mouthpiece, but I'm having fun, so I don't care. Go for it! My only caveat would be not to get a sax that you don't really like, even if it is cheap - wait for one that you want to play.
 
Consider what you want to accomplish, what your goals are. Starting another sax at this stage will give you a whole number of new things to try and learn before you have gotten used to that alto and making it work.

It will certainly slow your progress down trying to do two. If that doesn't matter to you then go for it, if you want to make better progress then, by al means try the tenor if you like but then pick one and stick with if for a year or two, depending on how much you practice and how you learn. Once you have one well under control the differencdes with the others will have much less impact IMO
 
Amongst all the flippant suggestions, including mine, there are a couple of serious ones.

So let's weigh up the points.

One reason for changing may be that you're having problems with the current instrument - too hard to blow, doesn't sound good, too small, lots of reasons in this category, but it doesn't seem to be the case here.

Although saxes have the same keys, same note range and music for each pitch, they're not the same. It's not only physical size, it's blowing and embouchure. Plus when you go from an Eb sax like your alto, to a Bb sax like the tenor, you'll hear different notes coming out, even though they're the same on the score.

When you first learn, you're developing basic skills, linking notes on the score to finger combinations, embouchure and breath control, and ear. Changing sax or mouthpiece or even reed affect one or more of those basic skills.

Messing around with saxes or mouthpieces at this stage is asking for trouble and I'd not expect you to find a teacher that supports having a tenor and alto at this stage.

However.... If you're flexible and can keep yourself mentally clear about what's needed for each sax it may work. What's usually ignored/dismissed in a discussion like this is that you learn to be flexible. You're not going to get locked into a single mouthpiece/reed combination. You're not going to become so dependant on a single reed that when it fails, you spend months trying to find one that plays the same. You'll find you're able to adjust quickly to new kit and evaluate it for what it can do, not whether you can adapt to it. And you won't be locked in to Eb or Bb.

The longer you leave trying other saxes, the more difficult it becomes, as you tend to lock in. If you've decided that Tenor's have a sound that appeals more, maybe take Jeanette's advice. Also listen to what Jazzaferri says. And if jbtsax joins in, as a teacher I expect he'll say something like "far too early"

I don't know if you drive or learnt to fly, but if the instructor pitched in a different car, or you had a mix of instructor plus parent/friend with licence helping, you'll remember the difficulty of adapting to different clutch/brakes/steering/size/gear change points on each car...

There's no-one but you can make the decision. But weigh the consequences with the benefits. And your heart.
 
Following @kevgermany 's advice... which makes sense... ultimately, your decision.My experience: I bought an alto, which was fine, but less than a year later I bought a tenor. I think Kev's point about remembering what it's like to drive different cars is a good analogy. My dad was in the car trade and so as a youngster, when I got my licence, I was constantly driving different cars and so got used to adapting to different gear boxes and clutches. I didn't find the switch to tenor a big deal... BUT... I would suggest that if you do switch, probably worth sticking mostly with one or the other until your technique/embouchure is developed.
 
Would that be mad.

YES! I know you won't like the answer. It is only ok if you decide to switch to tenor. Flipping back and forth at that stage won't help your learning. They are really different and it would be best to have learned some basics otherwise you will mentally be blocked not only by finerings but also by the differences of airstream or even placement of keys if you choose very different makes. How about making yourself a present for next Christmas? It will be a year by then and it would make for a nice goal.

Once you have both I second the recommendation to stick with the tenor for a while.

Alphorn
 
If you wish to try out the tenor because there is a possibility that you might like it better, then the time is now before you have invested a lot of effort in the embouchure and, possibly, a high-grade mouthpiece for the alto. But if you are doing it with the intention that if you like both of them, you would learn both of them in tandem, then you are not doing yourself any favours. The tenor is a great instrument, but as Kevgermany points out, it is different from the alto. Let us know what you are going to do.
 
Its never too early to own different saxes however they are different beasts but share some of the same similarities,it will help in knowing which direction you want to go in and which type of sax you want to spend most of your time on.
 
Back
Top Bottom