Introduction howdy y'all! brand new to saxophone :^)

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maxondasax

maxondasax

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5
Location
texas 🤠
Level
beginner
howdy from texas! 🤠 my name is max. i'm 26, and i talk a lot. i've been a lifelong lover of music, with a penchant for jazz, blues, soul, post rock, and psychedelic rock since about 2014. for YEARS it's been a dream of mine to learn the tenor saxophone!

my only past experience with performing music was concert choir (all of secondary school) and some a cappella groups in undergrad. since then, nothing. i always felt like i just didn't have what it takes to be a "real musician" or play an instrument. but i've had enough of that self-defeating nonsense! i finally kicked that attitude to the curb.

i just completed my first practice session on my "brand-new" used yamaha YTS-23. i am now a proud performer of the absolute masterpiece "jingle bells." i had so many questions afterward that i decided to actually sign up for this forum instead of just lurking on old posts. :^)

i'm currently committing to practicing daily for 100 days and giving myself a little prize at the end. if i skip even one day, no matter when, i restart the count! the only "penalty" is that i have to practice daily for even longer to get my prize. sounds like a win-win to me!! more practice = more progress!

i'm so super excited to be a part of this community! ☕️🎷 y'all have helped me so much already — i did a lot of reading on this forum before buying the saxophone i now own.

thanks for reading all this (if you did)! hey, i did say i talk a lot. i hope y'all have an awesome friday!!!
:cheers:
 
Welcome to the Café, @maxondasax ! There's nothing wrong with talking a lot, that's what we are here for! I'm sure your ability to read music and singing parts through your choir experience will come in handy!

I see you have a tenor sax, that is a good place to start. I love the tenor, have 2, they can be made to play sweetly or gritty! It is a wonderful instrument.

We have Song of the Month and Ballad of the Month threads. These never expire, they go back at least a decade. They have downloadable audio backing tracks and lead sheets in the common key signatures including your tenor's Bb. Some like to post their performances for critique, for others to enjoy, or just to say, "I am here!" There is also a tutorial section called, "Taming the Sax".

Our proprietor, @Pete Thomas has a wonderful background as a professional studio musician in a good number of movies and other productions to include James Bond. @Jeanette our second in command helps to keep things on an even keel. They are the humblest around in wanting to help. Plus we got a lot of other good people.

Looking forward to hearing more from you and your journey on the sax!
 
Hi @maxondasax and welcome to the café!

First off, it's great to hear that you already have musical ability and experience (choirs).

From my perspective (aged 70) you're still young enough at 26 to 'experiment' with with your musicality. I'm a long-term exclusively (amateur) tenor sax player. Since I first started leaning to play (my 1st, rented) tenor sax 30 years ago, I've always loved the range, 'sonority' and physical 'resonance' of the tenor sax.

Hmm, I'm not sure whether your 100-day challenge works or not. If it works for you, then just go for it!

Personally, I would set myself a more flexible challenge. Such as (for example) at least x hours practice per week. So so that you can give yourself a 'pass' on those days on which you're really not motivated. In general (IMHO) people learn most when they are motivated to learn or practive
 
thanks so much everyone for such a warm welcome! ☺️

and another thanks for the advice regarding my approach to getting started. i picked up the idea from a seasoned saxophonist who strongly recommended it — but of course, just because one person recommended it doesn't mean it's a great idea.

mizmar said:
It's worth having little search / ask about good practice sesessions.
Read more…

will definitely be doing plenty of this. probably a little more searching than asking at first. there are a ton of beginner resources available here, so i'll peruse those, try them out, and ask questions as i become confused (which i'm sure will happen).

MikeMorrell said:
Personally, I would set myself a more flexible challenge. Such as (for example) at least x hours practice per week. So so that you can give yourself a 'pass' on those days on which you're really not motivated. In general (IMHO) people learn most when they are motivated to learn or practive
Read more…

it sounds like you have a good sense of discipline, which is fantastic! unfortunately, i don't, so i'm trying a stricter approach for now (and maintaining optimism about it)! if it ends up being overall unhelpful, or if it makes me dread playing (nooo!!!!!!), i'll absolutely switch to a different approach.

i'll be doing a lot of reading after work today on how to make the most out of my practice sessions. y'all are great! can't wait to be able to join y'all in some of the really fun threads you mentioned once i have the fundamentals down!!!
 
Oh, I wanted to add, congrats on getting a good basis to practice on, the YTS-23. It is a solid player even worthy of gigging. It lacks the altissimo high F# key, but that is not a drawback. I have a number of older saxes lacking this, 2 altos, a tenor and a bari, and it hasn't stopped me.

As your knowledge and experience increases, it can be made up for by using an alternate altissimo fingering.
 
Welcome @maxondasax

As others have said a YTS-23 is a great choice of horn. Some knock them as 'student' models but they are far more than that. I have a YTS-25 which was the next model, same as the '23 but with a high F# key and a newer design left hand pinkie table. I also have a YTS-23 Vito stencil, which is a Yamaha '23 with a different label. (And a YAS-25 alto...I like Yamas)

I started a year ago and that horn has really helped me as it is easy to blow, play in tune and work with.

I practise for at least an hour per day plus a two hour band rehearsal once a week and a lesson every 2-3 weeks, but I do take a day off once a week which I find helps, things seem to 'gel'. I am quite disciplined and actually feel something is missing if I don't play.

Enjoy your sax journey. I am retired and have never enjoyed myself so much since learning to play this amazing instrument. Like you:
maxondasax said:
i always felt like i just didn't have what it takes to be a "real musician" or play an instrument. but i've had enough of that self-defeating nonsense! i finally kicked that attitude to the curb.
Read more…
Go for it :sax::thumb:
 
I think that many people set 100 day / 3 month challenges because, for lots of folks, in many areas - getting off the ground is hard. It's just to easy to go "not today, it'll be fine", then "a couple of days off is ok" then "Well, there's always next week" ... Eventually "oh, look what I found I the wardrobe! A sax! Oh yeah!"... So I'm not criticising that, as such.

It's just that practicing lots and learning efficiently aren't the same. There is just so much a brain can manage with something relatively new. And getting tired and makeing errors is counter productive.

I found this book is great.

cafesaxophone.com

Saxophone beginners - Bill Hilton’s new book, How To Be A Better Musician

Disclaimer: I've no relation to this chap - other than having used some of his Johanna learning material. But this book seems to me to be quite useful, for beginner / intermediates. It's not music theory nor instrument specific; it's ideas, exercises and some background on techniques on how...
cafesaxophone.com cafesaxophone.com
 
mizmar said:
It's just that practicing lots and learning efficiently aren't the same. There is just so much a brain can manage with something relatively new. And getting tired and makeing errors is counter productive.
Read more…

In all fairness "100 days of practice" doesn't say anything about how much you're practicing. 20 minutes a day? Two hours a day? I think the key is consistency and in that respect "100 days" is a very nice goal.

I've found keeping a practice journal a great reminder to be consistent. I also aim to practice every day and I make a note in the journal when I don't and for what reason -- but I don't stress about it.
 
mizmar said:
No, it was the "i have to practice daily for even longer to get my prize" bit that triggered me.
Read more…
that's on me for not being clear!

i know i'm talkative, so i try to prevent myself from overexplaining certain things to keep my messages shorter. sometimes i sacrifice clarity in doing so.

by "practice daily for even longer to get my prize," i just meant that i would end up needing to practice daily for more than 100 days to complete the challenge, because i skipped a day — not that i would need to practice for a longer amount of time each day! the prize at the end is just meant as a little celebration; the point of it all is the practice. so, in theory at least, i don't mind needing to "start over" at day 1 and practice daily for more days than 'originally planned.' :^)
 

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