Playing the saxophone Learn to play by ear or by reading music

Who relies on ear playing over reading?


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Greg, I see you're in Waikato. I remember Waikato beer, a cut above the ordinary. Do they still brew it? Has NZ beer improved since I was there in 1990?
 
Greg, I see you're in Waikato. I remember Waikato beer, a cut above the ordinary. Do they still brew it? Has NZ beer improved since I was there in 1990?

Ah, yes the famous Waikato beer - or as I call it "Liquid Laxative". Yes they still brew it, in Auckland by Lion Breweries, haven't brewed it in Hamilton since the late 1980s early 1990s I think...has NZ beer improved? - well put it this way it hasn't got any worst...kind of reminds me of a story...summertime NZ late 1980s - Tauranga Classic Motor Cycle Club run Papamoa Beach pub...my late father and I go in the pub my father says to the barman "Give the young fella a Steinie (Steinlager) and I'll have a Waikato" the barman turns to my father and says "Ain't yea the wrong colour for that mate" :rofl: (Kiwi humour a lot of Maori people drink Waikato especially if you are from the Tainui tribe - Waikato Hamilton area - Papamoa's in the Bay of Plenty):thumb:

Greg S.
 
My wife and I were in NZ for the first time last month. We had a delightful time. Loved Napier and Lake Taupo
I visited NZ in 1990 and came away thinking, what a fantastic place to live. My favourite experience was arriving in Gisborne one Sunday evening. I needed food (McDonalds had to suffice) and a beer. The only beer house that was open was a large, almost empty, tin shed, but as I was having my drink it began to fill with Maori women. One of them brought a guitar, so dreadfully out of tune that it played like a washboard, and they were away, singing beautifully. I think @tenorviol might have been amazed at the result; it was awesome. I made to leave, feeling that I was in the wrong place, but they pressed me to stay and made me feel welcome. An unrepeatably wonderful evening
 
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You can. Your peripheral vision is very sensitive to movement. You can clock the movements over the top of the music stand and take a quick glance up every so often.
Yes, and peripheral vision is how I do it most of the time. When I know there are awkward corners, I will look more directly. The next skill is making sure you don't lose your place
 
I visited NZ in 1990 and came away thinking, what a fantastic place to live. My favourite experience was arriving in Gisborne one Sunday evening. I needed food (McDonalds had to suffice) and a beer. The only beer house that was open was a large, almost empty, tin shed, but as I was having my drink it began to fill with Maori women. One of them brought a guitar, so dreadfully out of tune that it played like a washboard, and they were away, singing beautifully. I think @tenorviol might have been amazed at the result; it was awesome. I made to leave, feeling that I was in the wrong place, but they pressed me to stay and made me feel welcome. An unrepeatably wonderful evening
Why should I be amazed? There are many fantastic folk/oral traditions around the planet, including croft weavers in the Hebrides. The shame is our traditions were destroyed by the iconoclastic Puritans and Cromwell. The result is we think it's unusual. I have been to villages in the bush in Western Africa and heard amazing singing with complex harmonies - and drumming!
 
Me too. No conductor!
errm, you're confusing two very different things. Tribal/folk traditions invovle rote learning, exactly like the troubadors/trouveres and bards, or indeed monks and Gregorian chant. That is not the same as ensemble playing, where you are not (usually) playing by rote. There willbe a leader though even in folkloric traditions - might be a lead drummer or fiddler, but there will be one who guides and provides the tactus.
 
My sister Mary is a pianist who follows the respectable side of our family music - she plays strictly by the dots, or did. The other week she visited me and I explained what I was trying to do on sax. We played a game of, she named a tune, I played it, hunt-and-peck. I'm down at Mary's place now and I find her playing the piano by ear, both hands. I've brought my sax and I think we're going to have musical fun.
 

Similar threads... or are they? Maybe not but they could be worth reading anyway 😀

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