Try listening over and over to a recording of the song. SIng along. Get a feel for the four-bar phrase lengths. When you can anticipate the next phrase without counting, things will be much easier when you add a sax into the mix. Will help with other songs too,since most of them are in 4/4 time and 2, 4 and 8 bar phrases.
Where there's no sense, there's no feeling
I'm already doing these things and it's coming, but slowly. Here's a thought: when I sing with everyone else in Chapel, I don't have timing issues. What's different about sax?
It's another level of complexity. One more thing for one's limited conscious attention to deal with. As many things as possible need to be wiorking on an unconscious level (like your voice does). That's what all the repetitive practice is for. If it's coming, it's just a matter of patience really.
I agree. Yes, it is coming, slowly. I look at where I was a year or even six months ago and the improvement is unmistakable. But I've an awful long way to go!
Haven't we all? But it can't be rushed, just got to enjoy the process.
To the extent that one has to know whether a note is sharp or flat and correct it, I think that everyone must play by ear a little bit, but if you've read this thread (and I don't blame you if you haven't - it's very long) you'll realise that many players cannot do without sheet music and are content with that. If one aims to play exclusively in bands or orchestras where all the parts are pre-arranged, why not? Where it appears to go wrong is that the deeper that musicians get into playing exclusively from sheet music, the harder they seem to find learning to play by ear. It's my opinion that teachers ought to ask beginners which way they want to play and teach them accordingly. Obviously the best thing is to be able both to play by ear and to sight read, but learning both skills is going to take more time and effort than concentrating on one or the other. If a beginner knows which way he wants to play, completely neglecting the other way has much to be said for it.
Very wise.
I can't agree with that. I think neglecting anything will come back to bite you eventually.
I agree with Kev except that I think that the common usage of "playing by ear" is, playing what you've heard rather than from music.
True in principle, but we all have to make choices now and take the consequences later. For example, I could wish now that I had taken up trombone instead of sax because there's plenty of single-reed players but a shortage of trombonists. I don't have unlimited time to learn, both because, even in retirement, I have many other things to do besides practicing sax and because I want to learn to make music before age-related issues such as diminishing learning capacity and stiffening fingers prevent progress. Younger aspirant musicians have other constraints and drivers such as spending most of their energy at work so coming home tired and wanting to be able to take their places in bands of one kind or another as soon as possible.
I've had that thought, too. But then I remember that I took up the sax because I really like the sound of it and it feels natural for me to play a woodwind instrument (having played clarinet in my youth). I've had a go at brass (trumpet) and it's feels really weird to me. Trombones are OK, but they don't excite me in the same way as saxophones, so I probably wouldn't practice as much and wouldn't get very good at it.
But rushing through the basics (as we all tend to do) can slow you down in the long run. IMO reading reasonably fluently is one of those basics as it gives you instant access to so much material. You can do without it if you have to, but it will make other things harder.
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