Playing the saxophone Learning to Read v Playing by ear

[Zugzwang]

The harder I work the luckier I get 😉Jx

"...And the more I practice, the luckier I get"

 

[Wade Cornell]

I like the idea that we can all have the opportunity to try anything. It's also a reality that we aren't all identical. The "Peter Principle" (aspiring to rise to the level at which you are incompetent) is a another reality. Can I try to be a basketball star? Well, yes, but at 73 years old and only 5' 8" is this a reality? Would it have been any more real if I'd started at 12 years old? If I'd studied math more diligently would I have been able to solve the meshing of Einstein's physics with quantum mechanics? Reality has got to be a part of this in recognizing who we are and what we are capable of.

Is music any different? It may be easier to enjoy playing music to whatever limited degree we are capable of, but there is an underlying reality of our limitations which can be physical agility, mental agility, or within those vague spheres of creativity and talent. Self knowledge can, and should be a comfort as you can put your ego aside and recognize that you won't be a superstar and then just get on with enjoying whatever pursuit you're into.

Music is mostly a team sport in which success isn't aggrandizement of an individual, but the creation of something that moves and communicates to others. There is a bit of a cringe factor I find in sax sites of it all being about the individual as a soloist rather than the sax being just another instrument and a part of a greater whole that is music.

 

[Nick Wyver]

Music is mostly a team sport in which success isn't aggrandizement of an individual, but the creation of something that moves and communicates to others. There is a bit of a cringe factor I find in sax sites of it all being about the individual as a soloist rather than the sax being just another instrument and a part of a greater whole that is music.

Yes. I hate playing on my own.
I'd take issue with the word 'sport' though because it implies competition. I'd have preferred 'activity' or something.

 

[Wade Cornell]

Yes. I hate playing on my own.
I'd take issue with the word 'sport' though because it implies competition. I'd have preferred 'activity' or something.

You're right, none of it should be a competition. The common expression "team sport" should have implied that, but the gist is the same, you're all on the same side working together. In many sessions where solos are taken it however does seem like a completion. It's one of the reasons I dislike the way most people play standards. Much better to play together rather than hearing each player trying to "stand above" their group in an an ego display.

 

[jbtsax]

I once was told by a musician friend of mine that most "big band" charts are written in the "sonata allegro form". The "exposition" is the first statement of the melody by the band, the "development" is the improvised solo section with one or more solos, and the "recapitulation" is the shout chorus restating the melody to end the tune.

In this context, solos make sense and are an integral part of the musical structure of the piece. I would agree that improvised solos that do not stray too far from variations on the melody fit this definition far better than lots of notes and patterns that are just that---notes and patterns.

 

[mizmar]

If I'd studied math more diligently would I have been able to solve the meshing of Einstein's physics with quantum mechanics?

Is music any different?

Not if you compare equivalent things, otherwise it's just polemic.
Your maths example is equivalent to concert hall virtuosity... not many people start leaning music in their 50s with aspiration to having the Berlin Philharmonic as sidemen (people).

But picking up an instrument just to lean for limit, realistic, objectives is perfectly legit. To play with others or alone. Both are equally valid. By ear or dots or note names....