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visionari1
Member
Recently I came across the repairs invoice (total repad and repair cost $136 and the sax cost $125!) when I purchased my first Sax (only ever had 2)
It was dated 1987, crighey that's 24 years and this got me thinking what would I do differently and, how far have I come in that time....God I've made some classic mistakes.
Maybe if I share them, others might learn faster. Back in 1987 there was no internet or Cafe Saxophone, even the Breakfast room was still just for eating!
I had been playing Clarinet for a few years before getting my Naked lady Conn Alto and did have some sax lessons but dropped them after a few months.
First big mistake and Ive made plently, so better just list things I'd do differently now as a newbie.
Get a teacher that I can relate to.
Start practicing reguarly to a practise shedule. (use a practise journal to keep you focused on where you've been and where you want to go)
Get to like playing scales and really understand the theory behind them.
Learn to read music but only to enhanse your ears.
I read music for years and didn't know what note I was playing on the sax, my mind went from the page to the sax without an awareness of what note I was playing, you might think this is good, but no, if some body said play an Eb I was lost.
I practised far to fast trying to cram things instead of learning slowly and getting a tune or scale totally learned.
I joined a local big band and played with them for a few years then stopped because I wanted to improvise (still do). Now I realize that was another big mistake.
Now I realize for me progress would have been much faster if I'd grasped basic theory, had a regular teacher, developed my ears to know what interval or scale or certain chords should sound like, and stuck to a consistent regular practise shedule.
Sometimes practising easy stuff (to keep things enjoyable) and the hard challenging stuff (to keep progressing).
I always wanted to be able to improvise and have been saying for years....it's coming...it's coming, and this for me has been a 20 + year journey.
I knew it would be tough and some people get there allot faster, but hey I have enjoyed myself immensly, and that enjoyment only gets better the longer I go.
I hope this gives others some insight into perhaps where they can learn from the mistakes I have made.
Who was it that said "Mistakes there are none" Miles Davis?
Cheers & Ciao
Jimu
It was dated 1987, crighey that's 24 years and this got me thinking what would I do differently and, how far have I come in that time....God I've made some classic mistakes.
Maybe if I share them, others might learn faster. Back in 1987 there was no internet or Cafe Saxophone, even the Breakfast room was still just for eating!
I had been playing Clarinet for a few years before getting my Naked lady Conn Alto and did have some sax lessons but dropped them after a few months.
First big mistake and Ive made plently, so better just list things I'd do differently now as a newbie.
Get a teacher that I can relate to.
Start practicing reguarly to a practise shedule. (use a practise journal to keep you focused on where you've been and where you want to go)
Get to like playing scales and really understand the theory behind them.
Learn to read music but only to enhanse your ears.
I read music for years and didn't know what note I was playing on the sax, my mind went from the page to the sax without an awareness of what note I was playing, you might think this is good, but no, if some body said play an Eb I was lost.
I practised far to fast trying to cram things instead of learning slowly and getting a tune or scale totally learned.
I joined a local big band and played with them for a few years then stopped because I wanted to improvise (still do). Now I realize that was another big mistake.
Now I realize for me progress would have been much faster if I'd grasped basic theory, had a regular teacher, developed my ears to know what interval or scale or certain chords should sound like, and stuck to a consistent regular practise shedule.
Sometimes practising easy stuff (to keep things enjoyable) and the hard challenging stuff (to keep progressing).
I always wanted to be able to improvise and have been saying for years....it's coming...it's coming, and this for me has been a 20 + year journey.
I knew it would be tough and some people get there allot faster, but hey I have enjoyed myself immensly, and that enjoyment only gets better the longer I go.
I hope this gives others some insight into perhaps where they can learn from the mistakes I have made.
Who was it that said "Mistakes there are none" Miles Davis?
Cheers & Ciao
Jimu
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