When I first joined the forum, I'd had recent struggles with a teacher, who I just didn't get one with. I'd packed up lessons after my first 3 sessions as I was getting annoyed with the guy. Lots of negatives, no positive feedback and lots of Teacher playing, and when I got to play, he'd disappear from the room with an 'I'm listening'....
After packing him in, I made the decision that I'd carry on learning on my own and armed with a few books, including 'Taming The Saxophone', of course! I set myself to work pretty diligently on learning my scales and picking up bits and pieces from the countless channels of learning that can be used these days. I made progress, but I increasingly became aware that I needed some kind of external focus to help me along the way.
I contacted a few local Teachers through various online directories. Frustratingly I didn't get a response from any of them. I pretty much gave up on the idea of finding a Teacher.
Last November, I was at The Turner Sims and I saw a face that I thought I recognised from the lists of Saxophone Teachers I'd been looking through. I didn't think anything of it at first, but a few weeks later I thought why not give this guy a try? I got a response back straight away and sorted an initial lesson just before Christmas. It turned out he was the Guy I recognised at the Concert Hall and from the off I could tell this Teaching style is a lot more suitable for what I want.
I had my second lesson with him last Friday and I've found a new impetus. Also, six Months down the line, learning the little tunes from the Teaching book we're using is a lot more fun (how it should be). I'm getting told what I'm doing wrong, but more importantly, why I'm going wrong and how to fix it. I'm also getting lot of positive feedback, which counts for a lot when learning something new.
He's encouraged me to take a bit more mouthpiece and give it some welly on the loud bits ( the complete opposite of what I had been taught before). I struggled with this over Christmas, especially with volume control which went completely out the window with a default (deafening!) But now, a few weeks later, I've found I'm far more in control of my volume than I was a few Months back.
Funnily enough my Teacher had heard of my previous teacher and had taken on some of his ex students. It seems word gets around!
After packing him in, I made the decision that I'd carry on learning on my own and armed with a few books, including 'Taming The Saxophone', of course! I set myself to work pretty diligently on learning my scales and picking up bits and pieces from the countless channels of learning that can be used these days. I made progress, but I increasingly became aware that I needed some kind of external focus to help me along the way.
I contacted a few local Teachers through various online directories. Frustratingly I didn't get a response from any of them. I pretty much gave up on the idea of finding a Teacher.
Last November, I was at The Turner Sims and I saw a face that I thought I recognised from the lists of Saxophone Teachers I'd been looking through. I didn't think anything of it at first, but a few weeks later I thought why not give this guy a try? I got a response back straight away and sorted an initial lesson just before Christmas. It turned out he was the Guy I recognised at the Concert Hall and from the off I could tell this Teaching style is a lot more suitable for what I want.
I had my second lesson with him last Friday and I've found a new impetus. Also, six Months down the line, learning the little tunes from the Teaching book we're using is a lot more fun (how it should be). I'm getting told what I'm doing wrong, but more importantly, why I'm going wrong and how to fix it. I'm also getting lot of positive feedback, which counts for a lot when learning something new.
He's encouraged me to take a bit more mouthpiece and give it some welly on the loud bits ( the complete opposite of what I had been taught before). I struggled with this over Christmas, especially with volume control which went completely out the window with a default (deafening!) But now, a few weeks later, I've found I'm far more in control of my volume than I was a few Months back.
Funnily enough my Teacher had heard of my previous teacher and had taken on some of his ex students. It seems word gets around!
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