Saxophone beginners Recording yourself

[trimmy]

Hopefully proper breathing will become automatic eventually, like driving a car.

Onwards and upwards 🙂

That is what my tutor said to me as she knows i drive for a living, she said think of what you are doing driving and how many things are going through your mind, think back to when you learnt to drive and how hard it was to learn, eventually it all fell into place, same will happen with your sax lessons.



Ps. I'm still waiting

 

[Jeanette]

That is what my tutor said to me as she knows i drive for a living, she said think of what you are doing driving and how many things are going through your mind, think back to when you learnt to drive and how hard it was to learn, eventually it all fell into place, same will happen with your sax lessons.



Ps. I'm still waiting

Mine said something similar

Jx

 

[Rob Pealing]

I really do want to play in a band of some sort - I wish Jeanette's group was closer, apart from anything else it would be great to meet you all.

From '83 to '93 I lived in Barrow and the steel works had a band, I don't know if it still exists. If it is not too far from you it might be worth finding out about.

 

[Tenor Viol]

You may have to bite the bullet and accept that you've got a 30 mile each way trip to get to something you want. That's the problem I have in Shropshire - almost nothing is under 25 miles: Shrewsbury 25, Chester 25, Liverpool (centre) nearly 50, Manchester (centre) nearly 50, Birmingham about 60. The nearest activity I have at the moment is choir which is 14 miles away.

Have you had a look at http://www.amateurorchestras.org.uk/ ? I know there's the 'Saturday morning orchestra' in Timperley in Manchester - too far?

 

[BigMartin]

It's getting better

Of course, absolutely everything else is now going to pot since my brain can only manage to think about one thing at once.

The sound difference when I get lazy for a few notes is really noticeable.

That would be conscious competence, then. Good, innit?

 

[Rob Pealing]

@Rob Pealing there is a beginner's section that can only be accessed by members feel free to post whatever you wish in there whether it be a full tune or a few bars.

If you look in resources there is a useful post by taz about audacity and some others if you search the forum.

Jx

Thank you, I have found out how to use audacity a bit better. I found the beginner section and will keep working on the music and maybe one day put it there, however listening to your own recording makes you realise how to improve things and I can imagine it being a vain pursuit for perfection.

 

[Jay]

You may have to bite the bullet and accept that you've got a 30 mile each way trip to get to something you want. That's the problem I have in Shropshire - almost nothing is under 25 miles: Shrewsbury 25, Chester 25, Liverpool (centre) nearly 50, Manchester (centre) nearly 50, Birmingham about 60. The nearest activity I have at the moment is choir which is 14 miles away.

Have you had a look at http://www.amateurorchestras.org.uk/ ? I know there's the 'Saturday morning orchestra' in Timperley in Manchester - too far?

Yes, joys of living in the country 🙂
My sax lesson is 22 miles away. Kendal is the nearest town of any size, which is 16 miles. Manchester's 62 and Barrow is 40. And they're Cumbrian miles many of them, ie can be single track and even where not, full of tractors and sheep. Work is 8 miles away, which is a 30 minute journey (and I have a heavy right foot).

Edited to add: Might have found 2 things I can get to, a concert band on Wed eves and a jazz workshoppy thing on Sat mornings - that one might be a bit beyond me at the moment though - but could go and see. Fingers crossed.

 

[Targa]

That is what my tutor said to me as she knows i drive for a living, she said think of what you are doing driving and how many things are going through your mind, think back to when you learnt to drive and how hard it was to learn, eventually it all fell into place, same will happen with your sax lessons.



Ps. I'm still waiting

Learning to drive was easy, ten lessons and no practice in between.
Learning the sax is more difficult.
Maybe I should sit down and use my feet.

 

[Jay]

That would be conscious competence, then. Good, innit?

😛 I'm not entirely sure 'competence' describes the stage I'm at, but it feels so much better to know what to do to make it sound better, now I just have to learn to do it. It was that 'OMG this is dreadful, I don't want to be dreadful but I don't know what to do about it' that was so dispiriting.

 

[Sue]

Hi Jay if your tutor has other adult learners in the same area how about trying to get a quartet (or group of any size) together to play and learn together. Your tutor may be too busy to supervise the group but he/she can give you all some guidance. Hope you get the fun back soon

 

[Jay]

Hi Jay if your tutor has other adult learners in the same area how about trying to get a quartet (or group of any size) together to play and learn together. Your tutor may be too busy to supervise the group but he/she can give you all some guidance. Hope you get the fun back soon

That's a good idea, I'll ask him tomorrow

 

[Jeanette]

That's a good idea, I'll ask him tomorrow

He will no doubt have other adults in the same situation

Jx

 

[kevgermany]

Jay, just bear in mind that it's going to take ages to get to where you want to be. Use recordings as a progress check as well as to find and sort out problems.

Also remember that recordings don't accurately reflect how you sound, and that many of the recordings posted here have been tweaked to sound better.

 

[Jay]

Jay, just bear in mind that it's going to take ages to get to where you want to be. Use recordings as a progress check as well as to find and sort out problems.

Also remember that recordings don't accurately reflect how you sound, and that many of the recordings posted here have been tweaked to sound better.

Thank you, yes I need to remember that too 🙂 I know it'll take me forever, but somehow, not knowing my scales, my fingers being slow, my tonguing being poor, are more bearable to me than the weedy, uncommitted sound I was making - and it sounds so loud from behind the horn!

But my teacher keeps talking about breath support and making the notes come out with 'energy' and other similar things, but without having heard it myself I didn't 'get' what he keeps talking about. And more importantly, I couldn't 'feel' how to change things. It's only by experimenting with 'if I do this, what does it sound like' that's given me some idea of how to solve that, this weekend.

So that's a huge learning step and also has taught me the value of using recordings to hear what I'm doing. Small steps in the right direction 🙂

 

[kevgermany]

Try some long tones. Just play a single note, adjust tongue, throat, breath support (from belly, not ribs) and relax. You're breathing into the sax, not blowing (warm air, not cold air). You're probably too tight on embouchure, so try loosening gently as you push more air through without blowing and without a pitch or volume change. You'll get this by opening your throat and it makes a huge difference to sound.

 

[trimmy]

Learning to drive was easy, ten lessons and no practice in between.
Learning the sax is more difficult.
Maybe I should sit down and use my feet.

When i can play the sax as good as i drive, I'll be happy !!

 

[trimmy]

Maybe I should sit down and use my feet.

Learn the drums then

 

[Colin the Bear]

Might have found 2 things I can get to, a concert band on Wed eves and a jazz workshoppy thing on Sat mornings - that one might be a bit beyond me at the moment though - but could go and see. Fingers crossed.

Go for it. Musicians in my experience are very forgiving and helpful in a learning environment and stuff rubs off on you. Don't worry about sounding bad. We all know someone who sounds worse and thinks they're great. 😉

The worst thing that can happen is you will get a marker for the level you need to be for the next time.

 

[Jay]

Yay, just had a lesson, my teacher said I sounded better 😀

And the concert band secretary emailed back and said yes, I can go and join them. That's on Wed 😎

I might make a one day yet 😉

 

[kevgermany]

Learn the drums then

Or the organ.