Saxophone beginners Session Band App

[Tenor Viol]

Where are all the saxophones?

In the UK we have two styles of band (mostly) - brass bands, which are what they say on the tin - just brass instruments, no reeds. Then there are wind bands which contain woodwind and brass instruments. If the group is very large, it might be designated 'symphonic wind band'

 

[mizmar]

Today, I'm 66

Happy birthday

 

[Colin the Bear]

Where are all the saxophones?

Saxophones are woodwind. Brass bands are just brass. Occasionally with drums.
A band with brass and woodwind is called a wind band over here.
I play in a NO Parade band. Drums, 2 saxes, 2 trumpets, trombone and susaphone.

 

[lydian]

Saxophones are woodwind. Brass bands are just brass. Occasionally with drums.
A band with brass and woodwind is called a wind band over here.
I play in a NO Parade band. Drums, 2 saxes, 2 trumpets, trombone and susaphone.

But the OP played sax in a competition winning brass band. I’m just trying to work out what kind of UK brass band has saxophones if not the New Orleans kind. That will tell me what sort of music the OP is accustomed to playing.

 

[rhysonsax]

But the OP played sax in a competition winning brass band. I’m just trying to work out what kind of UK brass band has saxophones if not the New Orleans kind. That will tell me what sort of music the OP is accustomed to playing.

OP said he used to play in a brass band, not that he used to play sax in that.

Only the OP can clarify what instrument he played then, what he is accustomed to playing and what he wants to play now.

Rhys

 

[Pete Thomas]

But the OP played sax in a competition winning brass band.

Maybe they hid behind the sousaphone.

 

[Colin the Bear]

Or in it.

 

[lydian]

OP said he used to play in a brass band, not that he used to play sax in that.

Only the OP can clarify what instrument he played then, what he is accustomed to playing and what he wants to play now.

Rhys

If he played an entirely different instrument in the brass band, I would say that has no relevance to his sax playing. He apparently isn't a solid reader on sax, at least according to his teacher and given his play-along issues.

So given the clues we have now, and leaving prior (irrelevant) band experience aside, I'm sticking with my recommendation to improve reading first (using a metronome and lots of sight reading), then more focused listening to more tunes to improve recognition of the form of the tune being played.

 

[rhysonsax]

If he played an entirely different instrument in the brass band, I would say that has no relevance to his sax playing. He apparently isn't a solid reader on sax, at least according to his teacher and given his play-along issues.

Playing a brass instrument in a brass band would presumably have given a grounding in reading written music, understanding of rhythm and pitch and ability to listen to other instruments. All of which are relevant to playing a saxophone using sheet music and backing tracks. I guess it would also help with breath control.

Rhys

 

[lydian]

Playing a brass instrument in a brass band would presumably have given a grounding in reading written music, understanding of rhythm and pitch and ability to listen to other instruments. All of which are relevant to playing a saxophone using sheet music and backing tracks. I guess it would also help with breath control.

Rhys

Well, as an advanced sax player and mediocre trumpet and tuba player, I can tell you first hand that my reading skills on trumpet are nowhere near as good as on sax, nor are my improv skills, simply because the familiarity and facility isn't there. I would have great difficultly reading fast 16th note runs for trumpet or tuba that would be effortless on sax. So I disagree that mastery of one instrument automatically translates to another. I wish it did. That would help my flute and clarinet playing immensely.

If the OPs teacher thought his reading skills on sax were such that writing in the letter names of the notes would help, then he is not anywhere near the level of an advanced player in a top level brass band. Add to that the fact that the OP can't read and listen to the backing track at the same time. That doesn't jive with the highly skilled brass band player either. Such a player would have no problem reading and playing with a backing track. That's why I think playing a completely different instrument at a high level is not relevant to playing another instrument at a much lower level.

 

[Jeanette]

Today, I'm 66

Belated happy birthday xx

 

[Colin the Bear]

Belated happy birthday xx

Happy 65th?

 

[Honkin Ron Howe]

I realise this is an old thread, but what’s the nearest thing to Session Band for Android based pads? I don’t used pads, or backing tracks, other than midi based stuff. I’m about to buy, probably a Samsung Galaxy A9. I was looking at Lynden Blades vlog on Session Band and like what it does and how it works, plus, Session Band seems relatively cheap to buy music collections. I want to get some backing tracks sorted. But, I ain’t buying into any more Apple stuff!!

I’m a well seasoned gigging and recording sax player with 50 years under my belt and I’m just a bit old school! I drag my students along to open mics to get them into live playing and I love leading improvised horn sections with students … taming their enthusiasm! I just thought it might be nice to grab a slot or two to play some practiced tunes without having to rely on the house band. You know, you need to rely on the others needing to know the songs that we might want to play.

I’m an RnB man and try to avoid Jazz! Anyway, I’ve seen comments on iReal, Band In A Box, TomPlay which I’ll investigate. iReal looks okay but sounds a bit midi to me.

 

[skeller047]

I realise this is an old thread, but what’s the nearest thing to Session Band for Android based pads? I don’t used pads, or backing tracks, other than midi based stuff. I’m about to buy, probably a Samsung Galaxy A9. I was looking at Lynden Blades vlog on Session Band and like what it does and how it works, plus, Session Band seems relatively cheap to buy music collections. I want to get some backing tracks sorted. But, I ain’t buying into any more Apple stuff!!

I’m a well seasoned gigging and recording sax player with 50 years under my belt and I’m just a bit old school! I drag my students along to open mics to get them into live playing and I love leading improvised horn sections with students … taming their enthusiasm! I just thought it might be nice to grab a slot or two to play some practiced tunes without having to rely on the house band. You know, you need to rely on the others needing to know the songs that we might want to play.

I’m an RnB man and try to avoid Jazz! Anyway, I’ve seen comments on iReal, Band In A Box, TomPlay which I’ll investigate. iReal looks okay but sounds a bit midi to me.

If you are a well-seasoned musician, you are probably aware that somewhere north of 85% of working musicians (pro and semi-pro) use Apple computing products for music based tasks. There are lots of reasons for this, some of them good. I do understand it's expensive, but since most Apple products have a longer useful life than PC or Android devices, the higher initial cost is spread over a longer period, and average yearly cost might be less. So maybe do not completely discount them.

If all you need to do is find backing tracks, then YouTube is your friend. There are gazillions of them, many of them quite good.

If you need to CREATE backing tracks, then you need a couple of things - firstly, a DAW (Digital Audio Workstation), a computer program for creating music tracks; you will also likely need a MIDI keyboard. These are available for both Windows and Mac machines, with some available on IOS for iPads and a few less available for Android tablets.

Programs like iRealPro and Band-in-a-Box let you create backing tracks in pre-programmed "styles", which if you need to tweak you can export and edit in a DAW. For RnB you will probably have more success with Band-in-a-Box, it has a wider selection of style libraries. TomPlay, by my understanding, requires the purchase of individual songs; it's really designed as a practice platform, not a backing track generator.

Hope this helps, please reach out if you need further help; there are lots of folks here who are comfortable with computer or tablet based music creation and playback. Maybe start a new thread with your questions.

 

[Honkin Ron Howe]

If you are a well-seasoned musician, you are probably aware that somewhere north of 85% of working musicians (pro and semi-pro) use Apple computing products for music based tasks. There are lots of reasons for this, some of them good. I do understand it's expensive, but since most Apple products have a longer useful life than PC or Android devices, the higher initial cost is spread over a longer period, and average yearly cost might be less. So maybe do not completely discount them.

If all you need to do is find backing tracks, then YouTube is your friend. There are gazillions of them, many of them quite good.

If you need to CREATE backing tracks, then you need a couple of things - firstly, a DAW (Digital Audio Workstation), a computer program for creating music tracks; you will also likely need a MIDI keyboard. These are available for both Windows and Mac machines, with some available on IOS for iPads and a few less available for Android tablets.

Programs like iRealPro and Band-in-a-Box let you create backing tracks in pre-programmed "styles", which if you need to tweak you can export and edit in a DAW. For RnB you will probably have more success with Band-in-a-Box, it has a wider selection of style libraries. TomPlay, by my understanding, requires the purchase of individual songs; it's really designed as a practice platform, not a backing track generator.

Hope this helps, please reach out if you need further help; there are lots of folks here who are comfortable with computer or tablet based music creation and playback. Maybe start a new thread with your questions.

Thanks, I have a pile of failed Apple products including an iPad and Mac Book and I've worked in plenty of studios with Mac based stuff and Pro Tools etc. I also have loads of backing and Karaoke tracks. I just want to know what users of Android based products have to say. I've jus bought the Samsung Galaxy A9 ... a lot of my musician friends now use them, but mainly for chord and lyric sheets and at £151 it's replaceable.

 

[thomsax]

I realise this is an old thread, but what’s the nearest thing to Session Band for Android based pads? I don’t used pads, or backing tracks, other than midi based stuff. I’m about to buy, probably a Samsung Galaxy A9. I was looking at Lynden Blades vlog on Session Band and like what it does and how it works, plus, Session Band seems relatively cheap to buy music collections. I want to get some backing tracks sorted. But, I ain’t buying into any more Apple stuff!!

I’m a well seasoned gigging and recording sax player with 50 years under my belt and I’m just a bit old school! I drag my students along to open mics to get them into live playing and I love leading improvised horn sections with students … taming their enthusiasm! I just thought it might be nice to grab a slot or two to play some practiced tunes without having to rely on the house band. You know, you need to rely on the others needing to know the songs that we might want to play.

I’m an RnB man and try to avoid Jazz! Anyway, I’ve seen comments on iReal, Band In A Box, TomPlay which I’ll investigate. iReal looks okay but sounds a bit midi to me.

A teaching R&B saxman! Sounds wonderful. Jam is one of the best ways to learn to play.

I'm an "out-of.date" Blues, Rock & Roll, R&B, Soul, Rock ..... hobby honker. I like backing tracks as well. A small PA (no headphones) to get the right feeling.

 

[Honkin Ron Howe]

Thank you all for your help and comments. I now have the Galaxy A9+ Tablet and iReal Pro all on a tight budget. iReal Pro is everything I needed and it was fairly intuitive ... took 20 minutes to knock up John Handy's 'Hard Work'. All I need now is a Foot Pedal - Page Changer that I can assign the to the space bar function to set songs playing. I will probably pick up the Lekato. I can then drag my understudy (victims) to open mics to maybe get some slots as well as the usual improv' sitting in with the bands. I need to get Word and stuff on the Tab and maybe look at some sheet music readers. The only thing that confounded me was that I can't fit a standard 3.5mm jack plug lead (to phonos) into the headphone socket with the Pad case fitted! There are always the minor obstacles eh?

 

[mizmar]

look at some sheet music readers

I use MobileSheets Pro on android.
It does a lot for little money, for me anyway.
tip; iReal does allow export of the sound track to an audio file. That can be imported into MSP in which you can build playlists etc. Maybe less faffing?

 

[MikeMorrell]

I use MobileSheets Pro on android.
It does a lot for little money, for me anyway.

Thank you all for your help and comments. I now have the Galaxy A9+ Tablet and iReal Pro all on a tight budget. iReal Pro is everything I needed and it was fairly intuitive ... took 20 minutes to knock up John Handy's 'Hard Work'. All I need now is a Foot Pedal - Page Changer that I can assign the to the space bar function to set songs playing. I will probably pick up the Lekato. I can then drag my understudy (victims) to open mics to maybe get some slots as well as the usual improv' sitting in with the bands. I need to get Word and stuff on the Tab and maybe look at some sheet music readers. The only thing that confounded me was that I can't fit a standard 3.5mm jack plug lead (to phonos) into the headphone socket with the Pad case fitted! There are always the minor obstacles eh?

Hi @Honkin Ron Howe,

I'm delighted that you've found a good solution in iReal Pro on an Android platform! If it works for you, then no further comments from me. With one exception: you might come to find that multiple Android music Apps are complementary.

When I first joined my current pop/rock band som 9 months ago, I quickly realized that I needed to buy a Tablet. The choice of an Android Tablet was a no-brainer since I've had an Android phone forever. Within a couple of minutes all my Android phone apps were copied to my new Android Tablet. I assume the same is true for 'Apple users'.

My 'pop/rock' band had for many years used the Android/Apple App ''Songbook Pro". An App that (cheaply) allowed my band members to share lyrics and chords. Although 'in-line edits' are clunky, there are easy buttons to instantly transcribe ''concert C" chords to any any other instrument. In my case Tenor Sax. Though I've (with the advice of cafe members) learned to transcribe 'on the fly' from concert C chords.

Like @mizmar, I also use 'Mobile Sheets Pro' in my Android Tablet. Usually when I play in my Big Band and 'jazz workshops'. But also alternating between the 2 apps in my 'pop/rock' band. 'Songbook Pro' only gives me the chords + my annotations which are usually fine. Occasionally, I want to (temporarily) switch to my 'more precise' musical notations in 'Mobile Sheets Pro'. A peda works wonders!

 

[mizmar]

share lyrics and chords

Just to note - MSP recently integrated ChordPro as well, including transcribing. And ABC for music scores.

But, I'm sure either of these, for organising, backing-up, finding etc. invaluable.