swood
Member
- Messages
- 16
Hi everyone! I'm a 53 soon to be 54 year old from Charlotte, North Carolina, USA who hasn't touched a musical instrument since I was 15 years old. I played a student Cleveland King Alto for 3 years, starting in the 8th grade. I kept the horn with me all these years and had it serviced a couple of years ago when my oldest son thought he wanted to give it a go. He played Trumpet/tuba/baritone for years and wanted to give a woodwind a try. After several lessons he gave up.
With the kids grown I was in need of a new hobby. I picked up a guitar, but found that instrument to be a witch in my hands!. I pulled out the old alto, found a couple of Method books that my son had, and found that I really enjoyed myself. I remembered how to read music, although I have had to work at timing a bit. After a month of tinkering with the Alto, I felt myself wishing that I was starting back on Tenor instead.
So...to make a long story short; I got a deal on a Yamaha YTS-23 that had been used by someone else for marching band for 3 years. I couldn't resist the price...got it for $475. I had to invest in a mouthpiece so the total was $500 US. Other than a few very minor surface scratches, the horn looks to be in very good condition. Pads look good, etc.
My current setup is a Hite Premium mouthpiece and 2 Vandoren reed. The horn blows a lot more freely than my Alto does; I suspect due to the more open mouthpiece.
After 2 weeks of practicing for about an hour 5x/week, my initial concerns are that the middle D sounds a bit "stuffy". Also the lower notes from F on down are nearly impossible for me to play on the Tenor (but no issues on Alto). If I run a scale from Middle C on down to Low C it isn't too bad, but if I try to tongue each note individually I have to really open my throat and move a lot of air resulting in the dreaded fog horn sound. I can get them to play sometimes, but not on a consistent basis, I'm guessing I have a leak and or leaks.
For now I'm still working with the Method books and for fun playing the occasional bit of sheet music that I can find on the internet, some of it transposed for Tenor.
Any help, ideas, words of wisdom are greatly appreciated. I've already learned a lot just by reading this forum and others.
With the kids grown I was in need of a new hobby. I picked up a guitar, but found that instrument to be a witch in my hands!. I pulled out the old alto, found a couple of Method books that my son had, and found that I really enjoyed myself. I remembered how to read music, although I have had to work at timing a bit. After a month of tinkering with the Alto, I felt myself wishing that I was starting back on Tenor instead.
So...to make a long story short; I got a deal on a Yamaha YTS-23 that had been used by someone else for marching band for 3 years. I couldn't resist the price...got it for $475. I had to invest in a mouthpiece so the total was $500 US. Other than a few very minor surface scratches, the horn looks to be in very good condition. Pads look good, etc.
My current setup is a Hite Premium mouthpiece and 2 Vandoren reed. The horn blows a lot more freely than my Alto does; I suspect due to the more open mouthpiece.
After 2 weeks of practicing for about an hour 5x/week, my initial concerns are that the middle D sounds a bit "stuffy". Also the lower notes from F on down are nearly impossible for me to play on the Tenor (but no issues on Alto). If I run a scale from Middle C on down to Low C it isn't too bad, but if I try to tongue each note individually I have to really open my throat and move a lot of air resulting in the dreaded fog horn sound. I can get them to play sometimes, but not on a consistent basis, I'm guessing I have a leak and or leaks.
For now I'm still working with the Method books and for fun playing the occasional bit of sheet music that I can find on the internet, some of it transposed for Tenor.
Any help, ideas, words of wisdom are greatly appreciated. I've already learned a lot just by reading this forum and others.
