Confused when to say "TA"

[Mark Kiziuk]

Hey sxpoet! I was just practicing (I practice every day) and I can honestly say, I think I’m getting this down! I never had a problem with the embouchure (probably spelt that wrong) to me I got that on day one! And just now I was going “TA” at the same time as hitting a key, then to stop the note, you simply put the tip of your tongue on the reed to stop the note! Oh MY! That took me about 2 grueling minutes to get it right! Now the hard part is to make my brain work faster to do the keys faster. This alto saxophone stuff is a lot of hard work and practice, practice, practice.
Mark

[Anonymous]

Mark – a few other tips.

The most important tip to learn from day one, if you bump into sax teachers, very very experienced sax players, the first thing they will do is look at what you are doing with your fingers when you play.

Relax, Relax, Relax – Keep the fingers relaxed at all the times, do not have tense fingers, keep the fingers relaxed – dont press down hard on the sax keys. The number of times i’ve been told that by different players is incredible. It holds you back from playing difficult & faster pieces.

Another tip keep the fingers close to the keys at all times, if you look at Pro’s playing, you will hardly see their fingers being lifted up high in the air.

for a good embouchure try to avoid excessive biting, again – relaxed embouchure is less painful than a tense embouchure.

Finaly – if at any stage you get frustrated – stop, slow down, try it again the next day, move onto something else. It has to be fun.

The only other useful tip, if you set aside time to play each day.

spend a couple of minutes warming up the reed and sax. Do any learning at the start of the practice when your brain isnt tired. Always finish with a jam session where you play your favorite stuff you can play.

dont rush, its not a bus you are catching, relax relax relax relax its like sitting down and watching your favourite film.

You relax and enjoy your playing, and that will put people watching and listening to you in a good mood. Its a performance they want to be entertained as well as hear you play….

[Mark Kiziuk]

Tnx sxpoet!
Mark

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