Hi. New and overwhelmed…

[Lisa Heselton]

Hi,
I just found this site and it looks great for help and resources.
My name is Lisa. I’m from UK. I have received an alto sax for Christmas having always not so secretly wanted one!
I’ve played wind since having learned recorder at school and do play flute. Entirely self taught by ear, unable to read music and prob not very good in reality. Certainly, very out of practice!
Last year I dabbled with cornet, brass band, lessons and rudiments of music reading.
Not being able to commit fully it fell by the wayside. And I truly missed having that challenge.
Hence the gift of the saxophone as its been a lifelong ambition to play.
So, I am at the very beginning. I can get a few notes out. I’m learning to put a few together. I squeak a lot and run out of breath too soon. I’m confused by the world of reeds and feeling a little frustrated and overwhelmed by what stretches out in front of me.

But I like a challenge.

Goals are “Night Train” and anything that sounds bluesy, sleazy and burlesque.
For now I’d be pleased by being able to play a decent “Happy Birthday” by May!

So any tips or pointers to a newb would be appreciated. As well as any reassurance that I haven’t taken on too much!

Or simply stop by to say hi.

Thanks,
Lisa. X

[Anonymous]

hi Lisa – i’m from the midlands, not many people on here from the UK, there is a vast cultural difference between our cousins over the pond.
It’s a great site for backing tracks & tips from JF.

[Lisa Heselton]

Hi, sxpoet, nice to meet you. I’m up in north east.
I can’t wait to get to a standard where I can play along to a backing track. At the moment I’m working on my first few notes but they sound flat. It has only been days though.
Looking forward to getting stuck in.
May invest in some real person tuition too. Just to make sure I’m doing it right so far.
Thanks for your reply.

[john]

Good for you Lisa, you’ll get it going. when I play flute I get dizzy, but I can blow my brains out on a sax. like you said, the reeds are very different but when you get your embouchure a little more together the notes will start sounding more solid. as for running out of air, we must breathe from deep within the diaphragm not throat. Practice by putting your hand on your stomach area, you should feel it going in and out. I’ll stop there so as not to make it even more overwhelming! One day at a time.

[wayne wojnarowski]

Hi Lisa I’m from Chicago , I admire your want to… this site is very cool, lots of good advice. Not that you asked but i would get a fingering chart, like Johnnie
said breathe from your gut, fill the horn with air without pinching on the reed, by the way what strength reed Lisa?? You said it your self , it’s your dream!! Little
portions at a time, I’m not a teacher but it sounds like you have to practice on trying to get a tone, sometimes in the beginning of our en devours it’s a good idea to get
some instruction to get you started.

[Lisa Heselton]

Hi Johnny and Wayne, nice to meet you.
I am aware of diaphragm breathing. I did practice it previously. Cornet takes a lot of air to play! I’m just out of practice but it should come back to me. Hopefully.
My sax came with a box of Rico 1.5 reeds so that’s what I’m using. Are the higher numbers more difficult to master? Is this something you progress through or is it simply preference?
Thanks for your replies and encouragement. I shall keep practising daily and hopefully it will come together little by little. 😃

[john]

Not a preference at this point. 1.5 is good for the first few weeks/months. when you start hitting the notes better and your embouchure is a little more developed you can try some 2’s. the higher the number the stronger in thickness so harder to play. when stepping up at the right time though it will give you a bigger and fuller sound. stepping up at the wrong time will frustrate you because it’ll feel too hard to play.

[Natalie Thompson-Clarke]

Hi Lisa, pleased to welcome you on the forum.
I too am also from the UK – well that makes a handful of us!
Some good advice already here. My advice would be too get in touch with a good teacher as soon as you can as this will give you a framework, support and focus in your learning.
I wish you all the very best – keep us posted on your progress
🙂

[jeremy spencer]

Hi Lisa
Im also from the midlands. Hi sxpoet and Natalie UK contigency is growing 🙂
I have been playing for a couple of years now and whilst it is frustrating at times the pleasure of getting to grips with the sax far outweighs the pain, so keep at it. With johnny`s help in a few months you will have made progress and feel a great sense of achievement.
All the best
jeremy

[Anonymous]

Hi Natalie & Jeremy – i’ve used this site for about 2 years since i started, and the Uk folks don’t seem to stick with it for long.
Most of the UK folks i know, have weekly lessons with sax teachers, so are probably less dependent on web site.
But JF’s e-book i’ve found useful as a reference book when starting out, the daily Sax routine i would recomend to any learner who wanted some useful exercises to do. Any if you want to do Altissimo – JF’s course works (or worked for me), my teacher was impressed when i played altissimo notes, and i checked with his altissimo notes to compare pitches.

I’ve used my sax teacher as the main focus & JF’s video courses as a side line (to pond hop to in my spare time) – that’s mainly because i’m working through my sax grades which i find quite demanding.

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