New Member in SC

[Glen Kans]

Hello,
My name is Glen and in my mid 40’s. New to the saxophone world, I had been playing the bagpipe for the past few years, but it is an instrument of constant reed hassle. Sometimes my time is playing and practicing, and most other times is fiddling with the chanter reed, tuning the drones with each other and to the chanter. I was listening to some saxophone music and for some reason it just hit me that the saxophone has a voice similar to the chanter of the bagpipe, and is much more dynamic than the bagpipes. I play the bagpipes because of the emotion, and for the first time I recently realized that I have overlooked the common saxophone which has much more potential for emotional express than the bagpipe. I was at a poing where I sat down after just tossing two new chanter reeds in the trash (they are more expensive than the saxophone reed!) and asked myself surely there must be another instrument out there that I can consider. So here I am. I have just purchased a new Buffet Alto 400 series saxaphone and am now teaching myself how to play. The fingering is completely different than the bagpipe. Although I played some written sheet music of bagpipe notation, I am not that good at “reading music”. This time around I am starting at the basics and will learn classical notation, the scales, etc. so that I can continue to grow with the saxophone. My philosophy is that I don’t just pick up an instrument and plan to be good in six months a year or two years. My belief is that tomorrow I will be one day better than I am today and over time I will just be better than before. In time, perhaps I will be able to express the emotional aspect of the music of which I am trying to play. I am glad that I have come across this site, as it gives me additional material to consider to help me to learn, grow, and improve. My son plays acoustic and bass guitar, and he is going to share this horn with me and if he decides to like it he also will be learning the saxophone with me. Have a Happy and safe New Years! Glen

[john]

Wow love your story Glen! You have the right attitude for learning the sax. It can be a bit frustrating right off the hop because of embouchure and correct breathing and you just have to get better at these things daily but like you say, as you do each passing day you will fall in love just a little bit more and so it goes. Here I am 35 years later still in love!

There are some lessons you can get onto right away which will help you with your fingering, then embouchure then breathing. During the first scales lesson I also spend a little time on the music notation side of it so you can pick up the reading side of it slowly as you learn the other important fundamentals. (check the “beginners start here” section on the home page at the top)

Good luck to both of you and please drop any questions in this forum as you go.

cheers
Johnny

[Glen Kans]

Thanks Johnny,
I sure will and have a great New Year! Glen

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