New to the Sax

[Hennie Esterhuizen]

Hi everyone,

I live in Guernsey, a small island between the UK and France.

I am a 60’s model and recently decided to take up the Saxophone.

In my youth I played piano and also played the tuba in a marching band back then. Making music with other people is something I really enjoyed so much, but when career aspirations and family life took over there was little time to pursue this.

Now that I am older, I have a bit more time for myself and to do some of the things I have always wanted to. Making music is one of them.

I bought a YAS-280 saxophone about a month ago and I am enjoying every minute of practicing and playing. My earlier music education is helping me a lot when it comes to sight reading, and I hope to get to decent level in the next year or so to be able to join a small group and play together.

I would like to hear from others on this forum who took up the sax at a later age, especially how long it took to get to a level where you could play with others.
Any tips are most welcome.

Best wishes,

Hennie

[saxomonica]

Hi and welcome, Hennie!

i took up sax about a year and a half ago and am 59 this year.
Lotsa guys take up sax later in life but we are terribly impatient to make progress after successful careers and family life.
You have joined Johnny’s site at a good time – he is on fire of late.
suggest
Learn Tequila via his latest lessons.
Try Night Train too
Get an Ipad and Anytune Pro (slows down and uses your music library)
Choose some good songs from Johnny’s Music you like – especially ones with tutorials! eg Moon River, Sound of Silence etc
Join Premium Membership when it is open again.
Leave your sax out on a stand where you can see it.
Change to a synethic reed asap.
Try Jazzlab shoulder brace holder
Learn to sing through the sax viz hear the note in your head and sax it out
Play first thing in the morning, and, try to play several half hr periods a day too
Work hard to develop good diagphram breathing
Keep a sax diary
Watch tv with sax and practice fingering
Late at night play the sax but not quite enough pressure to sound reed
Jam along with your CDs and backing tracks – you are playing with others !
Keep the faith – and am sure you will be in a band soon if you put the effort in now
Don’t get stage shy hey people are more worried about their own lives than yours

All the best!

[john]

Good for you Hennie. sounds like you got a decent horn and are in a great mindset. good luck with your studies and let us know what you’re working on!

[Simon]

Hi Hennie and welcome to forum. I’m 42 and started playing sax 2,5 years ago. Before that i didn’t had any musical knowledge. I love playing saxophone and this site is great!

Simon

[Hennie Esterhuizen]

Hi guys,

Thank you for your welcome messages and the tips!

Look forward to chatting some more and learning from you all.

Right now I am looking to establish a good routine for each of my practice sessions to make sure I get most out of everyone.

All the best!

[Gary Deripaska]

Hennie,
I did almost the same thing you did, I started playing Tenor, Alto, Baritone sax in High school over 50 years ago settled pretty much on the Tenor in the high school band for 6 years and then after high school , I played in a little Jazz band for about 2 years where I went to School in Memphis, Tenn. Then like you my career (Corporate Pilot) got in the way with Lots of moves to different cities chasing that better paying job, family etc didn’t allow much time to myself. My parents had bought me a Martin Tenor Sax back in 1969 so I pulled it out of it’s case last August of 2018 and started playing it again, I was actually amazed at how little I had forgotten, reading music, improvisations, my own tome were all still there.
I found Johnny’s WEB site not to long after I started playing again, been playing mainly with his back ground tracks, which is a great way to develop your own sound. Go through his lessons he has own his site , Practice , Practice, Practice then Practice some more. Watch his videos on playing a song you’d like to play. I would start out with some of his slower songs until you are comfortable with all the fingering and comfortable with your saxophone. Don’t be afraid to ask Johnny any questions he’s been doing this for a long long time and there’s probably not anything he doesn’t know about playing the saxophone and how to get really good at it. There’s so much info on his web site to get you started in the right direction or anybody on this forum, there are a variety of experience on here.

Saxomonica gave some great advise as well , especially the synthetic reed , I love them

Pretty island you live on , Been to Europe in the Gulfstream I fly but never to your island looks very nice. If I ever get a trip there, I’ll bring my Tenor and we’ll jam together 🙂

Take Care
Gary D.

[Hennie Esterhuizen]

Hi Gary,

Thanks for getting in touch and sharing your sax story. Very similar to mine as you say. Just wish I had even more time to practice everyday. I sometimes struggle to do an hour a day.
It is really inspiring when I hear other people’s stories about playing and practicing. Makes me less lonely when I play those scales over and over 😉
I have actually been to Memphis on business a few years back and still regret that I did not have time to visit Graceland. Love the US.

I see that both you and Saxomonica advise getting a synthetic reed. What makes them better? Or are they somehow easier to produce a good sound? I’d be keen to know before I get one.

I will be definitely be spending a lot of time on Johnny’s website in the weeks and months ahead. There seems to be loads of information.

For now I am just trying to focus on the very basic things like learning all the notes (almost there) and making a good sound.

Hope you make it to Guernsey one day!

All the best,

Hennie

[Gary Deripaska]

Hennie,
Yes on the synthetic reed. I’ve used the ones Johnny has on his web site ” The FIBEREED CARBON ONYX” ( Medium, and Medium soft) I also use the LEGERE Signature series Synthetic reed # 2. What I like about them compared to the cane reed is that you can pick the sax up and just start playing without having to pre-wet the reed. I know that
( for me) the ability to hit the really low notes is a lot easier and on key every time and loud every time or soft if you need to play the low note soft.Since you said you don’t have a lot of time to Practice I would think the Synthetic reed would work out for you pretty good, saves you time having to pre wet the reed. Also like Saxomonica said, get a stand for your sax and keep it on a stand so it’s always ready to play, 5 minutes of practice is better than 0 minutes of practice. However, with the synthetic reeds you’ll find you either love them or not so much, some players love them some don’t like them at all or. I really like them a lot.

I used a cane reed on a CD I recorded before I discovered the Synthetic reeds and wished I had done the recording with the Synthetic reed. However that’s just me I sometimes will change reeds depending on the song I’m doing, not that I’m an expert in that area by any means, I just know the sound I’m looking for and sometimes for me I change reeds.

Yes sir, the Kings house ( Elvis) is for sure a must stop In Memphis. I flew for Lisa and Priscilla Presley for a couple of years after Elvis had passed away, Really nice people. I would say probably the best thing you could do for yourself is go through the lessons on this site and Learn as much as you can and get comfortable with your sax and find the sound you want to have, that’s yours. Just remember, you could buy the same exact mouth piece that Johnny has, same reed, same saxophone and you will have your sound not his, so many other things involved in having a certain Sound.

For sure, If I get a trip to your island I’ll contact you, Fortunately for me these days after flying for 46 years, the Gulfstream V I fly now, doesn’t go to Europe that much and I don’t travel anywhere near as much as I use to, which allows me to play the Sax a lot more. almost seems like I can’t get enough playing and I’m able to play for 2 or 3 hours a day if i wanted to.

Take Care and keep practicing,
Gary D.

[john]

Hey Gary, cool story…a friend of mine has been flying and is retiring this year!
just about every pilot I’ve met plays music and/or has a big ol’ boat!

[steve amis]

Hi Guys. New to the site and fairly new to the sax, although I did have a dabble years ago. I’m a professional guitar vocalist, so not a complete beginner to music. Looking forward to learning from you all and of course from Johnny, and who knows, maybe I can contribute a little further down the line.
Kind regards,
Steve.

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