I’m excited that I’m going to be able to resume taking lessons again after our move at the end of September.  So my first lesson should be the first week of October.  This will finally get me going again, as I fear I have just stalled out.  I just kept running into issues and wasn’t progressing the way I wanted.  Lessons are really the way to go, and I hope to keep them up for a while.  I have everything ready to go, now just have to wait another month before I start up.  So you can expect to see weekly updates again on this blog as I progress with my lessons.  Be sure and check back at the start of October to read up on how things went.

See you then!

It has been a while since I had a chance to sit down and practice.  Which isn’t a good thing.  Just too many things with work and family life going on that I just didn’t have the time I really wanted.  Things seem to be calming down now so I’m going to see about putting aside some time every day to practice again and get back in the swing of things.

Today I started off easy with a review of the basics, just going over where all the notes were on the Saxophone and playing over some scales and exercises.  I started with my newest book, “Essential Elements, Book 1″.  Played a few simple tunes, and just tried to listen on how my tone was, while making sure I wasn’t “puffing” my cheeks while playing.

My mouth got a little tired due to the lack of work over the past few months, but all in all, I managed to avoid any nasty squawks and played all the notes correctly and in time.

Now, I just need to make sure I practice at least 30 minutes to an hour a day, and I’ll be playing my Pink Panther song in no time.

After not playing much at all for the past two months I found I was more rusty than I had hoped.  I couldn’t even recall where some of the notes on the saxophone were.  So I just started at the begin of the method books I had and went for a quick review, playing the songs, and reviewing the fingering for each note.  I did this until I got too tired to play any longer.  I saved the rest of the book for the next  day.  After I get everything fresh in my mind again I’ll work on my long tones again and getting the tone to sound as good as possible.  It will probably take the remaining of the month for me to get back to where I was in February.  I’ll have to make sure I don’t end up getting behind again as it hinders my progress too much.   I’ll start recording the tunes again shortly as well, as I want to have them to show my progress.  All in all though, I think I’m doing well.

It has been too long since I have been practicing, so it’s time to get things going again before I fall back too much.  Just so much going on, it ends up being hard to find the time to do the things you enjoy in life.  I’m pretty close to being done with the music books I currently have for the saxophone, so I bought some more.  Alisha Pattillo has recommended two books for me to check out, Essential Elements Book 1 and 2 for the Eb Alto Saxophone.  While I was there I saw The Pink Panther Saxophone Solo and couldn’t resist buying it.  It is probably above my ability at this time, however I’ll still give it a crack and see how I do.  It will give me something to work towards in the mean time.  I plan on starting my practice sessions back up this afternoon, I’m sure the baby has missed hearing me play, he always appeared to enjoy it.  The books should be here in a week or two, so I’ll let you know how they are once I start going through them.  In the mean time I’ll get my self back up to where I should be and practice practice practice.

I’m still working on getting the hang of tuning by ear with a tuning fork.  Part of me wants to just get an electronic tuner so I can just see if I’m in tune or not.  However that is something you should avoid, as it will only hurt you in the long run.  This is even more important if you plan on playing with anyone else in the near future, and being able to play in tune with them.  Your not going to pull out your little electronic tuner and tell everyone to hold on while you make sure it is right, and then inform them if they are or not as well.  That is just unrealistic.

So, what is a good way to get better at tuning?  Stephen Howard provides the following suggestions.

“Almost any kind of playing is going to be helpful when it comes to tuning, but one of the most useful things to do is concentrate on octave jumps.  The reason for this is that this is the easiest interval over which to hear tuning problems – and the way in which you do this is to both sing and play the jump.  Take a tune like ‘Somewhere over the rainbow’ – this starts with an octave jump. You start by playing the root note on the sax – then you stop and sing the opening phrase. You then play it on the horn.  This teaches you to pitch notes with your voice – because being able to hear an interval in your head is more than half of being able to play one in tune.  You follow this up by playing the major scale from root to octave and back again on the horn. This helps to improve your knowledge of scales and also to maintain the tuning and you move up and down the instrument.  You can follow this up with major arpeggios.

Pretty much any book of exercises will help, but I find it easier to play tunes – slow ballads and the like. The reason being that you’re more likely to be familiar with a tune than an exercises, and it’s a lot easier to hear when the tuning is out.”

I like the idea of playing tunes myself as well, as it just is more enjoyable to begin with, and at the end, you’ll have a number of songs you’ll have learned you can play for others and play just for your own satisfaction.

Well I ended up getting sick AGAIN.  February was definately not my month.  This time I was tired of it all and went straight to the doctor to see what they could do to help my body get over all this junk.  Now I have lots of shiney pills and a shot to go with it and I’m starting to feel better again.  I’m resting up for the rest of the week, and then I’ll get back to my practicing and recording again.  After a day or two of practicing my songs I’ll record a number of them, especially the ones I have done in the past so we can all hear if I have made any good progress.  I feel I have, even with my limited practice sessions over February I do pretty good at playing all the correct notes, the part that is a little weak now is my tone, but what do I expect from not playing much for a month.

This coming Monday I will try and post a number of songs, and I would love to hear what everyone thinks.  Until then, stay healthy!

It took me nearly two weeks to get over this illness that I had.  I’m glad it is over with now, and I was able to play my saxophone  again for the first time since I came down  with it.  I was pleasantly surprised by the results.  I actually ended up having to stop practicing for a reason other than my mouth giving out.  I played longer than I had ever done in the past.  Now the tone wasn’t perfect, there were issues here and there, but overall it sounded fairly well.  Tomorrow I’ll have to set a timer before I start playing and see how long my practice session actually lasts.

Basically today I went over a variety of scales and arpeggios of the G Major scale, the played a number of melodies while my baby boy sat on the couch and listened.  My lung capacity isn’t quite back where it needs to be so I ran out of breath a few times, but I think I did fairly well on that too.   Tomorrow I think I’ll add the C Major scale along with the G Major scales to my practice session and see how it goes.

Well I haven’t had nearly as much time to practice the saxophone this week as I have been sick ever since my last post.  It isn’t pleasant.  Hopefully I get to feeling better soon and can get back to my practicing.  I’m guessing this thing is going to take a week to get over at the rate I’m going.  My next post will be once I get over this, and can get back to playing.  I’ll then record some of the tunes I learned over the past few months.  It should be fun.

I have gotten to the part of my saxophone book where they switch from melodies to scales and arpeggios.  I started off today with the key of G, and went through four different exercises.  I should have them all down very well by the end of the week.  My endurance while playing still isn’t very long.  After playing the four exercises I couldn’t go on any longer.  I’ve only been playing for just over two months now, so it may still take some more time.  Right now I just break up my practice sessions into 15 minute segments so I can get as much practice in per day.

At the end of the week, I’ll record the scales and post it online so everyone can hear how it is going.

My tuning fork and metronome arrive this weekend.  The metronome is no issue for me, as I have used them before when playing the piano.  So now I have one again and can use it to help with my timing when playing music and scales on my saxophone.  The tuning fork however is another story.  This is going to take some practice.  I strike the tuning fork on an object and the fork begins to vibrate.  It’s not terribly loud so I then put it close to my ear and listen to the tone it is making.  I do this a few times and try and remember the sound I just heard.   I then play G on my Saxaophone, which I recall hearing somewhere is the tuning note.  If I’m wrong then maybe someone would be kind enough to tell me otherwise.

In any case I “think” it sounds right.  The note I play on the saxophone sounds pretty much the same as the tuning fork.  I don’t think it sounds any sharper or flater.  When I can have a saxophone teacher again I’ll be able to confirm all of this of course, until then I’ll just have to listen very carefully and take it slow.

Nothing new going on just yet, just working on my long tones while I wait for my tuning fork and metronome to arrive.  They have shipped, so I should be getting them in the mail by the end of this week.  I’ll find out then how good my ear really is.

In the mean time I do have a nice story about my 1 year old son and the saxophone.  He really seems to like the saxophone and my playing (he may be the only one at this time).  When I pick up the saxophone he starts bouncing up and down, clapping his hands, and gets a great big smile on his face.  He will then crawl over to me and use the music stand to help him stand up so he is right next to me while I practice.  When I play my long tones he will make a fairly close noise as well with his voice and hold it as long as he can.  He smiles when I play “Marry had a little lamb” and claps along to other songs I play.

The other thing he really enjoys doing is messing me up (however I think he just likes making the tone of the saxophone change).  He will get closer to me while I’m playing a long tone and press in one of the keys of the horn, which of course will change the tone I am playing.  He laughs and smiles real big when he does this, as he feels he has accomplished something himself.  He really seems to enjoy music, and I’ll have to get him into playing the piano as soon as he is old enough.  This will give him a nice musical foundation for when his lungs are strong enough to play a saxophone.

It’s nice having him enjoy being with me while I practice, at least I know I’ll always have one fan.  Hopefully more to come in the future.

Today I checked out my twitter page and noticed I had a tweet from The Sax Doctor who has been following my blog and giving me very helpful suggestions when needed.  His latest suggestion is to be careful when it comes to tuners and the saxophone, as you can come to rely to much upon the electronic device and what you are seeing and not on your ear to embouchure relationship as it should be.  He directed me to an interesting article on his site about the proper use of tuners for the saxophone, and I would suggest any one else in this particular situation read it as well.  It is very interesting.

I have already ordered my tuner, so I will be getting it soon.  The good thing is it is also a metronome, and it has two different types of tuning methods in it.  One will play a tone for you to tune your instrument to, and the other will tell you what note you are playing and if you are sharp or flat.  I’ll use his suggestion on letting someone else use the device when I play and letting me know if I am sharp or flat or not.  My mother does have a Yamaha Concert Grand piano, so I may very well take my saxophone over to her house and have her play some notes that I can then play along in tune with as well.

The other item I ran across is ear training programs.  When I was younger I took ear training in Theory classes, so I know pretty much how it works.  I’m going to start this up again to help develop my ear better, as I’m sure it will only help.  I’m going to look over a few programs that offer this and will post which program I like best later on.