Playing saxophone (and music in general) is good for the soul! An old teacher of mine, Gary Stotz, always said that it’s a great antidepressant.
If you’re looking for saxophone lessons in Pacific Grove or Monterey for yourself or your student, I will be teaching this summer. E-mail me at neal (at) saxstation.com (replace the (at) with @ and remove the spaces).
Played in the band while I went to school in Pacific Grove (and jazz band and full orchestra), and took some lessons over the years. At university I continued playing in big band and jazz combo as well as several bands with fellow students. I took some piano lessons too, which I would highly recommend since it lets you see the chords and gives you a much better sense of harmony, etc.
Since it’s so close by, I have almost always gone to the Monterey Jazz Festival. There have been some amazing performances and it makes me want to get better so I can become awesome on sax too.
Playing saxophone isn’t easy, well playing it well isn’t anyway. I suppose you could honk out a note without much effort.
On saxophone, you need to have the right attitude and the intention to play what you want when and how you want it. With the that attitude you still need to find what to practice and how to practice. (got that phrase from a grey-haired sax man). And after you keep at it for a while, you too can rip out a gut-busting sax solo.
I know that I was sometimes in the dark about how to go forward and what musicians to check out.
Let me know how I can help you focus on what you need and what questions you have. And if you’re interested in saxophone lessons, shoot me an email.
