Learning by ear vs by reading, which should I approach or do I do both?

(playing two months)

-Pedro, Houston

My response:

I strongly recommend doing both from the beginning.

Personally, I started by focusing on reading. However, that meant I did not become comfortable learning music by ear until later. It can also hold you back to not be able to read.

Really, it’s similar to a language, do you want to be able to speak or read a language? Or both?

There is a lot of music that is written down that you can read. And you can often get very methodical books that allow you to progress systematically in a structured way. That approach is a lot harder to find if you do not read.

At the same time, there is far more recorded music than written music. So you can learn anything you can hear if you can learn by ear. You also can hear more than is written down.

Both of these approaches help you play music better.

In almost all cases for a language or music, you probably should do both.

Talked with Bob today on Sax Station, he was looking for an oldie tune by Big Jay McNeely. So I went and listened to it and also checked if I could find some sheet music being sold. Found a recording, but not sheet music. I have heard of the sax player, but it’s not an incredibly popular tune, at least currently.

I asked about learning it by ear. And heard an excuse, then the truth came out.

Bob
Looking for tenor sheet music for There is Something pm Your Mind by Big Jay McNeely

Neal Battaglia
it might exist, but I’m not sure
might have to learn it from the recording

Bob
my hearing is not what it use to be, so that may not work for me
Neal Battaglia
how much music have you learned by ear?

Bob
zero

Neal Battaglia
so, the problem isn’t your hearing
it’s that you haven’t done it before
I’m listening now
you want to learn the sax part or the vocals?

Bob
sax part

Neal Battaglia
the background part or the solo?

Bob
both

Neal Battaglia
The background part doesn’t seem too complicated
you could try to play along and see if you can figure it out
or you could pay for help if you want

Bob
thanks, very popular song and thought someone would have

Neal Battaglia
maybe someone does
you could keep looking
but I would just learn it by ear

Just wondering what notes to play for the Jr, Walker song called, “What does it take to win your love”.

Have issues playing it on an alto sax.

(Playing On and off about around 5 yrs)

-Dino

My response:

https://saxstation.com/listen-play-saxophone

Hi Neal,

Me and friend are both learning the Saxophone he has a Tenor and I have Alto. I know the Tenor Sax is in Bb and the Alto is in Eb and the fingering shapes for both are the same, but of course the note that comes out of each are different based on their different tunings.

However when playing down either sax its says both are BAG FED on most of the fingering charts I have seen. Which applies to both tenor and alto yet the sax  is not playing BAG FED it’s something else.

So why is it called BAG FED if that’s not what is coming out of the Sax?

I know the tenor is in Bb and the Alto is in Eb but if we both play a B we both get a different notes.

So why is it BAG FED on both fingering charts ?

And does this apply to scales for example if I was playing the C scale on a alto would the tenor be playing a different scale to me to be in tune to my alto sax ?

Very confused about this 🙂

-Samantha

My response:

You are correct with some of the things you noticed, all saxophones basically have the same fingering system. That makes it easier to switch between them without relearning a new system. However, since they are different sizes and not all saxophones are exactly octaves apart, the notes are different.

There were some saxophones made in the key of C (concert) like the C melody, but they ended up not being as popular as the Eb and Bb saxophones. For whatever reasons, people seem to like the tenor, alto, soprano, and baritone saxophones more than the other saxophone types.

If a saxophone is in Bb or Eb, none of the notes are the same as the notes for piano/guitar/flute/trombone/other ‘concert’ instruments’.

And the notes for alto and tenor saxophones even if written the same are not really the same. This system does make it easy to read music even if you switch between types of saxophone.

If you play a C scale on alto, you’re really playing an Eb concert scale which is an F scale for tenor. C and F are a fourth apart. All scales if you play the same note names on an alto and a tenor will be a fourth apart. So you could think in terms of concert pitch and determine what they are.

-Neal