You might hear a song and be able to play it instantly on your sax.
Or you could sit at the piano and then write out scores of music.
Maybe you play a little by ear in a blues band and then pick up an oboe for orchestra.
Learning saxophone isn’t a one size fits all activity. Eldon was talking about language being similar, so I thought about what he said for a minute.
So try out different ways of learning sax and music. Through experiment, you’ll figure out a ‘method’ or combination of things that work for you.
And keep trying out new ideas.
Playing etudes, using a metronome, listening, transcribing, jamming, learning harmony, working on your parts, there are many ways of learning.
Just because another player learns in one way doesn’t mean it will be the best method for you.
Figure out what works for you.
Leave a comment with your favorite way to learn saxophone, thanks!
Hey Neal,
My favourite way of practising (at the moment) is playing along with pieces as far as possible – maybe starting off trying to play the root notes of each bar to get an idea of the chord progression and then playing scales and chords over the top. Then it’s easier to figure out what harmonisations sound good with the melody.
Thanks for the mention!
– E
Hey Neal, Like I said before, I played in school and was class of 82 so it’s been a while for me.I love to practice and play things that I know. Just makes me feel good to be able to hammer out something that sounds good.I do work on the fundimentals as well before I play my intrest.I find that if I work first then I get some satisfaction at the end of the hard work.I tend to be more of a sheet reader and I guess what you would refer to as a mechanical player,but I really want to learn how to play by ear. Let me know how or if you can help in this matter and hope to play along side some of you soon!
Hey Pete,
Sounds like you’re pretty much on the right track. Start by learning some simple things by ear- melodies esp. ballads, you’ll notice all the little things within the music when you don’t worry about a ton of notes and complicated rhythms.
-Neal
I was more or less a mockingbird, I would hear a sound I liked and imitate it. The problem was I got really into Stan Getz and kept trying to do what I thought was that super cool subtone. It took a long while (and a few angry instructors) to teach me the whole ‘time and place’ thing.
The problem with that is I was imitating sounds and not learning the fundamentals necessary to play with anyone. I kept running into “You sound good, but you’re all over the place.” It’s much harder to go backwards than it is to learn it from the ground up.
I think a good number of young musicians play what they like to hear and sometimes it doesn’t fit in context.
If you were able to get a subtone like Stan Getz that would be cool. Tone is certainly one of the fundamentals, but it’s not the only one.
-Neal