Recorder -> Sax?

[crobc]

Hi:

I played alto sax not seriously in junior high. I regret not taking it seriously, because even then, and profoundly so now, I appreciated music. Now I wish I could put the constant melodies that my mind cranks out into real airborne notes.

I also have a 3.5 year old daughter, and have become convinced that music should be as serious a component of her education as the 3 R's. We plan to send her to piano school. My research about this inspired me to consider playing again myself. So I bought the whole family recorders. Mine is alto. I opted against tenor since I didn't know how serious I'd be and wanted to minimize the expense until I was sure. I had to weigh that against fingering issues, since I would have preferred to have a tenor so it would finger the same as my wife and kid's descants. But I opted to save $27 and get an alto.

When I began playing I discovered that the fingering is much harder than I recall about the sax, mainly because my 42 year old hands get achy trying to reach the left 3 hole to play C, and the instrument is extremely fussy about having the holes covered fully. Now I know why they invented padded keyes. I find myself struggling with physical constraints along with getting the right notes. But I am having loads of fun playing music again, and I love nitty-gritty technical stuff like practicing getting the notes real clear and sharp.

This immediately made me consider getting a sax again and playing that. Of course, a sax is a bit more $$$ than a plastic recorder, so I don't want to do this unless I have some confidence I'll stick with it.

But another consideration is to avoid wasting time. I noticed the fingering for alto sax is more like the descant than the also recorder. Thus, my main longer-term concern is not $$$, since I can afford a sax if I really want one, but that I don't want to invest a year learning to finger the alto recorder, then decide to get a sax and find that the recorder fingering memory trips up my sax re-learning process.

Should I just move to the sax for this reason?

My other reasons for the sax are that I consider it to be a relatively easy instrument to play basically. I don't recall struggling much to play it in school--I mean-- just to hit the notes that weren't at the extremes of the range. Compared to clarinet or brasses, I think it's a better choice for someone who doesn't want to be too restrained by technique issues when they'd rather focus on music theory and basics. There is also the piano, but I feel I'd like to play a horn more. Though I am somewhat drawn to the piano's polyphony.

My favorite sounding instrument is actually the oboe. But I just don't think that a busy dad with 15-30 minutes a day to play should do an oboe.

Thank you for your comments.

Good day!

 

[Dave Dolson]

Crobc: Welcome aboard. I fear responses will be too subjective, and mine will certainly be that.

True, the open-hole nature of some woodwinds makes the clarity of playing more difficult. But believe me, it can be mastered. Clarinet is a huge challenge for many of us, but the results are rewarding.

But your question centered on saxophone. I say go for it. Once you learn the instrument (or re-learn in your case), the opportunities for playing, especially in ensembles, is much greater than with a recorder.

I'll go a bit further and advise you to 1) buy a good saxophone, not based on price but on reputation; 2) hire a teacher to help you in selecting one and then learning it properly.

And by all means, feel free to request suggestions from us, or to corroborate your teacher's advice. DAVE

 

[pete]

STANDARD DISCLAIMER = ON

The sax is a very easy instrument to play ... poorly. It's relatively easy to get a sound out of a sax, in comparison to, say, an oboe, but it's still difficult to play well.

I'm often reminded of the scene in Ferris Bueller's Day Off where he's playing the clarinet and he says he's self-taught. Yah. We all noticed that.

Then again, I could also say that the recorder is easy to play. It's difficult to play well.

In any event, lessons on any instrument will create a better player.

If'n you just wanna fool around with it, it makes no difference what you play. All instruments have some degree of fun.

STANDARD DISCLAIMER = OFF

Now, if you want to get a saxophone to noodle around with, I recommend renting a Yamaha sax for a school semester -- I know you're not in school, but that's how they rent. First, a Yamaha is a really decent horn to learn or relearn on and rental fees may not be all that much. Check out a local store.

FWIW, while there are professional recorder players, it's probably easier to find a job playing something different, which is why I'm happy you're sending your kid to piano school. My 5-year-old went to her first vocal lesson and did well, but it's been recommended that she go to a different teacher that does more in the way of kinesthetics. I didn't know there even was such a vocal class.

 

[crobc]

STANDARD DISCLAIMER = ON

The sax is a very easy instrument to play ... poorly. It's relatively easy to get a sound out of a sax, in comparison to, say, an oboe, but it's still difficult to play well.

I'm often reminded of the scene in Ferris Bueller's Day Off where he's playing the clarinet and he says he's self-taught. Yah. We all noticed that.

Then again, I could also say that the recorder is easy to play. It's difficult to play well.

In any event, lessons on any instrument will create a better player.

If'n you just wanna fool around with it, it makes no difference what you play. All instruments have some degree of fun.

STANDARD DISCLAIMER = OFF

Now, if you want to get a saxophone to noodle around with, I recommend renting a Yamaha sax for a school semester -- I know you're not in school, but that's how they rent. First, a Yamaha is a really decent horn to learn or relearn on and rental fees may not be all that much. Check out a local store.

Thanks to all who replied, BTW.

Renting for a period is a pretty good idea. What might be ideal for me is a lesson arrangement once/2weeks or once/month. That would be workable against my family schedule which is priority. Then I could figure out how seriously I want to do it. I tend to do things like this for purely personal enjoyment, rather than with the plan to perform. I took up figure skating in college, never competed, but got quite good for a while considering my age. I still do it now for exercise and fun. I can't live without it.

But my inspiration to learn music is a bit different than was the case with skating. I remember getting awestruck by watching an elite skater, and thinking "I absolutely must be able do that!"

With music I have less inspiration to learn, but a longstanding deep appreciation. I have been playing my recorder now for 5 nights straight, and always play longer than I feel like I want to when I start.

I should give myself a month on the recorder, which is about the time it takes for the typical obsession to buy something to wear off, then see if I'm still into it and whether to get back on the sax.

There are some tempting saxes for sale in the area on Craig's list, but I suppose with the economy, there will be no short supply of those for quite some time even if I don't jump now.

FWIW, while there are professional recorder players, it's probably easier to find a job playing something different, which is why I'm happy you're sending your kid to piano school. My 5-year-old went to her first vocal lesson and did well, but it's been recommended that she go to a different teacher that does more in the way of kinesthetics. I didn't know there even was such a vocal class.

The piano I've come to understand is so foundational that it seems to be the most valuable instrument for general musical base learning. If she ever wants to play another instrument, that would be great too. I don't care how serious she is (I mean about becoming a "musician"). It's about having a foundation for her to decide when she's able to make such decisions how serious to be.

 

[pete]

Speaking from a professional educator perspective, I would have loved it if I was "forced" to have taken more piano lessons when I was a kid. Someone always needs a piano player and the ability to play a lead sheet and chords is essentially required in the educator field.

(I lucked out. While I can play some vocal parts -- very, very slowly -- I always had assistants that could play the piano for me.)

Being a piano virtuoso isn't required. Unless, of course, your kid develops an aptitude for it.

Now, when I say "forced", I was: you're taking lessons whether you like it or not. That instantly meant that I didn't like it. It's all in the presentation: "Kidlet, you seem to like singing. I know someone that can give you a couple lessons and we can see if you have some talent. Would you like to give that a try?" That worked with my kid and would have worked with me ... a really, really long time ago .