"Must Knows" for the Beginning Saxophonist
by Shannon Kennedy
Things that you should have in your case:
What should you have in your case? Your saxophone (I know this sounds
obvious, but I have known kids that forget parts of their saxophone at home
or brought the wrong saxophone case and the sax was in the other case
back at their house), your saxophone neck, a mouthpiece, a ligature, your
ligature/mouthpiece cap, a neckstrap, and 2.5 or size 3 reeds. Make sure
that you keep several GOOD reeds in your case. It is extremely frustrating
for a band director when you break a reed and it was your only one.
I also recommend that you keep a cleaning cloth in your case, something to
store your reeds in, powder paper or a dollar bill to fix sticking pads, and
something to dry out the inside of your neck and mouthpiece after you are
done using them. I also keep electric tape in my sax case for quick fixes and
to put on the top of my mouthpiece to make it more comfortable for my
teeth instead of buying the little plastic stickers.
Playing:
When you play, you should sit up straight and play with your sax between
your legs unless you play tenor or bari, then you should play with your sax
off to right of your legs for support.
You should know the circle of fourths or fifths.
You should be able to read music, know basic rhythms, and how to tongue.
Tonguing is a real issue with young players because they either do not know
how to tongue and attack using just air, or tongue way too hard.
You should be able to recognize that your saxophone is in Eb if you play alto
or tenor, and Bb if you play tenor or soprano. You should also begin being
able to transpose from concert pitch to the key of your instrument and vice
versa.
You should know that Adolf Sax created the saxophone and you should be
able to recognize names of famous sax players such as Charlie Parker,
Cannonball Adderly, and should listen to at least one jazz station
occasionally if not regularly. You should also begin listening to professional
saxophone players and try to emulate what they play and sound like. In
addition, you should be able to recognize names of other important
musicians such as Duke Ellington and Miles Davis.
