I practiced my saxophone tonight and I decided to try a 2.5 reed. Up until now I had been using a 2.0 and wow.

I can tell the difference. My mouth got tired faster, but I think my sound was better overall.

I'm doing better on the lip slurs. I noticed that I'm especially doing better when going from high notes to low notes, which used to be hard for me to do without going into the wrong register or "honking."

I'm really gratified to see the progress.

I don't practice as often as I should, but I'm still determined to get competent on this instrument. And I still like it, which is awesome.

#LearningTheSaxophone

I practiced my saxophone tonight for the first time in a while. I did pretty well, for not having touched the instrument for so long.

I got a book to keep my loose music sheets in - it's just a collection of sheet protectors inside a cover with music printed on it. I could have probably made something suitable with a thin binder and a bunch of page protectors. But I liked this one and I got it as a treat. It sparked joy.

Tonight I put my loose music in there and it worked pretty well! I did not get any glare off of the sheet protectors while I was playing, which was nice.

I played until my mouth felt weak and my bottom lip was a little sore. I'm pleased that I remembered how much of the mouthpiece to use - my transition from high notes back to low notes is a lot better!

I had a good time and I hope I can get back to doing this regularly.

#LearningTheSaxophone

Last night I recorded myself playing the sax a little bit. I did NOT want to do it, and it was stressful! But my aunt suggested I do it so I can see later how much progress I make as I go.

She's right. The good news is, there is a LOT of room for improvement so the next video will probably show a big difference.

I played a little bit of Too Sweet, Someone You Loved, and Beautiful Things. Next time I will probably do the same bits just to see if I can tell a difference (which like I said, that should happen). I probably won't do this again for at least a month.

#LearningTheSaxophone

We practiced the saxophone again last night, and I love that time with my son. And I think I figured out something important! I think I get a better sound when I use a little more of the mouthpiece than I had been. It also helps with that issue I was having when transitioning from high notes to low notes. It is not an issue going from G to high D, but going back I would always have issues on the return to G. I would either be an octave too high (without using the register key) or I would squeak.

With more of the mouthpiece, that seems like it's working a lot better.

I had a really long day yesterday. I didn't even leave work until after 7 (my usual time is 4:30). I thought I was too tired to practice, and he was reluctant too, but we did it anyway. I am really glad we did, because we both had a good time. My son started out lethargic and a little put out about having his very important Hyrule Warriors game interrupted, but by the end of our session he was enthusiastic. And later in the evening he was downright bubbly.

I am really glad I made what I thought was an irresponsible purchase at the time. I am really enjoying playing an instrument again.

#LearningTheSaxophone

The kiddo and I practiced our saxophones on Thursday. We missed Tuesday because I was on a work trip, but Thursday was fun. He's already better than I remember being about reading all the parts of musical notation. I mean, I know what a crescendo and a decrescendo are, and I know what "ff" and "pp" indicate. I know staccato and legato. But he is much better at reading all of that correctly on his first playthrough. Meanwhile, I'm trying to make sure I have the rhythm right before I mess around with the rest of it.

I'm so proud of him. He's really done a good job learning how to read and play music.

We'll get back on our regular practice schedule this week. Even though I was 1st or 2nd chair during my junior high and high school years, I don't remember practicing during the summers. He's going to be in much better shape going back this fall than I ever was.

#LearningTheSaxophone

I did it! Tonight I practiced my alto saxophone for about 30 minutes.

My son is so amusing when he gets to be an instructor. I can tell that his teacher made an impression on him. We started out with reviewing the first few notes in the beginner book, and he checked my fingering on every note. Then he had me play the each note, then he counted the beats while I played some practice exercises.

He absolutely knew what he wanted to cover and he was very confident in his instructions.

He's not shy about pointing out when I miss something. For example, I did not play a quarter note long enough. It was the last note of the tune and I didn't play the "and" (the last eighth of the measure).

He told me that I did well, but to remember to play the notes as written and don't end early. I just KNOW he was told that at some point during the semester. I'm glad it sank in.

It probably sounds like it wasn't fun, but I had a blast. I did better than I expected, and it was cool to play music with my son.

#LearningTheSaxophone

I played my saxophone today for the first time in a while. I definitely need to get back to playing it every day, or at least every other day. I really like it. Today I played Auld Lang Syne, which I realized too late I could have played last night. Next year!

I tried out some of the new books I got, I used my new padded neck strap, and I used a brand spankin' new reed.

I am pleased with my sight-reading. Less pleased that I've lost ground on the cutover transitions I don't know if that's really what they are called, but going from a high note to a low note is causing squeaks again because I'm not adjusting my mouth correctly. I used to be better, so I just need to practice more regularly.

I played that song from 3 Men and a Baby (Goodnight Sweetheart) and I liked how it sounded. I played a little of The Pink Panther - that one is probably better on tenor sax.

One of my books has a really weird error in it, which makes me look at the rest of that book with suspicion. It attributes "Last Christmas" to Lennon and McCartney. Buh?

It's probably a copy-and-paste error. There were other songs in that book that were legitimately by John and Paul.

Anyway, it was good to play and I look forward to doing more of it.

#LearningTheSaxophone

I got two new books of saxophone music, a new padded neck strap, a metronome, and some reeds (the nice smooth ones) for Christmas.

And I have not played my sax yet!

I was on a "don't lift anything more than 5 pounds" restriction for a few days, and since I was not sure how heavy the sax (in the case) was, I just played it safe and left it alone.

I'm released from restrictions now and am excited about getting everything set up so I can play.

It means a lot to me that The Husband bought me these things for Christmas. I know it can't be fun to have a spouse learning the saxophone in our smallish house, but he does not complain.

#LearningTheSaxophone

I am absolutely obsessed with Hozier's song "Too Sweet." That's going on the list of "Songs I want to play on the saxophone." I think I have listened to it more than 100 times this weekend.

I have not been practicing my sax as much as I should have this week, but I did get it out yesterday and that went very well. I went back to my old mouthpiece and was happy with how I sounded.

I played so much that I got tired. I was standing, so I think that makes a difference. I can't help dancing a little when I play something I enjoy.

I was playing in the bedroom with the door shut, but it's a saxophone and our house is not big. What I'm saying is my family could hear me. My son told me later that it had sounded really good, and I think he meant it! I love how encouraging he is (and since he's honest to a fault, I know it's genuine).

I'm going to try to make time each evening this week to play a little. I will never get to the point I want to be until I get my embouchure in shape.

#LearningTheSaxophone

I got my new saxophone mouthpiece tonight and my first impression is that I do not love it. I'm going to keep giving it a chance - I might need to adjust where I have the ligature, maybe I didn't wet the reed enough, maybe there is something else I can adjust.

Here's what I didn't like: It buzzed. My notes were not clear, they were buzzy. Almost like having spit in the mouthpiece that was garbling the tone.

I mean, it might be "operator error." I'll try it a few more times. But I'm disappointed that it wasn't awesome right out of the box.

It could be that most of the (very good!) reviews I read were based on school kids and not adult-sized players. Maybe mouth size makes a difference here.

I have a few other styles on my list to try. I don't know that I'll spring for any of them soon - I may just hand that list off to folks who are looking for Christmas gift ideas for me.

The experiments will continue.

#LearningTheSaxophone