To learn to play the saxophone?

[Whatisthisfuckery]

Hi all, my AIBU is as the title suggests. I want to learn to play the sax. I’m a guitar player of about 25 years but have been in love with the idea of learning the sax, more specifically the soprano sax since I was 12. I understand that the soprano sax needs some serious skill so it’s better to start with alto.

Are there any sax players here who can give me some tips? What is a good instrument to buy? Whether it’s worth having a punt on a second hand one off the internet? Things I need to know but might not have thought of etc?

Thanks in advance.

I used to play the sax when I was younger. You can pick up a used one on eBay or Guntree for about £100 ish.
If you don’t have any experience with woodwind instruments I would recommend some lessons though, to get your technique right. I imagine it would be quite hard to teach yourself.

Hi, I don;t think there's too much difference in difficulty between the different types of sax. Altos tend to be cheapest, so that's probably why most people start out on that. I would go to a music shop which sells second hand and have a look around. Yamaha do good entry level instruments if you're wanting newish. I'd avoid anything unbranded as it tends to be poor quality and made in China.

If you can find an older Conn, Elkhart or Buescher then these are very nice instruments. If you'll be having lessons I would ask if the teacher can advise you. My old teacher from when I took lessons as a teenager, found me a beautiful 1960s Conn alto for a decent price.

I took up the alto sax aged 54. Then couple of years later bought a tenor. Fifty nine this year and loving it

I originally bought a student sax from gear 4 music which did the job But after a year wanted somethjng better so bought a Yamaha from local music store.

I had lessons for three years which I really recommend. The teacher I had also taught at schools so was able to sell on my first sax, Also through her I joined a band lesson she runs which puts on a concert every term. Playing with others really helped my sight reading

With the tenor I bought an eBay bargain which was great but once I knew I would stick to it bought a better one, my local store had closed so I had to go to Bristol. Shop was headwind and the guys there were brilliant.

I would say If at all possible go to a music shop and try out a few as they do vary quite a lot.

A good forum is cafe sax. Lots of nice people on there to help

You tube has loads of play alongs and there is a great range of books out there with cds you first listen to then play along to backing tracks

Feel free to ask anything and good luck

I learned to play alto sax in my 30s. If you can play a descant recorder it's really easy to pick up as the fingering is pretty much the same.

Never tried a soprano so I can't speak for them but found a tenor very unwieldy and difficult.

As you say, soprano is meant to be harder to play for a novice than an alto or tenor. I wouldn't discount the idea of a tenor, arguably marginally more useful to play popular (soul, discount, rock) music in a gigging band.

I wouldn't buy any brand new instrument unless you have the budget to buy a decent professional instrument. Unfortunately, there is no link between using the vendor using the word 'pro' in the description and it being any use. If you have the budget for a decent, new professional instrument, to me that would be Yanagisawa, Selmer, Yamaha (Yamaha's does usually genuinely describe it's professional level properly). Most other new instruments may never be good enough to learn on, play in tune and might never be good enough to gig with.

If it were me, I would buy the best second hand instrument you can afford but you will need advice. As a PP has said, the right/good vintage Conn, Buescher, SML, selmer, Martin will sound better than almost all new saxes. If you don't know a good player for advice then I would seek a good local tutor first and explain you want to buy an instrument if they don't have one to hire then seek their advice to buy a good second hand instrument. The other advantage of buying a good second hand instrument is that you probably would be able to sell it for about how much you paid unless you overpay.

I wouldn't use one of the rent to buy schemes for new instruments as these usually involve instruments that won't be good enough for you.

If you're already a guitar player then you'll be part way there already. I think it's harder to go from a single note instrument to a guitar/piano/playing in a band than the other way.

cafesax (If Pete Thomas? is still involved then he's a great chap in my experience) is a good forum as a PP has said. saxontheweb is one of the biggest and best.

Welcome to the world of mouthpieces, ligatures, reeds, microphones and everything that affects tone a little.

Good luck.

DH took up the saxophone at 50 with no previous musical experience at all.

He went straight to tenor - I think he just felt that as a man the size suited him better.

For the first 3 months he rented a second hand instrument from a local music shop. It was a bit crappy but inexpensive and gave him the chance to see how he would get on and organize a few lessons before investing more in an instrument. Eventually he bought a new Yamaha and is still using it 12 years later quite happily.

Lessons are a must I would say.

BTW I do know someone who went straight to soprano sax but she had played the clarinet for several years so maybe it wasn't quite such a big learning curve.

@Whatisthisfuckery

Guitar player here too.

As far as the sax is concerned, you just know you have to!!

Thanks all for your advice. There is a very reputable music shop near me that specializes in saxophones. I think I’ll give them a call and see what they’ve got. I know they do carry some second hand models but it just depends what they’ve got in at the time.

I’m a bit reluctant to buy off the net as I have no idea what I’m doing. Having experience of guitars, which arguably are much easier to inspect, well, for me at least, being a guitarist, I’m well aware of dodgy sellers and the crap they will try to palm off on the unsuspecting buyer.

I intend to get some lessons, for a while at least, just to get a handle on technique etc. Lessons are rather pricey so I’ll need to get the most out of them.

I won’t be able to read music because I can’t see, but it’s never stopped me before. I have a very rudimentary understanding of theory which I’ll need to brush up on, but I’ve always learned by ear, or tutorials off the net, so I’m sure there’ll be plenty for me to go at. I’d like to join a band if I can learn to play to a passable standard.