Saxophone

I was thinking how cool it would be to know how to play it... but I dont know the first thing about them. i seem to recall theres some people here who play. so tell me about this instrument

I don't play, but I love the saxophone. imo its one of the most expressive instruments. I just love it. I remember trying to learn all of the sax (on my guitar) parts in "picking up the pieces" because they were just so cool.

i used to be pretty good at saxophone. i was first chair and everything in high school and i NEVER practiced (aside from the hour or so i spent every day in class --- no extracurricular work).

the thing about it is that you basically HAVE to learn how to read music to play it. i was thinking about that this morning, actually when i had a dream that i bought a saxophone. weird, huh. basically the problem with all woodwind instruments (and brass instruments as well... probably all non-stringed instruments) is that you have to know more about music to play them.

with the guitar you can simply learn the distance between notes and replicate that "pattern" in any key with any set of notes without actually having to know the notes. i can play the major scale, i can play it in 3rds, i can play the 1-3-5 or 1-3-5-7 arpeggios so easily without having to think about it because i know the relative distances. even if i don't know the actual notes.

but take saxophone. let's say i wanted to play a 1-3-5-7 arpeggio in G major (a common first scale for sax).

G is your index, middle, and pinky finger on your left hand
A is index and middle
B is index
C is just middle
D is all three left hand, all three right hand, plus left thumb
E is 3 left, index middle right (plus thumb)
F# is 3 left, middle right plus thumb
and G is 3 left plus thumb (left thumb is an octave key)

okay, so now you know that major scale. now the 1-3-5-7 arpeggio would be G, B, D, F# and then G.

see how confusing this is? NOW, what if you wanted to do the same thing except in the key of Bb? good luck because i'm not typing that all out again. i would have to think about it, figure it out, and write it down before playing it.

this is why you need to be able to read music on the fly (which i don't think i can do as easily anymore)

compare this with guitar. 1-3-5-7 arpeggio in G is the same as it is in Bb, just at a different starting point.

hmm so in order to get different notes you have to push multiple tabs down?

Exactly. It requires a lot of lung strength, too. But GX has pretty much explained all of the requirements.

yeah basically any different combination of keys creates a different note (but not all combinations produce an actual note some of them produce a screech so you have to know which ones are correct!)

also if you play everything open it's C#

but if you get what i'm saying... it's not like you can press one key, then the next key is the next semitone, and the key after that is the next whole tone, like it is with guitar frets.

lung strength maybe, but the part that always got me was my jaw would tire out from forming the "aperture" with your mouth. it probably does require lungh strength but the weird thing is that i cannot run worth a crap because my lungs suck and i run out of breath if i try to run a mile. but i could march in marching band and play sax sooooo i don't know what the deal is.

woodwind instruments are almost all the same, brass instruments... i played trombone for about a year and it was pretty self explanatory. trumpet i don't even know how to play though. there are only three keys but a combination of them plus how much air you blow through can create the 12 notes in the western scale over at least two octaves, sooo.... you figure that one out!

Exactly, saxaphone is probably one of the most versatile and expressive instruments. Also, there are different kinds: Alto, Tenor, Soprano etc. and the down side is that they are very expensive and require a lot of upkeep/cleaning and caring for. However, they are very rewarding.

hmm thanks a ton for the info