Week 2

Hello! This week I decided to research some of the greatest saxophone players. What I found was impressive:

1. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ryNtmkfeJk4

• Charlie Parker is known for his fast tempo and great improvisation skills. Although he lived until only the age of 34, he contributed a lot to American jazz.

2. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PaKH33E7zJM

• Lester Young is a tenor saxophonist known for his "free-floating" style and relaxed tone.

3. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tiI2ZHmxPPo

• In my opinion, this is the most impressive; he can play two saxophones at once! Roland Kirk was known for his improvisation and being able to play two instruments at the same time.

Jazz is by far my favorite type of music to play in band. I love its unique style and rhythms, and above all: improvisations. Although I play in the jazz band as a trombone, I want to learn how to play some solos on saxophone. 

I've also encountered some online quizzes to test how well I've learned the fingerings for different notes. I aced the first couple, but I may need to review my flats and sharps. Other than those, I have most of the notes memorized, which definitely will help me to start to play some of the marching band songs we've performed this year. 

This week I started trying to play some of the basic tunes. So far I've leaned to play Hot Cross Buns (Band kids remember!), Jingle Bells, and a couple of other songs. I think I am progressing well, and will start playing harder songs in the upcoming weeks. In my next post I hope to include a video of myself on the saxophone.

1st Week

The first week was a success (somewhat)! My first couple attempts to play a note on the saxophone went horribly wrong, and involved many high pitched squeaks. However, after several tries I was able to play a note! Although I cannot consistently play without squeaking, I have improved a lot and can now get it right most of the time.

I have also learned several different notes so far on the saxophone. At first it was difficult for me to read treble clef, a certain notation music, because I read the bass clef when I play trombone. After a bit of memorizing, I am now able to recognize which note corresponds to which location on the clef.

When I was able to memorize the notes, I tried to put the fingerings to them. It took a while, but I can now play the seven basic notes: A, B, C, D, E, F, and G. They don't sound the best right now, but over the next few weeks I will work on my intonation in order to get a better sound.

Over the next few weeks I will also learn to play flat notes, which will complete the set notes I will need to know in order to play marching band music. One of the differences between saxophone and trombone is that in order to play higher notes on a saxophone, you have the same fingering and you only have to add one key. I think that this will be helpful for me in the upcoming weeks as I attempt to master the saxophone, because it will be easier for me to remember each note.