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| Did you originally start on Saxophone? |
| Yes |
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26% |
[ 8 ] |
| No |
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46% |
[ 14 ] |
| I was born with a sax in my hand! |
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26% |
[ 8 ] |
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| Total Votes : 30 |
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 Posted: Sun Jan 06, 2008 12:45 am
I'm currently some year in college (it's complicated to tell which one exactly, but I've been here for a little bit ;P). I've played the sax ever since 6th grade. My friends and I came up with this concept that you don't choose the instrument—the instrument chooses you. I agree with that a lot. If I hadn't been selected to play the sax, I probably wouldn't have gone so far in my music career.
The saxophone is my passion, my art. I don't get to be in band anymore because I work full time, but I still like to mess around when I have the time. I have one and a half altos (marching band is hard on saxes >.>;;; ), a YAS23 and a YAS62 <3. I also have a purple soprano... I forget the brand (obviously it's not good enough to be recalled =P). I've played them all in band, and I also spent two separate years on Bari in Jazz. I played it in 9th grade, and then last year in our college Jazz band which was an extremely awesome experience.
I can also play the flute, clarinet, piano, guitar, and recorder (a neon green one at that =O ). All I can say is that I don't think I would have enjoyed life as much if it weren't for band and music in general. The people and performances truly make it special.
If I could offer one piece of advice, it would be to go as far as you can. No matter how much trouble or effort it is, being in band is an irreplaceable experience. I wish I could share it with everyone, but then it wouldn't be so special rofl
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Posted: Sun Jan 06, 2008 8:00 am
I'm currently in my Freshman year of High School but i've sorta played the sax since 7th grade..my 7th grade year i wasn't very good because i didnt practice..i was actually quite shocked that i joined band because i really wasnt expecting it to be what it really is..My friend that actually dropped out of band,and ditched the class quite a bit, is the one who got me to join band..and I still thank him to this very day..
I chose the saxophone because of my sister, she was my role model back then, and she played the saxophone just great, if it wasnt for her i probably wouldnt have joined band or even played the saxophone if i did join band..
Ever since I joined band the saxophone has been my passion..my 8th grade year i didnt get to be in band (and since i wasnt in band i didnt get to play the sax since it was the schools) because i wanted to be a computer class T.A. (well that turned out to be the worst mistake of my life- I didnt get to enjoy playing the saxophone and the teacher that i was a ta for was a real B****)
This year I had told myself I have to get back into band..i really like the saxophone and i need to commit myself to it..at the end of my 8th grade year the BD came to me and told me "I need you back in band..you are the only Tenor I have had and i understand that you are not in band this year because your a TA but i need you in band next year..oh and if your in band next year I also want you in Marching Band the Following year"..thats when the saxophone became my passion..
Towards the end of my 8th grade year we got to choose our classes for high school..we were only allowed to pick 6 classes..luckily we had to choose a fine art (and band was a fine art) so i chose band over learning spanish,french,and even a elective..I was very pleased because even though they had put me in Beginning band again it was my chance to review..
Now this year..The first day of school i show up to the Beginning band class the Band Director asked me "what are you doing in this class?" so I responded "i wanted to be in band" he said "well i understand that but why are you in Beginning band again?" I told him" I have no clue this is just the class they put me in" thats when he said "well do you want to be in beginning band and review or be in intermediate and move up?" by the time i went to tell him "I wanted to be in intermediate band" he had told me "well you can still join intermediate band but you would have alot of catching up to do we're already have way through the book" (this is only 2 weeks into the school year -b4 we actually got to choose our instruments)..thats when i responded "well ok..ill stay in this class just for review"
Now that we're done with the first book (its the fastest beginning class hes had) we're going to start the intermediate book Monday (tomorrow) so actually staying in the class payed off because im going to get to be in intermediate anyway..at the end of the first quarter he had asked me "Will you be in Marching Band next year" I pratically started to cry because it has been one of my goals since the 7th grade and responded "id love to its been one of my goals" he responded "i know thats why i asked you"..
at that very moment i decided i will practice double the amount of time we have to in order to pass the class..
now i have the highest grade in band that includes beginning band, intermediate band,advanced band, Marching band, and even Jazz band...the grade i have is around a 120%..now that this transformation (from pure lazy not even wanting to be in band to Commited to band and totally not wanting to give up band one year out of my high school carrer-being a band geek)..band is my life...every time i get a chance i practice the saxophone..that is all i talk about..and at the 1st quarter of the year he gave me a 2 1/2 instead of a 2...at the end of the semester he told me he couldnt provide them but i need them to upgrade to a 3 inch reed... it has only been a semester and i have improved a whole inch in a reed size
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Posted: Sun Jan 06, 2008 8:46 pm
sup all the bari sax players.im zach ive played bari sax for three years and i can also play the alto.send me a pm if you want to talk.
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Posted: Mon Jan 07, 2008 2:46 pm
Omg, why must the Altos always out-populate us outrageously shmexy Tenors?? D8
Haha, just messin' with ya, Altos. (There's a constant and still ongoing 'war' between the T's and A's at my high school. ^w^)
So's yeah. My name is Marina Ramos. I'm a senior in high school. I started out on Alto (heh) about four years ago but I never really took to the instrument. It always just felt to...light. So, I had been taking strictly private lessons from Music Village here in San Jose, CA; and my senior year I did something most would consider quite stupid.
Firstly, I joined Band in my last year. The director put me in Symphonic, taking mercy on me by not placing me in Concert (a.k.a. Freshman Band.) Not only did I take this, but I also decided to join Marching Band. Oh, and on top of that, the summer before I joined I switched to Tenor. Now, usually a whole summer full of practicing and weekly lessons would be plenty to get me ready for MB Camp, but I sort of traveled. Um, a lot, that summer and I barely got used to the new 'breed' when I was thrown headfirst into learning drills and technique and HAVING TO MEMORIZE MY FREAKIN' MUSIC! D8
Yeah, I was thrust into a whole new world (teehee, Aladdin) called Band, and I hadn't the first clue how to count or what the heck an arpeggio was!? I'd only ever played very easy solo music (John Williams, and Disney type tunes) and Band was just a whole new experience for me.
Luckily, I had a tight little section (Six Tenors, including me and our section leader; lol) and everyone was really helpful and supportive.
Haha, actually, I became somewhat of a celebrity just based on the fact that I was a senior and it was my first year in a band of any kind.
We did pretty well. We went to the Bands of America Regional Championships in LA, which was SO MUCH FUN! Unfortunately we were put into classes based by school size rather than band size, which put our relatively small band of about 100 members into a competition with 250-350 person bands (my school has 2500+ students, so we were at a major disadvantage). Sadly, as hard as we worked and as cool as our show was (in my opinion) we didn't make finals.
Wow, this is really long. xD I was just thinking, "Wow, why are people's little storied so dang long", but uh...yeah, I guess I shouldn't talk... ^^;
Aand, here's pictures of me and my beautiful Tenor. And um...his name's Nostradamus. x3 Oh my, I am turnig into such a Bando... ((I'm in between the guy on the end *closest to the photographer* and the girl with long blonde hair reading off my music *who is one of my MarchingBand Tenor Buddies*.))
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Posted: Mon Jan 07, 2008 5:50 pm
Well i started to play the tenor. Its a very huge instrument but i like it>
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Posted: Mon Jan 07, 2008 5:58 pm
I play Alto and Bari. I'm about to play Tenor hopefully. I don't know I like being first chair Alto, but playing Tenor or even Bari again would be nice.
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Posted: Mon Jan 07, 2008 6:44 pm
I HATE CLAIRINET ITS SOOOOOOOOOOO BOARING! I play alto sax and drums. heart mrgreen
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Posted: Mon Jan 07, 2008 7:28 pm
bari sax rocks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Posted: Tue Jan 08, 2008 4:40 pm
Hallo, people of the saxophones. I've been wondering, but is there a certain technique to playing low notes at a normal tempo? I'm never able to do low scales in class (Advanced Band) and I wanna play some of the low notes in Jazz Band.
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Posted: Tue Jan 08, 2008 5:38 pm
Does anyone play the baritone sax????
I really want to! Looks like much fun!
xp heheh
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Posted: Tue Jan 08, 2008 7:53 pm
Attempt At Perfection Hallo, people of the saxophones. I've been wondering, but is there a certain technique to playing low notes at a normal tempo? I'm never able to do low scales in class (Advanced Band) and I wanna play some of the low notes in Jazz Band. actually im only in beginning band for my second year but technically i should be in advanced so ill go ahead and let you know what my band director always tells me...if your playing low notes and want to play them more at say a faster speed practice (the scale or w/e it is) over and over until you get it then increase the speed..do you have a metronome? they have really helped me..oh and if a metronome wouldnt work i would say (if you walk fast) act like you were marching therefore your marching/walking keeps you on beat but you can also speed it up if you want to..
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Posted: Tue Jan 08, 2008 7:56 pm
Who Plays Tenor Sax..ive heard many people say they play alto or bari but i want to know who plays tenor cuz im having problems with my low notes..and it veries from sax to sax..i mean i drop my jaw and everything its just that theres times that i can get to middle C and times that i cant..as of right now middle c is the lowest note i know..but my problem is that my band director has heard me get to middle c b4 and he'll ask me to play that scale and i cant get as low as i need to..does anyone have any advice??
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Posted: Tue Jan 08, 2008 11:20 pm
Blue Roses 3 Attempt At Perfection Hallo, people of the saxophones. I've been wondering, but is there a certain technique to playing low notes at a normal tempo? I'm never able to do low scales in class (Advanced Band) and I wanna play some of the low notes in Jazz Band. actually im only in beginning band for my second year but technically i should be in advanced so ill go ahead and let you know what my band director always tells me...if your playing low notes and want to play them more at say a faster speed practice (the scale or w/e it is) over and over until you get it then increase the speed..do you have a metronome? they have really helped me..oh and if a metronome wouldnt work i would say (if you walk fast) act like you were marching therefore your marching/walking keeps you on beat but you can also speed it up if you want to.. Oh, okay. I'll try that. Thanks for the help. biggrin
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Posted: Wed Jan 09, 2008 3:27 am
Blue Roses 3 Who Plays Tenor Sax..ive heard many people say they play alto or bari but i want to know who plays tenor cuz im having problems with my low notes..and it veries from sax to sax..i mean i drop my jaw and everything its just that theres times that i can get to middle C and times that i cant..as of right now middle c is the lowest note i know..but my problem is that my band director has heard me get to middle c b4 and he'll ask me to play that scale and i cant get as low as i need to..does anyone have any advice?? it depends on how much of the mouth piece you have in your mouth, i found that the lower you have to get the more mouthpiece you need in your mouth(that sounds really wrong)what size reed do you play on? -tenor sax playa-
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Posted: Wed Jan 09, 2008 8:14 am
Attempt At Perfection Blue Roses 3 Attempt At Perfection Hallo, people of the saxophones. I've been wondering, but is there a certain technique to playing low notes at a normal tempo? I'm never able to do low scales in class (Advanced Band) and I wanna play some of the low notes in Jazz Band. actually im only in beginning band for my second year but technically i should be in advanced so ill go ahead and let you know what my band director always tells me...if your playing low notes and want to play them more at say a faster speed practice (the scale or w/e it is) over and over until you get it then increase the speed..do you have a metronome? they have really helped me..oh and if a metronome wouldnt work i would say (if you walk fast) act like you were marching therefore your marching/walking keeps you on beat but you can also speed it up if you want to.. Oh, okay. I'll try that. Thanks for the help. biggrin no problem it worked for me so why not pass it on to others..
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