Saxophone progress

Saxophone has gotten a lot easier now that I'm used to the differences in the fingerings.  First, a few notes (ha!) on dynamics.  I’m getting better at having the control to play quietly, but it’s easier on some parts of the range than others. (I don’t know if the saxophone has names for the different sections as the clarinet does. The clarinet is known for how its registers each have a different sound, so maybe that’s why they have different names. That's something to research.) The notes that only use less than half of the saxophone (G to C#) are a lot harder to play quietly. Mrs. Harvison referred to a “change in air pressure” when I try to play quietly, probably especially in this range. When more of the saxophone is used, as in the D to G above the staff, dynamics require as much control as I am comfortable using on the higher registers on the clarinet now. Maybe a little more. The notes above a G above the staff become harder again.

The 20-minute attempt to get the mouthpiece to work (long story.)

I’m also having trouble getting in tune. It could be the instrument, or the fact that I’m not using the mouthpiece made for my particular instrument. It’s a lot more than knowing to lip the pitch up a bit when I’m playing higher - it’s really flat. And being flat (as opposed to being sharp) is really annoying since it’s harder to fix. I’m going to have trouble recording myself if I can’t play in tune! Today I'll be picking up another instrument at Bethel Music Center (Route 7 won't have any until tomorrow) just so I can have a half-decent instrument.  After all, as Allie and Mrs. Harvison say, big student instruments have a bad reputation.  I plan on being a saxophonist in band on Tuesday.  Yay, pep band!

Finally, I got the score for "Down a Country Lane" a few weeks ago and copied all of the parts into a PDF document.  I'll have to cover parts for instruments I'm not playing (ie. play the bassoon part on bass clarinet), so I created a list of instruments I'll have to record more than once.  This will also test my transposing skills.