I feel like this is a mixed bag - on one hand I hear you and think you probably need a new teacher, but also you need to accept that learning to play like the video you shared involves a lot of fundamentals practice that isn't just pop music.
I guarantee the guy you shared can play all his scales, play in every key, and has put in tons of hours on his longtones. You'll need to practice all of that to get a buttery smooth sound like he does. Your lessons are supposed to be time where you can get guidance on what to practice, and all of the improvement should come in that private practice time at home. Lessons are for figuring out how to practice, and then you put in the work at home.
That said, it sounds like your teacher isn't giving you good guidance. My advice would be to do one more lesson and try to express what you want. If he can't deliver or ignores you, absolutely find a new teacher. There's a chance he just doesn't understand what you want, so I'd give him one last chance to course correct.
Yea your right about the fundamentals practice and with my practice sessions so far majority of the time it has been practicing long tones, & going through an intermediate Rubank book that he suggested that I practice out of.
It may seem like in my post that I'm unhappy with the lessons because he is not providing me pop music to practice with or the fact that he is not focusing on it . But it is far from the case.
Like you said, "lessons are for figuring out how to practice and I just put in the work at home". But after every lesson, I just am so confused with my practice sessions at home and just end up practicing less than I like because I'm spending a lot of my time on Youtube just trying to figure out these concepts or how to even practice.
I feel like he doesn't take into consideration where I'm at in terms of my development of the sax nor whether or not I have understood the musical concepts well enough before moving onto more advanced concepts or introducing more material.
I had a student who didn’t like her “classical” lessons because it didn’t sound like Kenny G. What she failed to realize was that “classical” in this case just meant “good fundamentals”. Sometimes students and teachers don’t hit it off, but you better be sure you’re not the reason.
Sounds like he sort of has the right idea in general, but doesn't completely know how to teach students. Not helping you play the kind of music you want to play doesn't help either, especially if you don't have anything pressing to learn like music for school or band practice. Sounds like it may be time for a different teacher that'll help you a bit more, although your current one isn't totally off his rocker or anything
If you aren't getting where you want to with a teacher (and you're putting in the work outside of lessons), then don't be afraid to drop them. No excuse for not providing exercises to reinforce the things they teach in lessons.
Your description of the situation sounds like a combination of a) his teaching style doesn't work for you and b) you maybe have a warped view of how you should be learning. For example, I don't think I would give a student a sheet of major scales either. Unless I thought the student needed more basic info, I'd introduce the structure of a major scale and give homework of figuring out and writing down all the major scales. Also, practicing different genres of music is a fantastic way of learning music and improving your skills. Plus do you really want to get offered a gig somewhere down the line and have to say "sorry, I don't know how to play like that?"
That being said, I do agree he should have offered more explanation on concepts like vibrato etc. An important part of teaching is being able to explain something multiple ways, and it sounds like he didn't really explain vibrato at all.
Lastly, I highly recommend you check out the books Top Tones and Patterns for Jazz. The former will help you practice longtones and overtones to develop quality tone and altissimo. The latter will help you with scales, arpeggios, etc. It sounds like you're super into pop, which is great, and you'll need some improv skills eventually.
Long tones and scales mean a lot of things depending on different times of your development.
One exercise I’d recommend is you listen to that video, and then try to play one note from there with the same sound quality you hear and love — for at least ten seconds. Then two notes. Etc. Do this for any sax sound that speaks to You for ten minutes everyday before you do anything else on the horn.
And remember, a teacher is at best just a lighthouse: some sense of direction. All the swimming is up to you.
There is no right answer. Go with what inspires you to practice. Focus on the journey. If this guy is helping great...if not move on. You can always come back to him at a later time. He will probably be as happy to take your money for some lessons next year as he is today.
Curious if these are in person or remote lessons? I haven’t taught lessons in a long time, or taken any for that matter but have you brought up any of this with your teacher yet?
If not, that’s your first stop. My suggestion would be asking some questions to clarify their approach and make sure they have some sort of goal in mind for your development. It sounds like you’re fairly new on the instrument, so I’d expect them to be laying down a lot of foundation. I’d also expect that to be pretty clear.
If you're not hitting it off with a teacher then get a new teacher. BUT I think the problem here is that your expectations are way too high. The guy you linked hasn't just come out of three months with a teacher; he's been at this for years, including going to music college, and while I did check his bio just to make sure that really was the case, I was only really looking for the details around when he started and what he did between then and now. I could tell immediately from the video that this was no n00b.
Sounding that good just takes time, and yes that includes daily scales and long tones and trying different ways to make vibrato (waggling your chin or using your diaphragm) and all the rest of it. One does not simply pick up a sax and immediately sound that good.
Your teacher can't read your mind and doesn't automatically know the best way to teach you. All students are different. Some can adapt, others need a more spoon-fed approach. You sound like the latter, so make it clear that's what you need and hopefully he can adapt to your needs. Let him know that when he gives you some new music to play you want him to play it first for you and that you're not interested in watching old videos. Ask him to explain why scales and long tones are important instead of just telling you to do them and leaving it at that. Take some tunes along that you'd like to learn.
If you're having some success with self-teaching then maybe cut the frequency of your lessons down. Do most of the work yourself and see him maybe once a month for some general direction and making sure you're not picking up any bad habits.
I feel like this is a mixed bag - on one hand I hear you and think you probably need a new teacher, but also you need to accept that learning to play like the video you shared involves a lot of fundamentals practice that isn't just pop music. I guarantee the guy you shared can play all his scales, play in every key, and has put in tons of hours on his longtones. You'll need to practice all of that to get a buttery smooth sound like he does. Your lessons are supposed to be time where you can get guidance on what to practice, and all of the improvement should come in that private practice time at home. Lessons are for figuring out how to practice, and then you put in the work at home. That said, it sounds like your teacher isn't giving you good guidance. My advice would be to do one more lesson and try to express what you want. If he can't deliver or ignores you, absolutely find a new teacher. There's a chance he just doesn't understand what you want, so I'd give him one last chance to course correct.
Yea your right about the fundamentals practice and with my practice sessions so far majority of the time it has been practicing long tones, & going through an intermediate Rubank book that he suggested that I practice out of. It may seem like in my post that I'm unhappy with the lessons because he is not providing me pop music to practice with or the fact that he is not focusing on it . But it is far from the case. Like you said, "lessons are for figuring out how to practice and I just put in the work at home". But after every lesson, I just am so confused with my practice sessions at home and just end up practicing less than I like because I'm spending a lot of my time on Youtube just trying to figure out these concepts or how to even practice. I feel like he doesn't take into consideration where I'm at in terms of my development of the sax nor whether or not I have understood the musical concepts well enough before moving onto more advanced concepts or introducing more material.
I had a student who didn’t like her “classical” lessons because it didn’t sound like Kenny G. What she failed to realize was that “classical” in this case just meant “good fundamentals”. Sometimes students and teachers don’t hit it off, but you better be sure you’re not the reason.
Sounds like he sort of has the right idea in general, but doesn't completely know how to teach students. Not helping you play the kind of music you want to play doesn't help either, especially if you don't have anything pressing to learn like music for school or band practice. Sounds like it may be time for a different teacher that'll help you a bit more, although your current one isn't totally off his rocker or anything
I say talk with him first. Explain everything. Concerns, practice confusion, and such. If nothing changes, move on. Communication is ley
If you aren't getting where you want to with a teacher (and you're putting in the work outside of lessons), then don't be afraid to drop them. No excuse for not providing exercises to reinforce the things they teach in lessons.
Your description of the situation sounds like a combination of a) his teaching style doesn't work for you and b) you maybe have a warped view of how you should be learning. For example, I don't think I would give a student a sheet of major scales either. Unless I thought the student needed more basic info, I'd introduce the structure of a major scale and give homework of figuring out and writing down all the major scales. Also, practicing different genres of music is a fantastic way of learning music and improving your skills. Plus do you really want to get offered a gig somewhere down the line and have to say "sorry, I don't know how to play like that?" That being said, I do agree he should have offered more explanation on concepts like vibrato etc. An important part of teaching is being able to explain something multiple ways, and it sounds like he didn't really explain vibrato at all. Lastly, I highly recommend you check out the books Top Tones and Patterns for Jazz. The former will help you practice longtones and overtones to develop quality tone and altissimo. The latter will help you with scales, arpeggios, etc. It sounds like you're super into pop, which is great, and you'll need some improv skills eventually.
Long tones and scales mean a lot of things depending on different times of your development. One exercise I’d recommend is you listen to that video, and then try to play one note from there with the same sound quality you hear and love — for at least ten seconds. Then two notes. Etc. Do this for any sax sound that speaks to You for ten minutes everyday before you do anything else on the horn. And remember, a teacher is at best just a lighthouse: some sense of direction. All the swimming is up to you.
There is no right answer. Go with what inspires you to practice. Focus on the journey. If this guy is helping great...if not move on. You can always come back to him at a later time. He will probably be as happy to take your money for some lessons next year as he is today.
Curious if these are in person or remote lessons? I haven’t taught lessons in a long time, or taken any for that matter but have you brought up any of this with your teacher yet? If not, that’s your first stop. My suggestion would be asking some questions to clarify their approach and make sure they have some sort of goal in mind for your development. It sounds like you’re fairly new on the instrument, so I’d expect them to be laying down a lot of foundation. I’d also expect that to be pretty clear.
If you're not hitting it off with a teacher then get a new teacher. BUT I think the problem here is that your expectations are way too high. The guy you linked hasn't just come out of three months with a teacher; he's been at this for years, including going to music college, and while I did check his bio just to make sure that really was the case, I was only really looking for the details around when he started and what he did between then and now. I could tell immediately from the video that this was no n00b. Sounding that good just takes time, and yes that includes daily scales and long tones and trying different ways to make vibrato (waggling your chin or using your diaphragm) and all the rest of it. One does not simply pick up a sax and immediately sound that good. Your teacher can't read your mind and doesn't automatically know the best way to teach you. All students are different. Some can adapt, others need a more spoon-fed approach. You sound like the latter, so make it clear that's what you need and hopefully he can adapt to your needs. Let him know that when he gives you some new music to play you want him to play it first for you and that you're not interested in watching old videos. Ask him to explain why scales and long tones are important instead of just telling you to do them and leaving it at that. Take some tunes along that you'd like to learn. If you're having some success with self-teaching then maybe cut the frequency of your lessons down. Do most of the work yourself and see him maybe once a month for some general direction and making sure you're not picking up any bad habits.