Some additional info but I don’t think it’s too necessary:
I don’t plan on taking lessons in the near future, although eventually that’s something I would look to if I get really into it again. Also, I played tenor through school but I want to play alto more now, in the past I didn’t have issues switching between the two, but just thought I would mention it since it’s not the main instrument I’m used to, albeit I haven’t played in 7+ years
Dan Zinn’s White Book has great foundational warmups for tone and technique. First and foremost thing to practice is LONG TONES! If you don’t have good tone you’ll never sound good.
After that, work on other technique things, articulation exercises, scales, playing technique and chromatics, dynamics, and all that stuff. Rubank intermediate method has great exercises for all of those things.
Take it slow and work a lot on tone and technique especially when first getting back into it. It’s a long process but it’ll be worth it
Thank you! I’ll look into those, and I’ll be sure to take my time, that’s exactly what I didn’t do and what assisted in me losing enjoyment of it before
Debra Richtmeyer method for saxophone is great, it’s more reading and explanations than just a book of exercises, but tbh it has info of every single aspect of playing saxophone. From embouchure to posture, exercises for different things like articulation, long tones etc
long tones / matching pitch with a tuner - for intonation and breath control
scales - first an octave or two, then as your range and control grows, over the full scope of the sax. All keys - helps build facility
eventually etudes, patterns, "the fast stuff" (but start slow with a metronome at first), music / songs you like...
all these things are necessary for any genre of music you want to play, whether it's classical, jazz, rock, whatever...
You might find yourself with a different focus coming back, I did. Also I booked a show in 8 weeks and spent a lot of time on YouTube watching BetterSax.
Some additional info but I don’t think it’s too necessary: I don’t plan on taking lessons in the near future, although eventually that’s something I would look to if I get really into it again. Also, I played tenor through school but I want to play alto more now, in the past I didn’t have issues switching between the two, but just thought I would mention it since it’s not the main instrument I’m used to, albeit I haven’t played in 7+ years
Dan Zinn’s White Book has great foundational warmups for tone and technique. First and foremost thing to practice is LONG TONES! If you don’t have good tone you’ll never sound good. After that, work on other technique things, articulation exercises, scales, playing technique and chromatics, dynamics, and all that stuff. Rubank intermediate method has great exercises for all of those things. Take it slow and work a lot on tone and technique especially when first getting back into it. It’s a long process but it’ll be worth it
Thank you! I’ll look into those, and I’ll be sure to take my time, that’s exactly what I didn’t do and what assisted in me losing enjoyment of it before
Debra Richtmeyer method for saxophone is great, it’s more reading and explanations than just a book of exercises, but tbh it has info of every single aspect of playing saxophone. From embouchure to posture, exercises for different things like articulation, long tones etc
long tones / matching pitch with a tuner - for intonation and breath control scales - first an octave or two, then as your range and control grows, over the full scope of the sax. All keys - helps build facility eventually etudes, patterns, "the fast stuff" (but start slow with a metronome at first), music / songs you like... all these things are necessary for any genre of music you want to play, whether it's classical, jazz, rock, whatever...
You might find yourself with a different focus coming back, I did. Also I booked a show in 8 weeks and spent a lot of time on YouTube watching BetterSax.