In addition to being a popular choice for wind instruments, the alto saxophone is also one of the easiest to learn how to play. Being a single-reed instrument that works in octaves, the alto saxophone is a great woodwind to start out with or add to your repertoire of instruments.
Choosing a Saxophone
Getting the cheapest instrument is most people’s first instinct when learning an instrument, but this may not be the best option. Cheap instruments don’t have the same sound quality as the best alto saxophones on the market and therefore make it more difficult to learn. Choose a high-quality instrument from a reliable source to get the most out of your learning experience.
Materials
You have your saxophone, so you’re ready to start, right? Unfortunately, that’s not the case. You’ll need a variety of materials before you can jump into playing the alto saxophone.
Reeds
If you haven’t played an instrument that requires a reed before this may be the most difficult part to figure out. Check out sources like music blogs for tips on choosing the best reeds for beginners. There are varying qualities of reeds so you’ll have to choose what will work best within your budget.
You’ll go through many reeds for the entire time that you play the alto saxophone, but you’re more prone to accidentally break them in the early days so you’ll be going through them relatively quickly. Choose a thinner option to get started so that you can learn how to get sound from the instrument. As you get comfortable with the instrument, you’ll be able to feel when it’s time to increase the thickness. A reed case can also be a valuable item in preserving your reeds.
Cleaning
Many saxophones come with a cheap cleaning cloth. While that may work okay, you’ll want to upgrade to a higher quality cleaning kit to make sure there’s no saliva lingering within your instrument.
Ready To Play
Get your practice area set up with a music stand and some beginner materials including a fingering chart. A metronome, tuner, and an instrument stand in your practice space will be helpful tools for your practice space as well.
First Sound
You can’t aimlessly blow into an instrument and hope it makes music right away. First, you’ll need to learn to correctly position the reed and tighten the ligature. Then you’ll have to practice proper embouchure in order to get decent sound from the alto saxophone.
The saxophone has its own embouchure which means you need to learn the correct way to position your mouth to get proper sound from the instrument. If you aren’t working with a teacher, there on online guides available to teach you the proper embouchure. It’ll feel weird at first, but once you’re used to it, it’ll become a simple habit.
Learning The Notes
Choose a starting note because often just playing open isn’t as easy as it sounds. Most people start with middle C and work their way up the C major scale from there. That way, you can play songs in the key of C and add chromatic fingerings shortly after.
One of the great things about the alto saxophone is that once you learn the first octave, you just need to locate the octave key with your left thumb. Support your airflow and you’re ready for the higher register.
What Should I Play?
Simple songs and scale-based material are where everyone starts. Even the greats weren’t born playing the fun stuff. You need to become familiar with your instrument first by playing those simple children’s songs such as “Hot Cross Buns.” Soon you’ll have down a whole scale and while that doesn’t sound exciting, it’s a great start.
Moving on to scale based material once you have a decent range is the best way to learn dexterity on the alto saxophone or any other instrument. There are many books that focus on teaching how to play in every key and these will teach you how to play more advanced pieces and the best way to break them down. If you try to run with more difficult material before playing scale based work, you’ll likely find yourself getting tripped up.
Reference Material
Having reference material is always helpful. While the internet may be a great place to find information and stuff to play, having things that can easily be grabbed is a must. Things you may want to consider keeping on hand include:
- beginner book(s)
- sheet music
- a fingering chart – the bigger the better and keep it somewhere prominent
Now you’re ready to begin your journey playing the alto saxophone. Get your new instrument in tune and have a proper set-up to prepare yourself for success. Shortly you’ll be playing music and advancing in skill on the alto saxophone. Stay on top of your practicing regimen and you’ll be playing the pieces you desire before you know it.
Uday Tank has been working with writing challenged clients for several years. His educational background in family science and journalism has given him a broad base from which to approach many topics. He especially enjoys writing content after researching and analyzing different resources whether they are books, articles or online stuff.
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