The Bis Key Chronicles

When I met Suzy in high school, a couple of years ago ;o) she was the lead clarinet player in the band and I in the sax section. I remember like it was yesterday first seeing Suzy walking across the band floor and being introduced by Mr. Lake, the band director, as the girl hosting the first band party of the season. I had a flash of something, I didn’t know what it was at the time. But I think now it was an attraction or a kind of wow, who is that!

This picture is of Suzy in the Edina High School marching band uniform. Since we lived in Minneapolis at the time, the use of gloves was our attempt to keep warm on the football field. Flash forward many years into the future or now…

About five years ago I started playing the sax again. Two years later Suzy started playing the clarinet again. Actually I enticed her with an upgrade to her Selmer Signet clarinet. She didn’t think she needed a new instrument until I demonstrated the superior intonation and sound of the Leblanc Paris pro clarinet with a tuner.

Then about a year ago I talked Suzy into playing the saxophone. Not only did I want her to play sax I wanted her to learn a new genre of music in her experience, jazz. She never looked back and now plays with a number of groups including the Woodinville Jazz Ensemble and the Dissonance. I started the clarinet in the same time frame and now play the bass clarinet in the Woodinville Community Band.

Well, that is the long way of getting to this. Last night, as we often do, I asked Suzy to come and perform some duets with me on our soprano saxes. We both prefer the Yanigisawa, I an older bronze Yani Elmona 992 and her on a Yani 902. We started with some classical duets and then worked our way to some jazz duets. This is such a pleasant time for us and Suzy’s saxophone sound is fast becoming sweet with some very nice vocabulary.

This will become very important as we are working with a professional group that I call Inspektor Gadget (misspelling intended). It will consist of saxes and rhythm and be a very exciting and unique array of instruments and arrangements. Blending with different sax types ranging from soprillo to bass can be very challenging. Getting the voicing right will be based on some musicians with very good intonation and ears.

This is one of many excellent posts on the Sax on the Web forums, this one by TJ (http://www.tjontheroad.com/):

The age poll thread has inspired me to assemble a guide for those of us like me who come to the sax later in life or have returned after being absent for to long.

1) Don’t quit your day job. As tempting as that maybe, your significant other will likely quit you as well. But, your bill collectors will stick with you.

2) The sax is best learned with a teacher. If you want to teach yourself, try the guitar.

3) You’ll drive yourself crazy with more gear, but you’ll get better with more time spent playing the gear you already have.

4) Start with the instrument pitch you like the sound of most. Baritone, tenor, alto, soprano, etc…. It doesn’t matter. Just play it everyday.

5) Go out and meet other players like you. Join a community band or a local blues band. Playing live music is the best place to gain confidence.

6) Forget about that kid prodigy who plays better than you. He/she will not be the last to come to the scene. Keep your focus on what you want out of your sax.

7) Reading charts and music theory are vital to improving your understanding of the saxophone. Unlike the piano or guitar, the sax offers little to no visual guidance and/or reference. It’s all in your head (and heart).

8) Set aside a practice space for yourself that’s away from distractions and distracting others. No one as yet has invented a decent usable saxophone "mute" although there have been many attempts.

9) Listen! Listen to all the greats past and present. Go out and see live saxophone music and attend as many seminars as you can. Record yourself with a self critical ear. You can not listen too much.

10) Have fun and don’t give up.

11, yes this goes to eleven) Long tones… again, long tones.

Of course, this list could apply to many players here of any age.