Question:
Questions, questions, questions
The newbie adventure continues, and with it come many, many dumb questions. Rather than break these out into different topical fora, I thought I'd toss them all out here, where people are willing to cut an old fool some slack. :D So bear with me, laugh at me...but help me out, would ya?
1) Music: This is a biggie, and makes me feel extra-dumb. I can read music -- I played violin as a kid. But I'm a bit lost when it comes to the notion that the tenox sax is a transposing instrument. Does that mean I need sheet music specifically for the tenor sax? Does it mean that I can buy any sheet music, but play different notes than are written? Or if I have a piano arrangement of a song, and know where "C" is on the staff and on my instrument, am I okay?
2) Practice: Given my work hours, my commute, and the fact that I do like to spend time some with my family, my Monday-Thursday practice time is only half an hour (Fridays I have a 1-hour lesson). Is that enough, or should I try to find more time?
3) Speaking of my lessons, this one's a doozy. I'm living in a 3rd world Asian country at the moment. I've started lessons, but because I'm (1) an American; (2) older than my teacher; (3) wealthier than my teacher; and (4) generally in a suit when I show up at my lesson, my teacher ends up being very, very deferential to me. I need him to tell me what to do, but culturally he would never presume to tell an older, wealthier American in a suit what to do. Effectively, I'm in charge of my own lesson. I doubt this would change with a different teacher (besides, I do like him), but when he asks me, "what do you want to work on?" what's a good answer?
There's sure to be more, but that's it for now. Thanks in advance!

Answer:
Ok, please forgive me in advance. I wrote a whole long post and then my comp locked up and I lost it all. I will do my best to rewrite what I had.
1. The concept of transposing instruments can be confusing, but here is a way to look at it that I think will make sense. There is a group of instruments (piano, all strings, flute, trombone, guitar...) that are called non-transposing instruments, or "concert key" instruments. These instruments could also be known as being in c transposition, meaning that when they play a written c on their music, the "concert pitch" is also a c.
Then there are instruments in other transpositions. On an instrument that is in Bb transposition (tenor and soprano saxes, trumpet, clarinet, etc.), when you play a written c, the "concert pitch" is a Bb. This means that if you play a written C on your tenor and I play a Bb on my flute, our notes will sound the same. Likewise, on an instrument in Eb transposition (alto and baritone saxes, Eb clarinet, etc.), when you play a written c, the "concert pitch" will be an Eb.
So in answer to your question, it depends on what you plan to do with your music. If your plan is to take a piece of music and just play it by yourself without any accompaniment, then it doesn't matter what instrument the music is written for. However, if you want to play the music with any other instruments, then you will either need to have music that is written for tenor sax (or any other Bb transposition instrument), or else transpose the music from a different instrument (i'll explain this later if you need me to).
2. In learning an instrument, just like learning to do any skill, you can only get out as much as you put in. That said, 1/2 hour/day is not a lot of time to spend practicing, but if that is all the time you have available then use every minute of it. Any amount of time spent playing will make you a better player, and you can always play more on weekends to make up for it.
3. This question is one that i'm not exactly sure how to answer. Being only a college student myself, I have yet to start someone on saxophone as a total beginner (which, aside from being able to read music, i'm pretty sure that you are). In addition, I do believe that the best way to be able to properly and effectively learn an instrument is through private instruction. That said, I don't know if there is any way you could try to convince him that you want him to help you improve, even if at times that means "telling you what to do"? Maybe someone else has other ideas on this topic?
Hopefully I at least helped you with 2 out of 3 here. Good luck and happy playing!

Answer:
Someone once said of being a painter (artist) the guage to talent was desire. If the need is great enough...it creates time. Think of the artist who sketches on napkins while in the resturant.
The great difference in perspective artist...is that when art becomes a real need of the soul...then we make time. Things that before hand would be priorties get rearranged suddenly...when the need is there.
Art history is full of stories of sacriface...Guguan (sp?) the 19th cent French Impressionist left his work as a successful stock broker...his family etc. Whether it was a wise decison or not...he left the world some memorable paintings.
Common sense, needs of others and our needs for our art is a juggling act. Some of the finest artist had a wreck of a personal life and possibly destoyed the lives that others may have had. I can't do that...but I can chose not to waste time with pass-the-time entertainments...card games, socializing etc.
Even time spent driving can leave our minds free to go over in our mind our exercises.

Answer:
G'day,
I reckon 1. was well taken care of, so you should be ok on that one.
As far as practice time goes, if you are limited by work and family commitments, (aren't we all?) then try to spend your half hour actually practicing. Don't waste time wondering what to practice, how to practice it, etc. Work all that out with your teacher beforehand. Also, a huge percentage of learning to play, is all "head work." Memorising scales and arpeggios, chord progressions etc. This sort of thing can be done away from the horn. Keep a pocket book handy and take care of the theory stuff on your commute.
With regard to your teacher, I know where you are coming from. Bear in mind however, that as a beginner, you aren't going to make a great many mistakes that haven't been made before! In other words, practice and time spent on the horn will, take care of most of your worries. Also, your teacher, although young, would more than likely be aware that when you're in a swamp full of alligators, you don't worry about the mosquitoes! Meaning that as a beginner, there are a million things your teacher could corrrect at any given moment. To do so, would be counter productive. As long as your teacher is emphasising a solid grounding in the main areas of playing, there's plenty of time down the road to start getting picky and refining things.
Playing any instrument isn't easy. Yet it is nowhere near as difficult as reading books and forums would lead you to believe.
Imagine you had to write a book on how to speak the English language. By the time you included chapters on the lips, tongue, breathing, tone, vocabulary, phrasing, articulation, grammar etc...the book would fill a warehouse and the average punter would happily bet that speaking English was impossible! Then ask yourself how long, and by what method, most children manage to accomplish such a feat within a few years? Without a huge book to boot!
Books can help, to be sure, to be sure. :) Just be careful not to overcomplicate and over theoreticise things. I'm sure you're doing just fine. For some reason we seem to put a time constraint on learning an instrument and often make it a truly wretched experience for ourselves and our students. If your child took a little longer than average to learn how to talk or walk, at what point would you as a parent give up on that child and say "well I guess you just have no locomotive talent. I think you oughta just stick to wriggling along on your stomach." Of course you wouldn't. So cut yourself some slack. It's a never ending journey and that's the joy of it.
Best of luck,
DP

Answer:
an awful lot of practise can be accomplished without the saxophone in your hands. during your commute, on your lunch break, when stuck waiting in line for something ... all these otherwise dead minutes can be turned into metal practise times. you can't work on the muscles related to blowing, but you can work on the music!! picture your fingers on the keys, picture it so well that you can feel the keys. now play a scale. name the notes in your head as you go, play in time with your foot like you would with a metronome. this is particularly helpful when working on diatonic thirds, triads and sevenths. you can learn the cyle of fourths this way, you can arpeggiate chords this way, you can play melodies and patterns this way. with time, you'll be able to hear the pitches you are "playing" just as well as if you were blowing them. if you put real energy into this kind of practise, you'll be amazed how much easier your next session "on the horn" is with whatever you have metally worked through, as your brain has had the chance to deal with and digest the musical problem without the distraction of manipulating the saxophone at the same time. A lot of great players use this method all the time ... Jerry Bergonzi comes immediately to mind.
your problems with your teacher are sort of funny. I'm not downplaying the problem you describe here, but I too ask my students "what do you want to work on". though I probably don't mean it exactly as your teacher does, I do expect a great deal of participation in the learning process. the solution is to answer his question - come in one week with questions about sound production, with questions about breath control, wanting to know of a practical way to work through all of your scales (i follow the cycle of 4ths with my students) etc. if you were a kid, this would be a problem...as an adult, just take charge of your learning. you know very well what you need to work on right now I'll bet, and when you advance a little, this forum will give you ideas.
let us know how it goes.

Answer:
Regarding your differential teacher, maybe you could put it to him this way: "I think I would like you to teach me the way you were taught. And if there was anything different in the way you were taught that you would have liked to have changed, then teach me that, too".
I would think this could immediately solve many of the questions of what to choose, emphasize, etc. and at the same time give him (in his own mind) the go ahead to teach you what he would normally be teaching.

Answer:
Originally Posted by Jazz Ambassador 1) Music: This is a biggie, and makes me feel extra-dumb. I can read music -- I played violin as a kid. But I'm a bit lost when it comes to the notion that the tenox sax is a transposing instrument. Does that mean I need sheet music specifically for the tenor sax? Does it mean that I can buy any sheet music, but play different notes than are written? Or if I have a piano arrangement of a song, and know where "C" is on the staff and on my instrument, am I okay?
A "C" on a tenor sax (or any Bb instrument, like soprano sax, clarinet, or trumpet) is a Bb on the piano keyboard. Likewise, C on an Eb instrument is an Eb on the piano.
Players of Bb instruments should learn to "sight-transpose"; that is, learn to play parts written in C. To do so, you simply add 2 sharps to the key signature, and play a whole step above what it is written, being mindful of accidentals. It isn't that difficult after a while.
Originally Posted by Jazz Ambassador 2) Practice: Given my work hours, my commute, and the fact that I do like to spend time some with my family, my Monday-Thursday practice time is only half an hour (Fridays I have a 1-hour lesson). Is that enough, or should I try to find more time? As someone else said, you can make progress with your current schedule, if you make the most of the time. Give it some time and see how you progress before you decide whether you need to set aside more time for practice.
Originally Posted by Jazz Ambassador 3) Speaking of my lessons, this one's a doozy. I'm living in a 3rd world Asian country at the moment. I've started lessons, but because I'm (1) an American; (2) older than my teacher; (3) wealthier than my teacher; and (4) generally in a suit when I show up at my lesson, my teacher ends up being very, very deferential to me. I need him to tell me what to do, but culturally he would never presume to tell an older, wealthier American in a suit what to do. Effectively, I'm in charge of my own lesson. I doubt this would change with a different teacher (besides, I do like him), but when he asks me, "what do you want to work on?" what's a good answer? The answer is "the basics!".
Given your background and available practice time, I suggest you concentrate on learning to play all the major/minor scales right now. Use a fingering chart if you need to, but try to learn to play them from memory. This will help you play with your ears, not your eyes. Practice the scales by playing around the cycle of fifths, and then back around the cycle of fourths. Once you have all the scales down pat, then start to work on arpeggios and other technical exercises out of any of the technical studies book available.
Pete Thomas has a web page that describes the cycle of fifths/fourths:

Answer:
Originally Posted by Dog Pants .......when you're in a swamp full of alligators, you don't worry about the mosquitoes! DP
So, is this how you Aussies cope?! LOL, I'm just kidding of course, but I love that phrase. I'm going to add it to my bag of "wisdom sayings." Thanks Dog Pants!
Going back to the original quesitons, I think most of the answers have been given, but one thing that came to mind on the deferential treatment: Would it help to not wear the suit? Instead dress in something casual. Maybe a less formal presentation would be in order, who knows.
I also want to emphasize the importance of learning and memorizing all the major scales. These 12 scales are the basis for everything else; all the chords, scales, progressions, etc., so you'd do well to get them in your mind and under your fingers. Ask your teacher to help you with this. Finally I'd second what Dog Pants said about not getting bogged down along the way in all the verbiage on music theory, embouchure, etc. As he pointed out, it all sounds much more complicated than it really is, due to the fact that it's so difficult to explain in writing even the simplest concepts. All the best to you!

Answer:
Originally Posted by Mike Ruhl Given your background and available practice time, I suggest you concentrate on learning to play all the major/minor scales right now. Use a fingering chart if you need to, but try to learn to play them from memory. This will help you play with your ears, not your eyes. Practice the scales by playing around the cycle of fifths, and then back around the cycle of fourths. Once you have all the scales down pat, then start to work on arpeggios and other technical exercises out of any of the technical studies book available.
Just a quick addition to this... It might be helpful for some folks to become thoroughly comfortable with the chromatic scale and the patterns used to build diatonic scales, and then learn the major/minor scales by constructing them. It helped me, anyway...
Greg

Answer:
Having a younger teacher doesn't have to be a problem. I bow to my teacher's ability (he is 25, I am 60), and he appreciates that I have commitment and the ability to listen.
A big part of your practice regime is listening. Get your teacher to recommend your listening CD for the week and HOW to listen to it.
nicko

Answer:
I've been meaning to get back to y'all with a big thanks for all the input, but things have been a wee bit crazy in my neck of the woods (I'd guess I'm the only one here who's ever had his sax lesson cancelled by a failed miltary coup). Anyway...
1) Music: thanks for the help on this. The whole concept is much clearer now. It seems unimportant as long as I'm playing on my own, but it's helped me understand the instrument better.
2) Practice: y'all have shamed me into carving out more time -- and I can't thank you enough. I love going home to practice -- its a stress-buster and re-energizer all at once. It may help that my teacher is taking an interesting approach: teaching me a scale, then giving me a simple song to work on in that key. So far I'm working on "Moon River" in C and "Bye Bye Blackbird" in F; its nice to have something melodic to break up the scale/fingering exercises.
3) My deferential teacher: this one's hopeless -- the forces of culture are stronger than anything I can bring to the table. But at least now I'm doing something, which means I can go into the lesson and say things like, "I'm still having trouble doing x -- let's work on that."
Anyway, thanks again!

Answer:
practice time
I don't know how helpful this will be in that our situations are so different. I work in a warehouse and play bari. My best friend gave me the idea of buying a cheap used alto and playing it in my car in the parking lot on breaks and at lunch. The horn is small enough to where it's not uncomfortable to play in the driver's seat and never leaves the car. I just clamp my music to the steering wheel and play at every opportunity. I got to work early this morning and got in 20 min. right off the bat plus 15 at first break 20+ at lunch and about another 10+ at last break. Over time those little snippets add up. I have done this for about a year and it makes a difference. Add in your home practice time plus lesson time and any playing time with other folks and you will seem like some sort of Lady Macbeth, only cooler.