I Used to Play Alto Saxophone

Description

Alto Saxophone — If you ever played the alto saxophone before, you know what a joy it is to participate actively inmaking music. That is exactly what this book is about. I have designed the book to include a widevariety of songs in many different styles, with the main idea being to have fun making music.Additionally, I Used To Play Alto Saxophone contains many exercises for the adult musician to relearnskills that may have been learned many years ago. It begins with a review of important aspectsof music theory and notation, followed by warm-ups, scales and exercises that re-introduce youto playing the instrument and that help you build your “chops” back up. The techniques coveredare basic to playing the music included in this volume. The pieces in the book cover a broad rangeof styles and are generally familiar to most people who have been involved in listening to musicthrough the years. I also hope that the songs in this book will rekindle some fond old memories ofplaying your instrument and reignite your desire to play music again, just for the fun of it.Practice the long tones and daily warm-ups on pp. 7–9 a little bit every day to build the staminanecessary to perform the music. Work on one of the scales and some of the technical exerciseson pp. 10–17 a little each day as well. Then turn to one of the pieces you would like to play andtry reading it. Take it slowly at first; don’t get frustrated if it doesn’t come easily. It will take timeto relearn and to retrain the muscles to do what you once did. You should also listen to the audiofiles and play along with the track that is played by a saxophone and piano and, in some cases,other accompaniment instruments. This will provide you with a model for getting your tone back.When you become sure of yourself, you can try playing with the accompaniment track withoutthe melody.I Used To Play Alto Saxophone is not a beginner’s book. If you are new to playing an instrument,I suggest that you obtain a beginner’s book and a teacher. After you have mastered the basics, youcan then come back to the material in this book.Remember to take it slowly, have fun and enjoy making music! I Used to Play is a new series for adults looking to get back into playing their instruments of yesteryear, and will help jumpstart their memory and comfort with music. Its #1 goal is to get people re-acquainted with their instrument(s) by not only reviewing theory and technique with etudes, but also providing them with types of music they want to play, like pop, jazz, and classical tunes. Each book contains a CD with audio MP3 files of complete performances of most songs, plus accompaniment-only play-along versions. The CD also contains printable PDFs of piano parts for practice or performance opportunities. It's just the push former players need to fall back in love with their instruments again!