Standing Room Only

So I finally got around to buying a saxophone stand and I managed a double-coup finding one in Siam Paragon and priced at a mere 600THB. It is sturdy and well padded so my bad boy won’t get scratched…

So now all I need is a chunky music stand, a stool and a sax microphone and my sax studio will be complete… Actually I will be needing a MIDI card for my computer and a cable so I can link it up to my girlfriend’s keyboard – then I’ll be able to get expressive with Acid – I’ve not used it for ages now!

So what have I been practising? These days I am doing hard-core scale work – I am playing all 12 major scales and the major arpeggios everyday by memory instead of trying to read sheet music – now that is tricky. I am also trying to get my tonguing right for single beat, double beat etc. – even trickier.

I am still doing didactic scales (and trying to get through these in all 12 keys too) and chromatic scales (which frankly are pretty easy but now it’s a speed thing).

I’m trying to play three types of music – something Thai, something Bach and something else!

Finally I’m doing all of the above work with a metronome so I can get my timing consistent – oh and did I mention learning dynamics (that’s volume to you)…

The only problem is fitting all that into a daily session – I need at least two hours and preferably three… Sadly that thing called work keeps getting in the way – thankfully I can practise at work too so that helps

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Sounds terrible = good practice…

The floods are causing all kinds of havoc – thankfully I’m still high and dry but for many life has become somewhat difficult. At my school there are no saxophone teachers available – they are all up-country or dealing with flooded homes – unlucky.

So I went to school after work and simply practiced by myself in one of their classrooms – great plan as I normally get home too late to get an evening session in. Alas this session did not go so well – I sounded terrible! To be fair that is the point of practicing – trying something you can’t do so despite sounding rubbish – I am making progress!

I was trying to play some of the low notes – the scale of B Major is a tricky beggar – so tricky that I spend ages just trying to play B, C, C# and D in the low register consistently – then I started having trouble with the middle register – I guess my mouth was getting tired…

Anyway I’ll try again tomorrow and the day after that and the day after that – perseverance is the only option.

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