music

Is The Saxophone Easy To Learn?

Angela Manning Education , ,
Is The Saxophone Easy To Learn?

The saxophone is a very iconic instrument, from Jazz legends like John Coltrane to former president Bill Clinton, to Lisa Simpson – it’s a popular instrument. It can also be incredibly fun to play. In addition, over 150,000 saxophones were sold in North America in 2020, so playing the saxophone is undeniably a popular trend.

If you’ve ever thought about playing the saxophone, then you might be wondering, is the saxophone easy to learn? Or is it difficult to learn? While this is an open-ended question and might be easier or harder for different people, the general answer to this question is that it’s somewhere in the middle. The saxophone is moderately easy to learn. Not the easiest, but not the hardest.

Think of a piano or a guitar. Anyone can walk up to a piano and press a key to play a note. Anyone can walk up to a guitar and strum a string. Now, of course, learning to actually play those instruments requires professional instruction and dedicated time, but they generally have a lower barrier to entry for beginners. A saxophone, on the other hand, is less straightforward when you first get started, so it has a steeper initial learning curve. For example, when you open the saxophone case for the first time, it may not be clear how to put it together, where to put your hands, or how to play a note. You may need more detailed instruction to get started as a beginner than you would need for the guitar or piano.

However, once you get the basics down, you can start improving your skills more quickly as a beginner saxophone player compared to other instruments. For that reason, a lot of people may find saxophone easier to learn as a beginner compared to learning violin, flute, trumpet, trombone, etc.

In a nutshell, for a beginner musician, the saxophone may be more difficult than piano or guitar at first but might be easier to learn compared to other wind instruments like trumpet, or bowed strings instruments like the violin. If you’re thinking about learning to play the saxophone, you can find plenty of information online to learn the basics and get the top saxophone tips for beginners to help give you a better idea of what to expect in your potential saxophone-playing journey.

One other common question for anyone thinking about playing saxophone is: “How much does a saxophone cost?” For a used saxophone from a reputable brand (like Yamaha or Selmer), you could plan on spending about $800-$1,000 for a used, beginner-level saxophone. New beginner-level saxophones can easily cost up to $2,000, however, also keep in mind that many retailers these days offer financing and payment plans.

Music is a fantastic way to express yourself, process emotions, and escape from day-to-day stress, so even if you choose not to play the saxophone, you could certainly consider learning a different instrument. Or even if you decide not to learn an instrument just yet, even mindfully listening to music can provide positive benefits to daily life.

The Quickest Way to a Career in the Music Industry

Angela Manning Education , , , ,
The Quickest Way to a Career in the Music Industry

The glitz and glamour of celebrities in the music industry makes it a dream for many. So how can you go from being on the outside to getting into the music industry and making music your profession? Here are some tips based on how the most successful artist have broken through.

Decide What You Want To Do

The first step is getting clear on what it is you want. Do you want to be the artist that is performing on stage or in the studio, or do you want to become a music producer? There are tons of different ways to be “in the industry” and some don’t even require a strong musical ability.

When you have a solid idea of exactly what you want to do you can move on to the next step, which is making yourself more marketable and starting a grassroots awareness campaign for yourself.

Create a Music Portfolio

People need to see what you are capable of, either your future fans if you’ll be performing, or others in the music industry if you’ll be behind the scenes. If you are going to be an artist it’s as simple as showing them what you can do. Nowadays it’s easier than ever to make an online music portfolio of your best work.

If you plan on producing music, you’ll need to find an artist to work with and showcase your skills as their official producer. The end result is the same, you’ll want a promo package that shows off what you worked on directly and the artist can vouch for your skill set.

Use Social Media

Some of today’s hottest up-and-coming music producers and artists got their foot in the door by sending out samples of their work through social media directly to big names in the industry. For the foreseeable future this seems like a viable way to cut the line and basically break into the music industry by knocking directly on the door.

Be Persistent

You might not get the answer you’re looking for based on sending out just one demo to one artist. You need to be persistent and keep sending out more and more demos until somebody likes what they hear. It’s a numbers game, and it might take dozens or even hundreds of attempts before you get your big break.

Create More and More

Don’t just make a small portfolio and then sit back on your laurels thinking this will be enough to do the job. Keep making more and more great music and this will increase your chances of success. By making more music you are essentially creating a bigger net to catch the fish that could be The Big One you’ve been waiting for.

Don’t Focus On Time

We promised you the quickest way to get into the music industry, but you definitely don’t want to put so much time pressure on yourself that you start to stress out. Music is an art form and it’s not a race, everybody is on their own path and will reach success on their own timeline. Just relax, let the music flow and everything will work out for the best.

The Magic Of Music

Angela Manning Education , , , ,

Whether your kid is a brainy introvert or an outgoing social butterfly, learning an instrument and getting involved with a collaborative project could be an amazing outlet for them to express themselves and develop social skills as well as intelligence. As with foreign languages, the earlier somebody starts to learn music, the easier it will be for them to integrate the basic ideas and perform it in a fluid manner. We’ve all read about how the plasticity of the brain is reduced as we get older.

If your kid is a bit introverted, and perhaps more drawn to the likes of Johannes Brahms or Steve Reich than say, a Jimi Hendrix or a Robert Plant, a traditional instrument of classical music, such as a flute or a cello, could be the way to go. If your child has an appetite for destruction and simply wants to shred guitar or bang the drums like Keith Moon, electric guitar or percussion could be the right choice. By the same token, people don’t always fit neatly into stereotypes, and maybe your shy, intelligent child wants to rip wild riffs on a Stratocaster. Maybe your wild child wants to learn how to play Moonlight Sonata and take a moment to slow down.

While many people who learn an instrument are autodidactic learners, children often lack the self discipline and depth of concentration to be able to focus, bear down and put in the work. It might be a good idea to hire a properly trained teacher to help your child work towards mastering a given instrument. While he or she may be enrolled in the music program at their school, these programs are often understaffed and underfunded, so that one-on-one time with a private teacher will help them move forwards in leaps and bounds that might otherwise take ages. The vacation months are an especially good time to encourage your little ones to take up an instrument because they’ll have lots of free time on their hands, if you sign them up to take music lessons this summer holiday, it will also get them out of the house and away from their iPads and videogames.

A good teacher will be attentive to your kid and find a way to make the lessons exciting. Whether the pupil wants to imitate the cello stylings of Yoyo Ma or play a fat beat to their favourite hip-hop track, their teacher should be able to accommodate them. The bottom line is that if it isn’t fun, the student won’t be compelled to practice. The magic of music is that it is simultaneously fun and educational, so that your kid can develop their brain power while having a good time and doing something that will make them feel fulfilled.

Of course, practicing is an issue and in this respect, it’s good to use a light touch; to re-iterate: music is meant to be fun; if you put to much of an emphasis of the importance of hard work and try and force them to practice, it may put them off of it forever, and this would be a shame. Again, languages are a good comparison in the sense that many of us wish we’d been raised speaking more languages rather than being limited to just English. With music, it is very similar: it’s relatively easy to pick it up when your young but becomes more and more difficult as you get older and your brain becomes set in its ways. So don’t delay, get your kid involved in music classes today and help them develop into confident, intelligent adults!

Why a Good Guitarist Must Learn about the Theories of Music

Angela Manning Education , , , , ,
Why a Good Guitarist Must Learn about the Theories of Music

If you play the guitar, you may feel as if you’re learning to play the instrument over and over again each time you want to master a new song. Or, if you feel comfortable, you can’t play a song unless the tab is right there for you to read from. Or maybe you feel you’re a good player, but you’re incapable of writing your own stuff or even improvising. If this is the case, then what you have missed is music theory. This is exactly why any good guitarist should consider taking music theory classes online.

Why Music Theory Matters

If you want to learn how to play an instrument, but you don’t want to learn about the theory, you will fail. Similarly, you can’t learn a new language without learning at least something about its grammar. Sure, you may be able to make yourself understandable, but you will never come across as a native. This is the same with an instrument. No, you don’t have to be able to explain the theory behind the Phrygian-Dominant scale. In fact, you don’t even have to know how to play it. But if you don’t even know what a scale is, then it is unlikely that you will ever be a good guitar player.

What Is Music Theory?

Music theory is about understanding what music’s most common patterns are, where they have come from, and why they sound good. All music is, is a pattern. Pick any song, for instance, and you will see that it can be reduced to just three chords on any guitar. That is a pattern that any good musician needs to know about, not in the least because it will mean that if you see the opening chord of a new song, you will instantly know which other two chords you will have to play.

Naturally, you can play the guitar, even quite well, by simply practicing the same song over and over again until you have memorized it forever. However, this is a battle you will then have to go through with every new song you learn. The theory of music is the language of music. If someone were to say something in Chinese to you, with the right amount of practice and patients, you will be able to repeat it and sound as if you are Chinese yourself. But you will never know what it means, unless you learn about that.

You should see music as a form of language, because it is. It is designed to make us feel certain things and certain ways, which is what language has been designed to do. And if you want to learn how to understand or speak a language, then you have to immerse yourself in it. That doesn’t mean going into the etymology of the last 10,000 years, but it is about understanding the key developments at each historically significant point. And the exact same is true for music as well.