Part 3: Two steps forward, one step back

      This week I did not have as much time from practicing. I only got in 3 practice sessions, when my goal was to get 5 each week. I had extracurricular activities, and had to practice my main instrument, the trombone, in preparation for a jazz competition. Overall though, I main progress in learning new notes, and new rhythms. But endured setbacks in my tone quality. Basically, I was squeaking a lot.

Moving along 

This week I went through and learned 3 pages in my book. However, the material was much tougher to master than in previous weeks. The songs included faster and more complex rhythms. They required me to move my fingers quickly to each note which I struggled with. My unfamiliarity it with treble clef seemed to be holding me back. The rhythms were only eighth  notes, but they a surprisingly difficult to play on a new instrument. Since I do not know the notes by heart  (since I am just learning them) I would often stumble through the parts that included eighth notes. This was frustrating to me! I am used to being able to play these rhythms with ease on the trombone, so I became demoralized when I had to keep redoing simple melodies.

These are some of the good takes I had 

On the top are quarter notes. On the bottom are eighth notes (which I was having trouble with).

I learned new notes along the way this week. They are E, F, A, and C#. A feature I enjoy about my lesson book, is how it integrates the notes into songs. It first gives a slow pattern in order to familiarize yourself with the note. Then it often uses a folk song or traditional tune that everyone knows that uses the specific note. I find this method to be very effective for learning.

Tone

Learning new notes has its downsides. I must have been more focused on playing with speed and reading rhythms, because my tone quality suffered this week. It was on certain notes, particularly the low F, that my saxophone would squeak uncontrollably.

This did not only bother me, but annoyed the heck out of my family especially my mom. As I mentioned in my first blog my mom is a music teacher. So she could not stand the squeaking, and was trying to help me fix my tone. I believe the problem was with my mouth position. I made a few adjustments with it, and I think I have it correct now. I just have to remember to always have the correct embouchure locked in when I play. My squeaking fiasco also reminds me that I cannot get ahead of myself and rush through the book. I always have to keep the fundamentals in mind.

Here I am squeaking. This was not the worst of it!

This is what the embouchure should look like. Most likely, my problem                                           was that I was putting too much pressure on my bottom lip.

Plans Going forward

This coming week I want to slow down and work on the embouchure problems. I must lock down the correct mouth position before I can do anything else. I do not want to anger my family with squeaking again, because they still have to hear me play the saxophone for a few more weeks. I will encounter much longer songs this week. I looked ahead and saw that there are songs that are a whole page in length. I want to learn this piece, and be able to have enough stamina to play through it completely. See you all next time!

I'll send you off with the happy Mexican Fiesta song!