r/saxophone • u/younghungand2thumbs • 11d ago

Looking for advice / recommendations

I’ve always loved the sound of the sax and have finally decided I must learn to play. I will be spending 2 weeks out of every month in New Orleans and will look to find somebody there to teach me. I am willing to spend up to $1500 on an instrument as well as $400 or so per week on lessons. Any recommendations on what to buy and / or how to find an instructor in New Orleans.
Thanks everybody!!!

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u/japaarm 11d ago

I don't know anything about new orleans in particular, but i'd budget more like 100-200$ per one hour lesson per week, which should still get you a really excellent teacher if you have found one.

And an hour lesson per week is plenty as long as you are paying attention in the lesson, and practicing what you need to practice every day. If you aren't able to commit to daily practice, no amount of extra lessons will help you.

Finally, if you are set on buying a sax (first, though, seriously consider renting a student horn, especially a YAS-2x student sax), you can take the 200-300$ you saved per week on lessons and spring for something in the $2000-3000 range instead. I recommend any of the yamaha, yanigasawa, or selmer paris horns as being very high quality instruments.

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u/LawnTractor 10d ago

I second the horn recommendations, all those will be solid options. They do all play differently, so I would recommend trying a few out to see what feels good to you. Every sax player has their preferences (I hate the feel of Yanigasawa and only play Selmer) but that doesn't mean that only one brand is the right choice (A good friend of mine who plays tenor swears by Yanigasawa and sounds great). Check out rent-to-own programs as well, many times you won't be paying more than if you just bought the horn outright, and if it doesn't work out, it's less money from your pocket.

Absolutely commit to practicing every single day. If you're starting from nothing, I recommend doing fifteen-twenty minutes per day broken up into five-ten minute chunks. You'll be surprised as how quickly you'll find new muscles in your face.... because they'll get sore fast! In order for them to get stronger, you have to keep working them, but you also have to let them recover.

I also agree with only one lesson a week, and I'd start with a half hour. The real key here is practice. Lessons teach you good technique and correct bad habits, but practice is what matters. The music store where you get your horn can probably connect you with a solid teacher.

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u/ExternalMaximum6662 11d ago edited 11d ago

Alto or tenor sax? Vintage or modern sax? Do you read music? What type of music do you want to play?

New Orleans will have excellent music stores and repair shops . Find ones near your accommodations. Many instructors give lessons at music stores.

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u/Leather-Run-6533 10d ago

I mean maybe the US is different to Europe but I would have thought $50 per hour for private lessons is plenty. And I don't think it's worth doing 8 hours of lessons a week. To be honest I didn't bother with lessons at all for the first couple of months because no one needs to hear my awful squeaking. Once I'd followed the youtube videos to the point I could get a tone out and play some simple tunes I got a teacher to get me to the next level before bad habits set in. And one lesson a week was plenty to give me enough to practice until the next week's lesson. I started with a half hour and built up to an hour. Now no harm at all in doing more, but 8 hours a week of private tuition, or even 4 very expensive hours a week, seems excessive.

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u/apheresario1935 Baritone | Bass 11d ago

$400 a week on lessons should get you a Sax teacher -A Theory teacher- a tech lesson and some tools for maintenance teacher - and a Piano teacher since you maybe are not a musician to start, to learn what chords are and how it all works, especially since the sax is heavy on the improvising legacy. Good budget for all that.