Klarinet Archive - Posting 000021.txt from 2000/02

From: Lisa Canjura-Clayton <lisakc@-----.com>
Subj: Re: [kl] How DID you learn saxophone
Date: Tue, 1 Feb 2000 13:32:12 -0500

At 10:08 AM 02/01/2000 -0800, you wrote:
>Here's a new topic. Most clarinetist play saxophone. How did you learn
>sax? Look at a fingering chart and go? sax lessons? read a book? Also how
>long did it take you to feel comfortable on the sax? What was the most
>difficult area? palm keys, low register? middle C? Ready, Set, GO!

I am (as I repeatedly state in my rare missives to this list) purely an
avocational player. But, I envied all the men & women in our big band here
in SF (City Swing) and decided to try tenor sax. It's fun. It's a
challenge. And I'm horrible at it. So much for my swing dreams!

How did I learn? Took some lessons. My clarinet teacher is mainly a sax
player. Fingerings were not hard to learn, other than the occasional grab
at a non-existant "A" key during fast passages.

How long did it take you to feel comfortable? In all honesty, I'm still
not all that comfortable. This relates to my "difficult area": Embouchre.

Despite the fact that they're both single reed instruments, the Sax has a
much different embouchre than a clarinet. Not only is it "looser" in the
sense that your bite must be much gentler, but I've found that I've had to
take in a lot more mpc. than with a clarinet (or a bass clarinet), and that
the sax is MUCH more responsive to jaw movement. I find I have to
concentrate a lot harder on my embouchre with the sax than I do with a
clarinet. I'm to the point where I can get a sound out of it, play the
lower notes, even keep it relatively in tune, but to get a *lovely* sound
out of it, well, that's a struggle.

That all being said, the sax has done three things to improve my clarinet
playing: made me more conscious of my clarinet embouchre (which, after
many years, I've been taking for granted). Two, it makes me appreciate much
how my throat and airflow affect the sound of the wee beast. Three, it's
forced me to take my swing jones out in traditional jazz. Bob Helms rules!

Lisa Clayton
lisakc@-----.com

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