if you are just starting out anyone know which sax would be the best to go for and what would be the best books to get started with.

I used to play the sax at school, great fun :)
Sorry, no help here with books or brand of sax (other than alto, but that is not the brand, just the size/type), as I rented mine from school and followed the programme given.

I've just had a quick google and came up with this (with free music, lessons and hints/tips), don't know if it will be of any use.

One tip I have is find some music that you enjoy playing, it seeems easier to learn and practice when you know what the piece should sound like. My mate and I used to play the tune form the Hovis ad, and 'Lady in Red'  over and over again, bit if a strange mix of music I know!

Good luck on your search.

My daughter has played saxophone since she was 10. At school she always had Jupiter saxophones so I assume these are reliable and well made. For her 16th birthday we bought hr a Yamaha YAS275 and the sound from it is just wonderful, I bought it as it had fantastic reviews
eg Yamaha YAS275 Alto Saxophone, Lacquer -- The YAS-275 offers a perfect introduction to the world of the saxophone. Whether a beginning student, or an advanced player needing a doubling instrument, it offers surprisingly high quality features at a student model price.

Yamaha's YAS-275E Alto Saxophone has been awarded the coveted award of 'Best Brasswind Instrument' at the prestigious 2009 MIA (Music Industry Association) awards ceremony held on 7th October at the Park Lane Sheraton Hotel, London.


She is out at the moment but I'll ask her about books when she comes back

PS if you are searching t'internet it is saxOphone not saxAphone - made that mistake a lot :-D :-D

My late OH used to play the saxophone - and the Yamaha was his favourite :-) His first one was silver with red buttons and it was stunning to look at.

As with any musical instrument I would always advise to buy the best you can afford - not only is the sound it produces so much better it is also easier to play.

I play guitar and could have been so easily put off when I first started playing by buying a cheap one - thought if I didn't like it I wouldn't have wasted too much money -  the action on it was so high that pressing the strings down to play a chord was very hard work. As it was I did waste my money because I had to go and buy a better one to be able to play it properly and the cheap one went to a charity shop.

Once past the very beginner stage I would recommend buying a book of music of the type that you want to play - it keeps you interested because it is music you like and it also makes it easier to play because you can instantly tell if you are playing it correctly due to being familiar with the tune you are playing.

Hi,

I'm a music teacher by day and saxophone is my main instrument.

A few things to know 1) You NEVER pay the full RRP on instruments if Yamaha says the RRP is £1500 it'll be £1,100 etc. so don't get stung.  Let me know where abouts you are in the country as if you are down south or anywheres near london I know a fantastic place which is extremely cheap & great quality.

  The ones I would avoid: Jupiter (they go sharp in the upper register), Gear4Music (I couldn't get a noise out of it despite doing a degree in the instrument!)

Yamaha make very good saxes the 275 has good tuning and tone will cost around £700.  The 62 is amazing but it'll cost you over a grand.

If you can't afford a fantastic sax the best way to improve the tone is to upgrade the mouth piece and buy a yamaha or selmer mouthpiece as the mouth piece you often get is about £10 worth and will make it much harder for you to get a good sound.

Always try the instrument even if you go to a shop and then buy off the internet. 

Don't buy anything for under £400 new as it will be a waste of money and you'd be better off with scrap metal. 

The biggest problem with cheap saxes is the upper octave and register being out of tune.  Ask about this and they should tell you honestly.  If you have any questions please don't hestiate to PM me and I can check out instruments you've seen etc.

Susiebell x

oh and i always start pupils on abracabra sax. 

I recommend you have some lessons to start with as well.  You could practice a lot in between but you need someone to make sure you don't get into bad habits and get the correct mouth position when you start.

You will love it.  Its an amazing instrument :)

Must echo the advice on buying absolutely the BEST instrument you can afford.

Though I don't play sax (I can a bit and I love it, i just don't own one/havent properly learned), I play flute and a variety of other things..

Skimping on an instrument cost is a really false economy - the cheaper end of the range, the lesser known makes, the nasty cheapy stuff - isnt THAT cheap to start with and has no resale value. So IF you give up, and want to sell on, you are pretty much wasting your time, as compared to reselling a well known and trusted make such as Yamaha, which will hold its value much better.

After that concern (which never concerns me because I don't sell musical instruments, it would be like selling one of the dogs!) - you just do not get as good a sound from these cheaper brands as you will out of a good quality one - and that makes a BIG difference at beginner level, which is something so so many people (especially parents of young kids learning an instrument) do not realise. Learning an instrument is HARD, and if the poor quality of the instrumenti s holding you back, if the sound is not wht it should be, that is incredibly demoralising!

Go to lots of shops, play lots of instruments - do not entertain shops that only sell nasty 'no ones ever heard of it' makes and none of the top end makes! Similarly if they wont let you get the instrument warmed up properly and have a good go.. walk away. (And try not to feel self concious in a shop trying something out!)

Annnnnnd unless you are REALLY up on your knowledge of the instrument and have played a lot of them, don't buy second hand or even new.. from ebay. Lots of fakes, lots of nasty stuff about.

I have to say, i have come back to playing the flute after a 15 year break (mostly enforced by the theft of my gorgeous Yamaha flute), started out with a second hand £25 job off Ebay (ha, see, learn from my errors). Its actually not 'bad' but it needs  a service which ive not gotten round to having done in nearly three years. I found it very demoralising and hard work to play...... so saved up and bought a handmade wooden flute, ergonomically designed for the smaller handed player, shipped over from america... Ok so it set me back well over a thousand pounds all told and it took 6 months from ordering to it being completed and sent out, but BOY was it worth it. I now play every day and I uttelry love it. IT isnt an easy job relearning on a wooden, keyless flute, but when i get it right the sound is magical, really awesome and actually everything I had hoped it would be (and wasnt) when i first started playing aged 11 (because i was learning on a horrible heap of cast iron junk!)

So, sorry to waffle but investing in the best instrument you can get after a lot of research is absolutely the thing to do!

> You will love it.  Its an amazing instrument

I agree - I so wish i had known you taught sax before I bought my daughter's one last year Susiebell :-) . I have to admit I knew nothing and bought purely from reviews online but it does sound great and she loves it. She was very lucky in that she always got brand new instruments from the school music service when she started. We used to have fantastic music instruction in schools here in Fife - both my daughter's benefitted from it (the older one plays violin) but council cutbacks have meant reductions in instructors and lessons and is one of the reasons I will not vote SNP - (they took over as council leaders from labour and immediately started cutting education budgets - labour wasn't perfect by any means but they always valued education!)

I learnt on a Jupiter it was fine until I was grade 4 and played quite nicely it was just the tuning in the upper register meant i had to get a new one before I continued. You can still upgrade a mouthpiece to get a much more expensive sounding sax.  It's such a maze and we too were recommended to by a Jupiter when I was 11.

I bought her a Yamaha but she learnt on a Jupiter at school. :-)