Tag Archives: #LO2

LO 2: Undertaken new challenges and developed new skills

I came across a really huge obstacle to playing the saxophone being the squeaking sound. Yes! every time I play the saxophone I have to produce a squeaking sound and this frustrates me at times. I started getting that squeaking sound after changing my mouthpiece but I am not completely sure if that was the major reason behind it. To remedy that squeaking sound, I started being careful and studied why my saxophone squeaked. I considered my embouchure, mouthpiece, reed, and even the saxophone itself as the reason could be mechanical. After inspecting all of those and starting to become more conscious of how I play the saxophone, I still did not figure out what the problem might be. The squeaking sound is something I am currently working diligently on now because I noticed I would not get anywhere with music if I continued to produce it. Having explored the possible reasons as to why I made a squeaking sound gave me the opportunity to develop my critical and analytical skills and transformed me into a more meticulous person. I will be able to use skills like these in other areas of my life that will require problem-solving. The more I played the saxophone, the closer I got to spot the source of the squeaking sound. For example, I squeaked a lot in the beginning but with constant practice, it got better and better so hopefully, in no time I will be able to solve this problem. My saxophone teacher kept motivating me to work hard while being patient with myself at the same time and also gave me a little bit of comfort when he told me that he also used to make the squeaking sound and even worse than that and that it will get better with time.

The following are pictures of some practice sound exercises I employed in my battle against the squeaking sound.

#LO2: Undertaken new challenges and developed new skills

Things have been progressing smoothly with my saxophone lessons but not totally smooth. After constant practice a couple of times a week, I was given the opportunity to do a recital. The idea behind this was so I could get my first experience of playing the saxophone in front of an audience. I was a bit disinclined to do the recital the moment my Saxophone teacher brought it up because it would be my first experience and I was truly afraid of a mob. As days elapsed, I began sitting down and asking myself why I wanted to do music. I later remembered that music is not necessarily something that you do with just your teacher as I thought.  Not that I did not know this but that it was a bit unexpected for my teacher to suggest doing the recital more especially since I was doing the lessons all along. I, later on, mustered up the courage to do the recital and thus I started practicing really hard.

The song that I was assigned to do at the recital was called Ostinato by Costel Puscoiu. It was not that hard of a song after all since I played it together with my teacher during the recital, more like a duo. The major challenge to this activity was standing in front of a mob. I have not really performed in public that much so I at some point became too nervous as to what the recital was going to look like. In the future, I intend to overcome this challenge by gathering up every bit of confidence that I have and make sure to keep eye contact with the audience. I firmly believe that in the end, it was worth it because I learned new skills being, Public speaking, time management, collaboration, creative thinking, self-expression and so forth. All these skills ensured that my performance was great during my saxophone lessons and that I was a fast learner. I would like to believe that these skills that I acquired in the recitals and all my saxophone lessons would be applicable in other areas of my life such as, in a family set up, school, career and also in my daily social interactions.

Below is an attached music sheet and audio for the song that played during the recital;