How to Learn the Saxophone If You Play the Flute

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So you can already play the Flute but you want to try Saxophone. In case you don’t already know, the two instruments are quite compatible with each other so it won’t be too hard to do.

Steps

1. Find someone who will lend you a saxophone (your school might have one you can borrow) in case you start and don’t enjoy it. See if you can borrow it over the holidays if you think you will have more time then to practice.
2. Try to get your flute teacher to teach you saxophone if he/she can as they will know how you learn.
3. If you are learning over the holiday, have one lesson at the beginning of the holidays to get you started off in the right direction and borrow a beginners book (Try ‘Saxophone Basics’ but I’m sure the other ones are just as good).
4. Do not practice your flute before your first lesson if you can help it because it will just confuse you.
5. Once you’ve got the hang of the blowing and where to put your fingers get your teacher to show you things like palm keys, the octave key, how to play lower notes such as B and Bflat and notes like Fsharp where the fingering is slightly different. These may confuse you a bit because you will have to remember them separately from the fingerings that are the same as on the flute.
6. Try to practice as often as possible in the time you have and don’t be afraid to learn new notes/techniques. Although at first you will want to practice flute and saxophone quite separately (eg one in the morning and one after lunch) you will want to practice moving between the two in case you ever have to do it in a concert or something.
7. Try to be gentle on your embouchure and tongue because it will be quite hard for them to adjust.

Tips

• Do not forget to practice the flute while you are learning the saxophone.
• Once you have got used to the saxophone you can try playing some of your flute music on it but you may have to transpose this a bit.

Warnings

• If you are finding that you are getting ‘Saxophone related injuries’ (any pain that you think is related to the saxophone) get someone to help you.
• Do not forget how to play the flute while learning saxophone.

Related wikiHows

• How to Play the Saxophone
• How to Troubleshoot a Saxophone
• How to Remove a Cleaning Swab from a Soprano Saxophone
• How to Assemble a Saxophone

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