It's great to hear you're studying Gregs lesson books. I'm a professional saxophonist, and i would like to comment on some things you can do. The first thing and the most important thing is your tone. You need a larger tip opening on your mouthpiece so you can get more air through the horn. Next, you need to practice long tones with dynamics. Soft loud, and loud to soft. I noticed almost no dynamics in your playing, and the sound is very thin. You want to add more core to the tone. Most beginners start with a soft reed and go up in strength as they develop. Your pitch was good, so i think you can handle a larger tip opening. Mouthpieces are assigned tip opening sizes. I play an 8 star, but i've been playing a long time. I use a reed strength of 2.5. A great sax player to listen to is Michael Brecker. He also played a 2.5 reed strength and could achieve super human technique. I taught music for 30 years and have been retired now for a while, but i still gig and play close to 200 dates a year. I hope you have fun and get really great on that tenor sax. You have excellent potential. Make sure you practice every day so you can achieve strength and muscle memory. Long tones are a great way to start your practice. As you become more advanced, look into voicing and overtones for developing all the partials of each pitch produced. DR Wally Wallace has some great overtone development exercises on line. Good luck, and enjoy your music journey. Patrick Marino😊
@@patrickmarino8601 Hello Patrick thanks for taking the time to provide me with your thoughts on my playing. I have begun working more on long tones related to dynamics. I understand what you mean about volume. As far as tone I am planning on buying a larger-tip-opening mouthpiece sometime in 2025 probley. I've heard of Michael brecked but I'll have to find some of his music to download and listen to I agree with you that consistent practice is so important. I am enjoying this journey and also getting feedback on my videos. It's especially nice to hear from pro's like yourself. Cheers!
Sounds like you're making a lot of progress. However can't help but notice: Your shoulders are elevated and clearly very tense, your neck is also at an unnatural angle. These are leading to a pinched tone and jerky fingering transitions. Try to do some long tone exercises in a mirror. Focus on keeping your muscles relaxed and maintaining the same posture you have when the sax isn't in your hands. This will improve everything you're doing and allow you to play longer with less fatigue and strain.
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It's great to hear you're studying Gregs lesson books. I'm a professional saxophonist, and i would like to comment on some things you can do. The first thing and the most important thing is your tone. You need a larger tip opening on your mouthpiece so you can get more air through the horn. Next, you need to practice long tones with dynamics. Soft loud, and loud to soft. I noticed almost no dynamics in your playing, and the sound is very thin. You want to add more core to the tone. Most beginners start with a soft reed and go up in strength as they develop. Your pitch was good, so i think you can handle a larger tip opening. Mouthpieces are assigned tip opening sizes. I play an 8 star, but i've been playing a long time. I use a reed strength of 2.5. A great sax player to listen to is Michael Brecker. He also played a 2.5 reed strength and could achieve super human technique. I taught music for 30 years and have been retired now for a while, but i still gig and play close to 200 dates a year. I hope you have fun and get really great on that tenor sax. You have excellent potential. Make sure you practice every day so you can achieve strength and muscle memory. Long tones are a great way to start your practice. As you become more advanced, look into voicing and overtones for developing all the partials of each pitch produced. DR Wally Wallace has some great overtone development exercises on line. Good luck, and enjoy your music journey. Patrick Marino😊
@@patrickmarino8601 Hello Patrick thanks for taking the time to provide me with your thoughts on my playing. I have begun working more on long tones related to dynamics. I understand what you mean about volume. As far as tone I am planning on buying a larger-tip-opening mouthpiece sometime in 2025 probley. I've heard of Michael brecked but I'll have to find some of his music to download and listen to I agree with you that consistent practice is so important. I am enjoying this journey and also getting feedback on my videos. It's especially nice to hear from pro's like yourself. Cheers!
Sounds like you're making a lot of progress. However can't help but notice:
Your shoulders are elevated and clearly very tense, your neck is also at an unnatural angle. These are leading to a pinched tone and jerky fingering transitions.
Try to do some long tone exercises in a mirror. Focus on keeping your muscles relaxed and maintaining the same posture you have when the sax isn't in your hands. This will improve everything you're doing and allow you to play longer with less fatigue and strain.
@@PeterDeMarco This is incredibly helpful, thank you! I'll work on keeping my shoulders down and neck more relaxed.