Thinking about learning the saxophone

ToneControl

my 11 year old has just decided she's not interested in the Saxophone, 2 months after I bought a new one

It's a shame, she was doing well last year, and got the grade 1 passed easily enough, but now all she wants to do is youtube and makeup

I'm wondering whether to sell it or try to learn it myself

My guess is that it would take too long, and that Dave Gilmour probably had a lot of good lessons to help him learn

How hard is it to get to a musical sound

(also I have limited lung capacity, not sure if that's a big problem - I feel it's an effort to breath when I snorkel)

Snap

I would give it a go.

Thing is, the main challenge for me learning something new is committment. for example, a few years ago I got a banjo, but i still haven't mastered it. The reason is I get frustrated that I can;t play it as well as I can play the guitar, and it drives me up the wall. SO I get pissed off and stop persevering.

If you can avoid that, have a do, you might love it.

Then you can start playing some nasty 80s ballads!

Winny_Pooh

It's about as far from guitar playing as you can get. It depends if you like sax music. Jazz? Afro beat?

Bron_Yr_Aur

As far as wind instruments go, it's a nice easy one to learn. It's quite a nice relaxed embouchure, which won't wear you out, the fingering is pretty logical, and it's an ocatve key, not a 12th like a straight bore instrument which is a bonus.

Give it a go.

Teetonetal

I found it really, really easy to learn. But then I could already read music (helpful) and had played my sister's clarinet a bit.

I took two lessons straight away to get good technique and joined a band after a few months, I played in a ska / folk / punk band, so no need to go down the Jazz road if you don't want to. think less than jake: mighty, mighty, boss tones: save ferris, mad caddies etc..

I would agree with @Bron-Yr-Aur it's one of the easier instruments to learn.

EricTheWeary

I think all the sax players I've worked with played something else first, if you don't have to learn music theory at the same time as the technicalities of playing it will help a lot and most mature learners wouldn't bother with the dots, especially if you have a good ear.
I can only think of Martin Barre, Rory Gallagher and Billy Gibbons as famous guitarists who also played sax. Rory was very good indeed.
We have clarinet in our house looking unloved in similar circumstances but I've just no interest really, sax I might have tried and I still have an unresolved hankering for a trumpet.

thecolourbox

It's Adolphe Sax's birthday today, according to Google doodles anyway

I've always fancied learning jazz clarinet with the same kind of "ahh that'd be good to do" idea but I think as guitarists (and us pianists as well) we have a musical knack that works best with a  very logical visual cordination for notes. so like, with both piano and guitar, you know you just have to move your hands one way to go higher and the other to go lower. 

For Sax and clarinet, isn't it more about remembering what combinations of buttons to press and stuff for each note?

EricTheWeary

^ that's how it seemed when my son did clarinet grades. I think the sax might be a bit more obvious but I don't know.

axisus

+ 1 to give it a go. Why not throw a few weeks of effort in. I love to try new instruments. My 14 year old daughter loves to get her hands on as many instruments as possible. She's had no lessons on anything other than flute, but can pretty much straight away get music out of everything so far!