Best starters saxophone (package) for under £350

fazza82

I've been looking to learn saxophone for the last 5 years and I've decided that I'm buying one.

However, I have no clue what makes a good saxophone or what I'd need as well as the sax itself. e.g. mouthpiece, reeds etc

So the question is, what is a good saxophone for beginner/intermediate players and what 'accessories' would you suggest are good for beginner/intermediate players?

It doesn't have to be an actual package, for example a yamaha package, it just needs to include everything I'd NEED to start learning.

Like I said, I've just scraped the money together and £350 if possible is the most I'd like to pay.

If this is in the wrong category, I'm sorry. Couldn't find any forum for musical instruments.

Thanks for any help, I just need some direction in where to start looking.
Fazza82

Lifeforms

I can't personally help you with a brand. BUT what sax do you want to learn?
http://www.the-saxophone.com/types-of-saxophones.html
Avoid the cheapo ones on ebay, and I realise that you might not know what those are, but google every brand you look at, especially you tube to actually listen to it being played. Please, please don't work under the assumption that it's dirt cheap, therefore it's perfect to learn on. The qualities of cheapy makes/brands can be prohibitive to actual learning, and how hard you find them to play. As a brand new player you will also not know what is you, or what is the Sax. Also quite often they're not right, pads, alignment, springs, keys etc. Fixing a crappy one can be far costlier than actually buying a decent one.

Have you actually ever tried one before? If you have, and decide you want to do it, fair do's. Otherwise if you have never actually sat and played with one, I'd recommend you to rent instead of buy from a decent music shop (not a guitar/drum centre, with a few flutes, sax, and clarinet shop), a proper one that deals with lots of brands of instruments, preferable wind instruments, that can also repair, and accurately assess the instruments they sell. AKA not a shop that says, hmm that'll do, we can sell that cheaply. But one that will play the instrument, if you're not able to, and can honestly sell it at a price that is reasonable.

You could realistically rent for 6 months, try it, either buy at the end when you're comfortable with it, or say no thanks, tried, but not for me. Renting also generally reduces the cost of said instrument at the end of the term period.

If you find said shop, keep hold of it, for repairs you will be regular customers! (we have a fantastic Edinburgh shop that we've used to buy, and repair our various instruments) You don't necessarily have to buy, but it'll give you an idea of how easy to play it is, and price wise. You could then buy on the web for cheaper prices.

fazza82

Oops... See, evidence I haven't the faintest idea. One of the most important pieces of information missed out.

I think I'd like to learn Alto.

And as far as renting one is concerned, I have discovered that a lot of people advise you to do it. BUT, I do know for certain that learning sax is one of the things I want to do. So buying one for a chunk of money is more than enough motivation for me to learn.

Lifeforms

To be fair that should be the biggest motivation, but it isn't always. Having played with a community band for several years, the number of people who did this, figuring that they've spent money out they will learn it was quite high. Then after several months they dwindled on to other instruments, or just not being so good as they just didn't want to play it.

You have a few options with the Sax, tenor is generally the adult one to learn, as a kid quite often you're put on the smaller saxes (Alto), and develop from there. On ebay you can actually get student models (which is probably what you're going to be looking for) as relative unplayed, newish. Because people give up on them.

I self taught myself the flute, and clarinet. BUT I bought a £50 flute and got so so lucky with not getting a cheap Chinese flute (blind leading the blind pretty much on ebay at that time!). Eventually once I was certain that I wanted to play it properly, I bought a proper flute several months on. Same with my mum, and her Soprano sax.

As you're not sure, can I advise you to at least head into a proper wind instrument shop, and ask advice. Try a couple of the sizes, find out the easiest type to learn from scratch, and even if you can't get any sound out of them, or squeals, see how you feel with each size, and then get someone to play so you can see if you like the sound of it. As you'll have read, there are different sizes, therefore producing different tones of sound, and some do have preference with one over the other. (soprano being higher etc)

Don't commit yourself on the whim of wanting to learn to an expensive instrument. Commit yourself to trying to learn on a rented or cheaper second hand (usually also available from good music shops too) and consider if you keep it up, commit to it fuller, and want to advance beyond, then you would buy a better one.

(oh and you also need to decide what colour/tone you want too! Metalised, bronzed, brass ooh er, and if they come in pinks, purples, greens etc, be wary of the novelty value versus the build quality!)

Can I be a bit rude and ask if you can read music too?

fazza82

I can't read music fluently but after doing GCSE music (I know not a big deal) and playing guitar for 10 years (as a hobby).
I'm pretty confident I could, given the time learn pretty quickly.

mikey72

I'm afraid the price is a bit low. Best starter is the Yamaha YAS275, but the Jupiter JAS-567GL is a good alternative. You may move on beyond the Jupiter is a matter of months though, as the Yamaha is so much easier to play, and sounds so much better. If you can buy a secondhand one, go for it, the Yamaha comes with a decent mouthpiece, and with Vandoren reeds you can't lose.

Lifeforms

Having some background will help, but you will find it a bit frustrating to begin with. Book wise you're limited to Baa baa black sheep, simple songs, carols etc with the basic starter books (that teach you notes as well as fingering). Prolly if you can try and fast track reading music, you will make learning the sax far more fun. You can then grab a fingering chart from a book, and use that in conjunction with your own music, or if you want to play by ear, to what you listen to.

If you feel you want to be professional, top of the range, high grades then you'll also be looking for a grading tutor. Thus said, I found grades boring (as a kid learning the piano, to playing with them for the flute) so went and taught myself by playing songs I knew, liked, were sometimes complex, sometimes not. Benefited more from that, than practising all the necessary grade stuff, scales etc.

I was lucky that I could read at least treble clef when I started the flute. As a kid my mum had an organ that we could play, she got fed up of writing in the notes on the music, so gave me a scale with the notes on and told me to do it Eventually I got fed up too, and thus learnt to read music myself.

Good luck with it all! I hope you do do it, as you'll get a lot of pleasure with the achievement alone of being someone who can play a wind instrument. The satisfaction I have now of just being able to pick up a flute or clarinet (endless whistles, recorders etc) and just play it is vast. Still really glad I did it, and haven't regretted it at all. (I've gone through a brain injury since and haven't been able to get back to what I played like before, but more so now It's still incredible that I can play it)

mikey72

As to alto or tenor, go into a decent music shop, and see which suits you.