Hi - can anyone recommend a good starter book for alto sax please? My clarinet playing daughter has been desperate to play sax for ages, and I "accidentally" bought one today so am after a book for the basics. The one we liked for clarinet was I think the Paul Harris basics book. The Andy Hampton one looks quite good, has anyone used it? Thanks.

Yes, it's my current tutor book of choice for most of my sax pupils : it's very good, certainly as good as Paul Harris' clarinet one.

Thank you........ off to buy!

Agreed here, took me through my first year. A very good book. Even has some composition tips in the back. Well worth a buy

Thanks - have ordered it and its on its way. Now just need the sax to arrive and we're in business!

Feel I must warn you that saxophones are very addictive and likely to multiply

When she says Soprano. Say no.

jk.

Any instrument entering our house seems to become addictive and multiply, we need a bigger house! Non-musical OH is past complaining by now Soprano sax was the reason daughter wanted to play it in the first place, but after a bit of research and helpful advice I managed to steer her in the direction of alto and she is very excited, can't wait for the sax to turn up!

We had alto first and then baritone. I much prefer the sop to bari as it's easier to carry

Saxes are great instruments particularly if you like jazz or modern repertoire.

Well, the sax turned up today, and is a huge hit! Daughter says it is a lot easier than clarinet, and has been playing for the last 2 hours, so I can see the poor clarinet is going to be a bit neglected for a while! Sax tuition book not here yet so resorting to internet for fingering charts, but she has picked it up really fast. Now I just have to prise her away from the sax for some violin practise!

It always seems a more successful option to go from clarinet to sax rather than the other way round. My son's first instrument is the sax, and clarinet is harder going for him. He has alto, soprano and tenor, but the soprano doesn't get much use.

Can I disagree with that?

I think that once you get the embrochure right on both then they complement each other really well. As for soprano see if he will listen to some jazz recordings on sop. I would suggest Brian Faheys band sign of the swinging cymbal.

@horseplay, good to hear your daughter is getting on well with Sax. Good Luck trying to get her to play her other instruments for a while...

Daughter takes violin and piano exams at the end of June, and I am really not convinced that now is the right time to introduce a new instrument, but I think it will work OK as we have come to an agreement that she is only allowed on the sax if she puts in some decent practise on the others too! She's usually OK with violin practise, but piano usually needs a bit of "encouragement"!. So far so good ........... but I still don't think the clarinet will get a look in for a while!

I know how she feels. Im not even getting a look at my new flute till my grade 8 is over...

It's hard balancing several instruments (I'm not too sure how Emsoboe does it) I don't think anything apart from saxophone will get a look in until after auditions in November. Then the clarinet and piano may get more of a look in!