Saxophone For Dummies

This review is a little premature but I want to inform others who might be thinking about buying this book. After reading all the positive reviews I decided to purchase the book as I'm an absolute adult beginner. I wanted the paperback version but wasn't willing to pay the unrealistic and greedy prices by those who happen to have them for sale. With that being said I took the chance on the Kindle version. One of the reviewers made note of it being a nightmare to download the music samples to his Kindle, which otherwise comes with a CD if the paperback version is purchased. That concerned me a little but here's what I did. I downloaded the "Kindle for PC App." to my laptop. It didn't list it as Windows 10 compatible but I gave it a shot anyway. Once downloaded and installed you're able to access your Kindle account from your computer. It's actually very simple to use and from there I could access the Kindle store where I downloaded Saxophone for Dummies. Everything went smoothly. On the last page of the book there's a link that takes you to a website where it explains how to download the CD / music files to your computer. Again, that step went very smoothly. Now comes the catch, but don't panic. The website states that WINZIP is needed to open the file after it's downloaded to your computer. That isn't true, if you have winzip that's even better but if you don't, like me, and don't want to pay $29 for it you can still open the files by right clicking your mouse and choosing "EXTRACT ALL." Once extracted I made a shortcut to my desk top. I'm not overly computer savvy so if I could figure this out I'm sure anyone else can too. Bottom line is that if your only concern about buying the Kindle version is that you won't get the music files you needn't be concerned. I hope this information can help someone.

This "Dummies" book taught me how to finger a saxophone - regardless of the type (Soprano, Alto, Tenor or baritone)- long before I even had access to my Soprano Saxophone. When I did get my rented sax via UPS, I was able to start playing it almost immediately as if I knew what I was doing, despite the fact that I had never played one before. The book taught me almost everything I needed to know so I could pick up the horn, get acclimated to the keys and then start playing. It was amazing to me how much confidence I got from the book before ever holding a saxophone! The book also gives the reader a lot of insight to the different types of sax music and some of the legends playing - Jazz, Swing, Latin, etc.I had played a clarinet many years ago and had just started taking clarinet lessons again, but for those of you who know the clarinet, there isn't a great transference of learning between the 2 instruments (at least not in my mind). So it was the "Dummies" book that helped me to get a good start with the sax, and not the fact that I was playing the clarinet. BTW, I had read the "Clarinet for Dummies" book before I started playing the clarinet again, and it also helped me with that instrument.If you want to play the saxophone, this book is worth its weight in gold. If you buy it, you won't be disappointed!

I didn't know anything about Saxophones (nothing). This book brought everything to light in a very simple and straight forward way. But It's not just for beginners, the book moves right into the intermediate areas as well. From how to put the new Sax together, where to put your fingers how to make a sound, and what everything means in those basic play & learn books you will buy, when you actually play the horn. It's a go to book to explain things you will not understand in the other books. I would recommend the book to anyone just starting out before they take the new Saxophone out of the box.

Great to buy if you are begining to play sax. Very well structured and covering all key areas of the sax learning process (including history, sax mechanics, etc.). I consider it is a perfect book to face a serious learning process of the instrument but if you are in a hurry to enjoy playing great songs, I recommend the Johny Ferreira's book "How to play the saxophone" as the perfect complement.

I cannot say enough abought this book. I just purchased my second book which I will be giving to my granddaughter. She started playing the Alto Sax at her school and I decided to buy myself one because I've always wanted to learn how to play it. Since I began reading this book, I also have been speaking with her on some of the great detailed explanations, and am very surprised that she has no clue about a lot of the great techniques taught in this book. I have my sax now and am doing great learning to play. My advice is to take your time and master each section no matter how simple or trivial it may seem.

I was already an experienced flutist when I decided to expand my repetoire to include alto sax. So, I bought this recently published book (2012) already knowing what a new player needs to learn in order to feel comfortable and to excel with an instrument. While there are many fine flute books out there that I would highly recommend, I couldn't find one for sax, and I bought this book expecting much more from it. Unfortunately, it's another disappointment. Most of the difficult subjects, such as how and why to pick a particular reed and strength that might be best for which player, or how to grapple with intonation problems, are barely touched upon. Most of the book focuses on the same formulaic approach of showing how to finger and play a particular note and then going on with the next note. Nothing in detail is added, such as the fact that the G# key on the sax almost always sticks, or what to do about that. The book lacks creativity, readability and personal interest. It appears as though the authors were given a constrained structure to follow in writing it. Each time I have tried to look something up or tried to read it for enjoyment, it has failed me. In my experience, a well written book should not need to have a CD included with it. If you want anything more than the most basic information, keep looking for a better book.

Start using it soon,my sax just arrived today

Excellent education. Everybody are copying it. World class! My opinion is the one of a beginner, but my professor is equally thrilled!

Haven't finished but an awesome piece of guidance for true learners

Just a note that the kindle version does have the mp3s available for download (for free) - the link is in the 'download' section of table of contents, which leads you to the publisher site. Both tenor and alto mp3's are available. I found the book excellent for the novice.

Nach 10 Jahren Pause habe ich wieder angefangen, Tenorsaxophone spielen zu lernen. Das Buch bietet eine ungeheure Menge nützlischer Informationen über das Instrument (natürlich auch Alt & Co.), von Einkaufs- bis hin zu Pflegetipps. Dazu auch wirklich nachvollziehbare, umsetzbare und gute Lektionen und Übungsbeispiele. Einziger Kritikpunkt: Beim e-book, das ich mir gekauft habe, waren die vielen, beim Buch wohl vorhandenen Soundtracks nicht mit dabei, man könnte und sollte dafür sorgen, dass man sich diese als mp3-Dateien herunterladen kann. Sonst sehr empfehlenswert.Nachtrag und Update: Ich muss meinen Kritikpunkt zurücknehmen. Ganz am Ende des Buches ist ein Hinweis auf eine Webadresse, unter der man die mp3-Dateien ganz einfach und problemlos herunterladen kann. Super, und damit hat der Band alle 5 Sterne verdient. Auch als ebook. Ich entschuldige mich für die voreilige Kritik.