Reddit reviews The Art of Saxophone Playing
We found 3 Reddit comments about The Art of Saxophone Playing. Here are the top ones, ranked by their Reddit score.
Written by Larry Teal, this book is considered the "Saxophonist's Bible"It covers all aspects of sax playing and states it in a way that all can easily understand
"Sorry nobody is answering your question..." Kind of discouraging. Here is an answer! I've been experimenting with making my own reeds for about a year now. As far as resources are concerned here's what I've discovered. Obviously the majority of the materials that cover reed making are meant for double reeds and clarinet reeds.
In my experience reed making is kind of expensive to get into as far as getting a good reed knife (around $100) but buying the cane in the form of pre-cut blanks, is relatively cheap (about $1.20 per blank). Getting into making your own blanks would more or less require a small mortgage. Keeping your knife sharp is very important so it's usually good to invest a sharpening stone. I use a water stone which is great for reed knives because they only need very fine honing.
I would also research specifically where reeds and cane from, which is mainly France, South America, and now China/other Asian countries. It's good to know about what reeds are (from the plant Arundo Donax) and how they react to environmental changes and whatnot.
The general process takes some getting used to and a lot of practice but after a bit of work it gets easier to see exactly which areas of the reed need to be adjusted. I'm not at the point where reed making is economic because it does take a lot of time (however gives you 100% control over the reed) and energy. What I have gotten out of learning all of this stuff is how to adjust reeds to my liking when I don't get one that plays well out of the box.
I realize this is a bit of long post, but I could provide some more information if you all would find it useful!
If you have the Universal Method for Saxophone, by Paul Deville, that is the Bible. Here are some more suggestions. The Ferling is tough.
The Ten Best Saxophone Books Ever
48 Famous Studies op 31 by Ferling
Technique of the Saxophone: Scale Studies by Joe Viola
The art of Saxophone Playing by Larry Teal
Larry Teal is the best (IMO) place to start. Get The Art of Saxophone Playing, work it diligently, and you will make measurable and immense progress.