Saxophone Journey: From Novice to Virtuoso

Ascension to Perfection My family’s always been musically interested, I was a bit slow to catch on though. My mother and sister played the piano, and my father likes jazz. Since my sister played piano, and had become somewhat decent at it, my mother thought that I should be dragged into the musical arts. Time went by and I finally picked the saxophone around the beginning of fourth grade. We borrowed a saxophone from a friend and went to the music store where I met my first teacher, Matt Tracy. When I first started, I was taught a few notes at a time and for some reason thought that because I didn’t know all the notes, I wasn’t required to practice that much. Eventually, one week came where I played horrendously, Matt asked, “How much did

I moved on very quickly though and began learning under Jeff Price, who encouraged me to perform more. In Bath, I joined my first band. Justin Brown was first chair of my section, me wanting to beat him was part of what drove me to be a better performer. When Justin went to high school, I was considered the best musician in the band. In high school, I met with Justin once more, I also met Andrew Schonfeld. I believe that I am a better soloist than both of them, but because of experience, they both sit ahead of me. Andrew has taken some note of my skill saying, ¨You can do the solos at bandfest.¨ While Justin sits there, quiet as a mouse. I have remained dedicated to the saxophone for all of the time that I have been playing it, I practice intense pieces, and always push my abilities. By doing all this, I have become the best saxophonist in my age group and one of the best musicians in Bath High school. I may not have the credentials of playing in Solo and Ensemble or making the Spartan Wind Youth Symphony, but that's all going to change, my ascension to perfection is almost