Jazz & Sax Myths

- You need the same mouthpiece as your favorite player in order to sound like him.

- You need to do lots of drugs to be a great player.

- Talent and/or being 'gifted' is the more important than hard work & tenacity.

These three misconceptions have caused a great many players to experience far more greif than they should have. I think it's sad that so many cats are giving p because they don't think they're talented enough, getting high all the time in the name of deep music, and buying new mouthpieces only to find that they sound like themselves, maybe with a hint of their favorite sax player mixed in only in timbre of tone (not tone quality - I don't want to mislead anyone with the word 'quality').

So, if you've subscribed to any of these myths, you're in luck! Now you have been saved from years of greif. Below are the facts...

- To sound like Johnny Longhorn, lift his solos. The gear is relatively unimprtant compared to how many transcriptions of this cat you do. Play along with their albums and you'll sound like them. Just keep the gear somewhere in the same ballpark.

- Forget the drugs. They won't do squat for your playing, and eventually if you get messed up with the hard stuff your life will go down the toilet. They won't make you play the blues better, they won't give your playing 'soul', and they definately won't give you groove.

- If you go to a karaoke bar, you'll see great talented singers wail out their impressions of their favorite singers. Most have no formal training, only some natural talent. These are not the singers who go on to get record deals. The singers who work hard at their art are the ones who go on to be great singers. There's no substitution for hard work, and in the long run that karaoke singer will be wishing they'd put a little more effort into learning how to sing. When I was a kid I had some natural talent, but most of all I worked hard. All through high school I busted my butt to get better at playing the sax, and eventually I ended up at a respectable post secondary music program at 17 years of age, exempt from most 1st year courses. I didn't just stop there - I had a lot of work to do. Talent isn't even a part of the equation.

If you know of any other music myths post them in this posts' comments.

L8R