Saxophone

I know I mentioned a few times that I played the saxophone. Now, I must elaborate on the awesome times I have had because I played saxophone. In my district, we were allowed to choose an instrument to play starting in 4th grade. I don't remember why I wanted to play saxophone. I think I loved the sound. It was my first choice, and the district gave me that choice. In elementary school, I did not like playing the sax at all. I could not stand practicing. However, in 5th and 6th grade, I had the opportunity to play NYSSMA. I didn't have to do it if I didn't want to. It is a competition against yourself. You get to choose a song from a list, practice it for a few months, then play it in front of a judge. I got perfect scores both years. I wanted to quit so badly because I could not stand practicing. My mom knew I was too good to quit. She wouldn't let me do it. I cannot tell you how happy I am that she did not let me quit. In junior high, I joined the Jazz Ensemble. The music played during Jazz was so much more upbeat and fun than the music we played during regular band. In high school, I joined the marching band. We did many parades, including two in Disney World. You read about those trips in a previous blog post. I also did pep band, which would perform at the high school football games. Unfortunately, our team wasn't anywhere near as good as they were this year. That music is a ton of fun to play. I also did Jazz Ensemble again. My main instrument is the alto sax. In jazz, I played the tenor sax. The sound that comes out of that sax is lower than the alto sax. It's also a bigger sax. My junior year, I was given the opportunity to play in the Siena pep band! I have always loved Siena basketball. Now they wanted me to play in the pep band for every home game, get court side seats, not pay to see the games, and get paid a little to play. It didn't take me too long to come up with my answer! Again, unfortunately, Siena had two terrible seasons when I played in the pep band. It was probably my fault. I played in NYSSMA every year from 5th grade until 12th grade. From 9th-12th, I did two NYSSMA performances, one for classical music and one for jazz. I did very well in each NYSSMA performance. I thoroughly enjoyed practicing the sax in high school. I considered being a music teacher at one point. I changed my mind because I didn't want to learn the other instruments. I played in a band in my first year of college. The fun was gone and I stopped playing. I haven't played the saxophone in many years. I still have two saxophones sitting in my room. I would love to play it again, but can't seem to find time. I also don't have any reeds left. I finally threw them out about a year ago because they were beyond gross. Choosing to play the saxophone and not quitting were two of the best decisions I have ever made.