The journey continues. I had my first lesson last week, which was a very enjoyable, if somewhat intimidating experience. Intimidating in the sense that it was the first time I’ve seen just how high the mountain is - there is a lot of climbing to be done. I keep reminding myself that, to paraphrase an iconic Australian shampoo commercial, it won’t happen overnight but it (hopefully) will happen.
It was also a slightly unusual experience in that I realised it was the first instrumental lesson I’ve had since around 2006/2007. Perhaps if I was more dedicated to the saxophone that might not have been the case, and to be sure I’ve had the occasional composition or improvisation lesson since then, and taken part in workshops and residencies, but being on the student’s side of a lesson like that was somewhere I haven’t been for a quite a long time. Also quite strange navigating the mismatch between my musical discourse and my nonexistent technique.
These peculiarities aside, it was so good getting feedback from an actual human being. I’m a big fan of self-sufficiency and self-teaching, and the sheer amount of information available online these days is staggering, but there are some types of feedback that you can only really get from being sat opposite someone with a tonne of experience. Why am I always ending up slightly sharp? Because my fourth finger is stretching too far. Such a simple, small observation like that has had such a big impact on my practicing this week. Just goes to show that it isn’t only the big concepts and ideas that can have a profound impact in the practice room.