Re-Learning How to Play the Saxophone

    It has been more than 7 years since I played my saxophone on a regular basis. Even then, I only played twice a week  for church services. Maybe you can call it the seven year itch, or maybe it's just the musician/artist within me looking for an outlet for the talent within me.... but I've decided to jump back on the  saxophone recently.
     Let's be honest, I really wasn't a piano/keyboard/organ player seven years ago.
     My testimony is that God stirred up the little gift within me when my church needed it. My father was a great organist and musician. he understood the meaning behind the notes and how to make different sounds by just changing one note in a chord.

    i never really made it to that level. Of course i never really had any formal training on the keyboard either. Most of what I played was mimmickry. I play by ear. Which is good up to a point, but I needed some lessons to reinforce the knowledge that I already had of the instrument.
     Anyway, for years my saxophones have taken the back burner. They had to. Each week, I was learning one, two sometimes four or five new songs. There was no time in the day to fit in an extra note.

      Now, I find myself in a new place, new church, and the void that God used me to fill in my home church is not there. So, I have to do something with my time. We all know what the bible says about the men and the "Talents."  The true translation of the word talents in the NIV seems to be "bags of gold".. but for a long time that word has meant more to me than just how we deal with money. Jesus is trying to show us how we should treat any talent/ability/gift that God gives us.  I believe praise is a gift.. as valuable as silver and gold to God.. and I never want to stop praising him. That's why I'm getting back on the saxophone. I probably didn't need to record each song,... but why not. I put everything else on line right?
    After sitting so long, unused... I was surprised at how well each instrument (tenor sax and alto sax) aged. The tenor only has one pad that needs to be replaced. They both have a couple sticky keys. Anyway, I've created a youtube playlist where I'll be posting each video. In the beginning, I think it'll sound pretty bad. There was a lot of squaking and squeeking in the first video... Video number two was better. But I hope to do some duets with myself eventually. It should be like getting back on a bike, right? We'll see.