As usual for the start of semester, I got busy and wasn’t able to practice as much as I’d like in September. Hell, I didn’t even do up the altissimo charts I’d been planning to make, though I hope to get those done during the midterm break in a few weeks. (I’d like to have printed charts to practice from, honestly.) Mostly I played tenor and soprano, followed a little by alto. My bari’s been languishing. My practice sessions often have consisted of either Ferling or Klosé etudes—favoring the latter—followed by a tone study on one or another folk tune …

Practice continues apace, or maybe just a little heavier than before. My soprano sax got a basic tune-up last week and it plays a lot better than it was. It was previously a struggle to play, but now any problems that exist are down to my own chops and breath support. For that reason, while I was concentrating on tenor for most of August, I’ve been playing almost exclusively on soprano the last week or so.   I’m still working up personalized altissimo charts, with my Teal book all marked up in terms of what works for alto. (Tenor’s next, then …

Although I started getting physiotherapy for my back problem, I’ve still managed to be quite consistent with practicing over the past week, though I had to miss a couple of days—one due to my wife’s schedule, and another due to inability to book the practice room when I was available.  I’ve continued with the Ferling studies and also working my way through the altissimo fingerings in the Larry Teal. I should be doing a couple of altissimo fingering charts for myself soon, one for alto and one for tenor. (I haven’t started working on that on my bari yet.) When …

Last week, practice was a bit of a mess. I had trouble booking the room on a couple of days—the practice space I use has been getting busy!—and I also caught a cold, which usually occasions time off practice for me.  On the days I did practice, I spent time on tunes as usual, but also on some Ferling Studies (yes, really!). I still am not sold on the idea I need to get these perfect, but they have some handy fingering exercises and challenges in them, even if they’re not really my kind of thing to play. It’s wild …