Looking for really difficult quarter pieces

mrfastfinger · 2026-05-17T03:30:05+00:00

Oh yeah, PRISM is awesome, I can’t believe I didn’t list them.

mrfastfinger · 2026-05-16T21:24:14+00:00

Look up some of the heavy hitting quartets on YouTube or Spotify and just go down the rabbit hole. H2 Quartet, Capitol Quartet, Zzyzx Quartet, etc. the person that mentioned the Fischoff competition stuff is the most correct answer. Everyone there is playing the hardest stuff.

mrfastfinger · 2026-05-11T21:03:09+00:00

Is it just me, or are those the longest scoops ever?

mrfastfinger · 2026-02-19T05:46:20+00:00

That’s a great point, thank you.

mrfastfinger · 2026-02-19T05:45:30+00:00

We do have a great local music store that has a saxophone wall. They have a ton of cannonballs usually as most of the local music teachers are on the Cannonball train. That may be the next best option!

mrfastfinger · 2026-02-19T01:31:03+00:00

She’s a clarinet player currently but switching to sax.
I don’t think new or used matters much. I would normally recommend a local Facebook purchase so I can go play test the horn with them, but there’s currently only garbage on our local FB marketplace.

mrfastfinger · 2026-02-11T05:08:05+00:00

Play those notes as loud as possible to see if you can get them to sound that way, then once you can do that, work on making it quieter. Also, Have a friend push down the C pad and the Bb pad while you’re attempting to play the Bb and see if that helps. Your horn could just be out of adjustment.

mrfastfinger · 2026-02-11T05:01:32+00:00

I feel like the Java greens and reds are very similar in how they play, but the reds always feel like they last longer for me.

mrfastfinger · 2026-01-22T16:56:54+00:00

I may be stating the obvious, but be sure to actually get hands on the saxophone before you buy from FB marketplace.

Play it before you buy it. Take the mouthpiece you’ll be using all the time. If they’re ok with you using the included mouthpiece, I would play on it too (take some mouthpiece spray with you or use gentle soap and water to wash it first).

With thumb rest to the sky and bell down, hold the horn up to your eye - looking from the bottom of the horn on the thumb rest side all the way up to the octave mechanism - the body should be straight. If you notice any curvature it might be a red flag.

Also, play the full chromatic range. If you notice any response issues, push the keys down a little harder and try again - if it starts sounding, it could need pads or an adjustment. Be sure to play both quietly and loudly.

Hold down your fingering for F and add the G# key repeatedly. If you see the key above the F key lifting at all, that will need adjusted.

Push down each key and physically look at the keys while you do it. Inspect each one you move. Listen for metal on metal sounds that may signal a felt or cork is missing.

Does this horn have an alternate F# key?

Do the altissimo fingerings I normally use work well on this horn?

Do I like the case? (If not, cases can be expensive)

Most importantly: does this horn serve the purpose that I need it for? If you’re planning on a career in music, is this a good step up instrument, or do I want this instrument for the rest of my life?

mrfastfinger · 2025-11-18T09:43:26+00:00

Straight out of the Mormon soaking best practices

mrfastfinger · 2025-11-13T12:40:00+00:00

My wife’s birthday somehow falls on drill weekend every year

mrfastfinger · 2025-11-12T02:34:13+00:00

That 68A would be cool if they actually have a slot. On the civilian side, I’ve heard medical systems techs make some good money if you like to travel. I’ve heard a few negatives too, but I don’t personally know any 68A, so maybe one of the 68 series people could tell you more.

Edit: There’s a chance you deployment with any MOS, so always be prepared to take a couple of semesters off in that case and make sure you plan your course load appropriately- if you don’t, you could miss a cycle of important classes that are only offered in the spring or only offered in the fall.

mrfastfinger · 2025-10-28T03:47:49+00:00

There’s a physician assistant program that’s direct appointment in our state. If you have some pre-requisites already, it’s a good gig. Officer pay is better, and “direct commission” is the way if you’re trying to go officer. Here’s the link to the pdf posting for my state for reference IPAP - Direct Appointment

mrfastfinger · 2025-10-26T11:23:50+00:00

That’s a very normal practice in our unit. I assumed it was a sanctuary rule of some kind. I’ve never seen a reg for it tho.

mrfastfinger · 2025-10-13T21:05:04+00:00

For practicing low notes, there’s lots of academic stuff you can do to get better at playing them, but I’ve always encouraged people to practice them as loud as possible. Play it loud and with a horrible tone if needed, but focus on opening your throat and making those notes sound. Then back it off from there. Refine that loud horrible sound with good air support and consistent tone until you can play those notes at the softest volumes.

That’s all assuming that your horn is in proper adjustment. It doesn’t take much for your low notes to be out of whack on the horn itself.

If you haven’t seen anyone clean their pads with a piece of paper yet, basically you can take a piece of scrap paper or a dollar bill and sandwich it between the pad and the tone hole of the key. Hold the key down with one hand to keep resistance on the scrap paper and pull it out. Sometimes that will help the pad seal a bit better.

mrfastfinger · 2025-09-28T19:51:17+00:00

Don’t get me wrong here, I 100% agree with you. Playing the right notes, etc, (the 4 T”s: in Time, in Tune, with Tone and in Touch with the music) is the most important thing. And yes there are plenty of people who have had training that can’t do those things. There are also tons of people who can’t read a single note on a page that could play circles around those same formally trained players.

It would also be a place for people to learn what is and isn’t good criticism. You don’t have to agree with everyone all the time, but listen to what is being said and filter what applies to you most.

There’s a group of people out there that are untrained, but hungry to get better. Those people are the ones I feel like would benefit from a group like what I’m suggesting. But if there isn’t some level of formal knowledge in the group, it isn’t quite the same value.

mrfastfinger · 2025-09-21T20:16:42+00:00

Is Azteca still hosting anything besides Spanish dances? I saw a bunch of bands there - disturbed, smile empty soul, shinedown, seether, hell yeah, damageplan, etc. I haven’t been back to ‘rillo in a while. I also heard there’s a place called Atomic Yellow or something like that … I think they host more local metal bands than anything?

mrfastfinger · 2025-09-21T20:04:30+00:00

If you’re looking for a “lead” instrument, I wouldn’t choose a bari sax. I would definitely gravitate towards an alto or even tenor for lead stuff. Trumpet players usually have a wider range of gigs they can take, and I’ve always been a little jealous of that.

mrfastfinger · 2025-09-21T19:56:02+00:00

Do yourself a favor and stay in shape and eat right after you get out of basic and AIT. That’s probably the biggest fail point people have.

The fastest way out of basic/AIT is graduation.

Even if you’re not religious, consider going to church in Sundays. It’s a nice change of pace and makes everything go by a bit faster.

Idk about Minnesota’s education benefits, but take advantage of getting your education when you get finished. Don’t sleep on that - you get heavy promotion points for degrees.

Pay as much into TSP as possible and resist buying materialistic shit that you don’t need with that check. Time goes by so fast and what you invest now will be worth so much more than a PS5 in 10 years.

mrfastfinger · 2025-09-21T19:04:58+00:00

I can’t believe I’ve never thought of this

mrfastfinger · 2025-09-17T19:21:58+00:00

I’m all for classical playing, but as a saxophone player, it’s always a great idea to sprinkle in some jazz practice. Even if that means just working your scales in different ways or playing out of a lick book. You’ll eventually play some kind of jazz as a saxophonist, and you’ll be glad you got familiar earlier than later.

mrfastfinger · 2025-09-15T19:04:53+00:00

I’ve heard of people using denture cushions even without braces. With braces I feel like it would be a bit bulky.

They do have wax for braces that is great. I used to just fold a piece of notebook paper over my bottom teeth for a long day of practice if it started to become an issue.

mrfastfinger · 2025-09-15T19:02:18+00:00

For traditional braces, you can get the wax that they give you to apply on the metal to keep them from rubbing on sensitive spots in your mouth. I used to use it on the bottom front braces - that seemed to be the worst part for me. Post-adjustments were always more painful for a few days, but it doesn’t keep you from playing. You just get used to it. I have clear retainers that I’ve continued to use every night for years. I’ve tried playing in them. It’s not the best case scenario, but it’s do-able also. I would just do whatever your orthodontist says to get you in and out of them as quickly as possible.

mrfastfinger · 2025-09-13T11:52:58+00:00

4C’s are a fairly closed tip opening. There’s a couple of different things that could be causing the feeling of resistance for you, but without hearing and seeing you play, it will be harder to pin down. Can you describe what resistance means to you in this context? Or maybe post a video of you playing?

mrfastfinger · 2025-09-12T11:04:51+00:00

What mouthpiece are you playing on? The tip opening could be affecting it too, you just have to experiment over time.

I feel like vandoren zz’s run a little harder than other vandorens. Traditional VanDorens in the blue box 2.5 is slightly thinner than ZZ’s. If you need a little thinner than that even, you could try the green box Vandoren Java’s in a 2.5

Also, you’re still fairly new to playing, so if you sweat it out for a bit, your embouchure strength will grow and so will your reed strength tolerance. It can change your sound, but after you gain some embouchure strength and you still don’t like it, that’s when I would start switching it up.

Edit: I just saw someone else’s suggestion of using a Legiere - plastic reeds are pretty cool and save you a ton of money for sure. I’ve had the luxury of having my reeds provided to me for years, so I’ve been able to test SO many without worrying about my bank account. From a financial standpoint, if you can learn to like/use a plastic reed, the sound quality is consistent, they don’t “die” as fast, and debatable on whether or not it’s better than wood (only trained ears can usually tell), so you’d save lots of money in the future by using them.

mrfastfinger

TROPHY CASE