The Yamaha YAS23 alto saxophone features a clear durable baked-on epoxy lacquer finish. Nickel plated power-forged keys provide excellent durability while the refined tone hole dimensions and placement provide superior intonation. Is it good enough for a first year of band?

Yamaha's are great horns, especially the YAS23 for beginners. I had one from 6th grade all the way until the end of my sophomore year of high school. It's a very sturdy horn and it lasts. Someone a couple posts ago told you that if you begin on a Yamaha you'll never be able to play anything else....sorry but that's bull**it. All I have ever owned are Yamaha's and just a month ago I purchased a Selmer Serie III black laquer soprano. The transition wasn't difficult at all, I just had to work on voicing for a couple weeks since corks on Selmers are shorter, and therefore require a different oral cavity to play them. I say go for the YAS23 for a great student model horn. Of course there are other makes out there....Selmer and Yamaha being at the top right now. I would suggest going down to your local music store and trying out a 23 just to make sure you like the tone and quality. It's good to give yourself options, so try out a couple different brands they suggest. Good luck!

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I have been playing flute for almost 2 years now so the fingerings on saxaphone arnt really to difficult. I've had the alto sax for about 2 weeks now and can play most of my scales and 3rds. How much should i practice and for how long? i wanna play jazz next year.

Snap! I play the flute too and i also play the saxaphone now!!
The saxaphone is a great instrument when you get pretty good and it sounds great with jazzy pieces.
Playing the sax does take up alot of breath and you don't want to over do it by playing for hours and then ending up fainting and feeling sick, but because you've got the flute background your breathing system will allready have good suport, so you should start with about 1/2 hour to 45 mins a day and when you start to get used to it more then you can do about i hour or so. The more you practice the better you will get and you will soon be playing jazz!!
Good Luck! xx

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When I buy reeds they have these numbers on it like 2, 2 1/2, 3, etc. What is the difference on them? Whenever I ask the person working the counter I don't understand them. Anyone know how it affects the saxophone?

Don't always trust what the sales people tell you because many don't know the difference themselves especially how it affects the tone.

I'll try to lay it out as simple as possible.

1) The number represents the strength (how stiff it is or how bendable it is). The higher the number, the higher the strength.

2) There are many different numbers (strengths) because mouthpieces vary widely in their tip openings (the distance from the tip to the reed).

3) You need to match the tip opening to the number (strength) that creates the best sound and playability for you.

How it affects the saxophone?

Example 1: If you find that your sound is very stuffy or difficult to blow (too much resistance) then your reed is probably to hard and you need to move to a lower number.

Example 2: If you find that you have difficulty playing higher notes in tune (they are too flat) or your sound just cuts off then you probably need to move to higher number.

Which brand to choose?

That's a personal choice. Each brand has a bit of tonal variation in the sound. One brand's strength is not necessarily the same as another. So a little experimenting is needed.

There is no beginner strength or professional strength. The mouthpiece determines that. Michael Brecker played on a 2.5 La Voz reed on a fairly open mouthpiece, so did Benny Goodman.

Hope that helped

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Peter Weniger presenting the Yamaha YTS-875EX / YTS-475 / YSS-875EX saxophones See more at; www.yamaha-europe.com

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