Pick a saxophone you like the sound of. If you like fairly high, alto or soprano is your best bet. Tenor is somewhere in the middle, baritone is nice for low-end stuff.

Sax is actually very easy to learn. Difficult to master, though, just so you know. Just make sure to get a good one. Reputable companies are: Yamaha, Keilworth (Mostly pro instruments from these guys) Selmer, Selmer Paris, Jupiter, King.

Cheers man. :)

Phoned up today, seems nowhere in the city does sax lessons, it'll involve a fair bit of travelling for each lesson but I figure it'll be worth it. I'm gonna have a couple lessons then if I take to it will be looking to buy one, your advice should come in pretty useful.

Jaynie, I think sax can be self-taught, especially if you are already familiar with another woodwind instrument. If not, the only difficulty probably lies in the mouth positioning. The notes you can learn on your own easily with one book. Last time I tried to play, I couldn't hold a note for a very long because of my smokers lungs. You really gotta put a lot of push into hitting notes compared to other woodwinds.
Btw, did you decide which kind of sax you were interested in? Personally I like the alto sound.

Aww thanks Hookers, I didn't know you'd tried sax before. I'd pretty much decided on alto yeah, I like the sound, and I was an alto singer too and I noticed what I could sing was much more versatile than soprano or baritone, so was hoping it would work that way with the saxophone. I may be wrong but my fuzzy logic seemed to make sense.

I'm not experienced with any other such instruments but my best mate played clarinet for years so she'll be around, I just worry about the expense of buying one and then finding it's not for you. The sax teacher from out in the sticks suggested I rent one, which is my new plan. Hookers if you have any sax music or any good webites PM me, thanks hun. :)

the big guitar that mariachis use, and the zylophone

An Anthony Braxton wannabe? ;-)

Would like to respectfully offer my counter-opinion... Alto is definitely the horn to start on, followed by tenor. Can't imagine any compelling reason to start on bari (too big, physically demanding on beginners). A bad idea to start on soprano--it's just too squirrelly a horn, and you surely won't score any points from family/roommates!

Mr. I-man is correct about saxophone being easy to learn, hard to master. About getting an actual horn--Yamaha is far and away the best choice for a beginner horn. As for pro horns, I'd put Selmer (Paris) at the beginning of that list without question. Pre-1977 pro model Selmers are the gold standard by which all other saxes are judged.

Kindest regards,

Without question, bass guitar! ... with inspiration by James Jamerson (house bassist for Motown while they still were in Motown) and Jaco Pastorius of Weather Report. More gigs to be had, and you have a lot more control over the band and the groove.

Key listening/viewing resources:

• What's Going On, by Marvin Ga ye; James Jamerson is the unsung hero on this landmark recording. The story is that he came home from the initial recording session for the title single and told his wife that he had just played on a history-making song.
• Shadows And Light (DVD) by Joni Mitchell; her backup band on this live concert video is perhaps the most stellar jazz all-star collection since the Massey Hall concert with Bird and Diz. Jaco Pastorius' stage demeanor is a good deal more sedate than on his later appearances with Weather Report and as a leader, but his grooves and technique carry the music with the unstoppable power of a Mack truck and the agility of an X Games' motocross racer. WOW.

I personally would love to play bassoon and alto flute beforeI finish highschool. I also really want to play acoustic guitar and piano.

I started learning on baritone. Then again, I was already 16 years old.

I'd like to have a bass saxophone one day