Meet the winner of our Hanson V alto saxophone giveaway – Nigel Kellman from the UK.
Sax School member Nigel has been playing saxophone for a few years, and he’s hooked. In fact he now owns 5 saxophones! However, not of all his saxophone purchases have helped him progress in his playing.
Saxophone #1
Like many saxophone learners, Nigel was inspired to start saxophone by the music he loved. “I liked the sound. I’m from the ‘I grew up with Baker Street and liked X-Ray Spex‘ generation,” says Nigel. “I decided to actually start playing when I went along to a beginner trial lesson at the Stables in Milton Keynes. I wanted to try tenor so I bought a second-hand Boosey and Hawkes imported Powertone, to take with me.”
Saxophone #2
When he took his Powertone to be serviced, he discovered it had some serious problems. “Someone had bend then restraightened the neck, among other things,” says Nigel. “So, I decided to buy a new one.” Nigel chose Saxophone number 2 – a Jupiter tenor. “I chose this because when I tried out a number of saxophones in the shop, this was the one that I could get the widest range of notes from … trying out stuff is a really good idea!” he says.
However, Nigel still has his Powertone. “I might use it to practice maintenance, or as the basis of a variant of Nigel’s zebra striped sax … tiger stripes maybe?” he says.
Saxophone Number #3
“I saw a secondhand Sakkusu on the internet and as it was mis-described I managed to get it for good money,” says Nigel. “It was a bit of an impulse buy, and I have promised my wife that I will sell it on.”
Saxophone #4
Nigel’s musical tastes are a real mix. “There is a difference between what I want to play which is generally fairly ‘easy listening’ and what I listen to – ‘I like music that starts with the letter ‘P’: punk and Puccini’,” he explains.
Recently Nigel has been working on saxophone classic ‘The Pink Panther’ with the Sax School easy lessons, and he’s now working on “Under the Bridges of Paris” for our February Love Song Challenge.
Nigel’s love of music from the twenties inspired him to buy saxophone number 4. “ I have a load of sheet music from the 1960’s revival of the 1920’s I hope to play one day,” Nigel explains. “I bought an old C-melody saxophone and got it fully serviced… it still has some quirks, some of which I hope will disappear when my playing improves.”
After spending a few years collecting saxophones, Nigel is now getting down to focusing on his playing, helped back our “Back to Sax” January Challenge. “I’ve had good intentions for a few years but not much progress. You don’t progress if you don’t practice. But now I’ve nearly got to a month of practicing every day and feel like I am improving,” says Nigel. “My goal is to have fun, and get to the point when I’m only mildly embarrassed playing in public!”
Saxophone #5
In February Nigel won our Hanson V alto saxophone giveaway. “I am just delighted and would like to thank Nigel again for giving me the chance to own this super saxophone. It’s great to finally own one that sounds nice and works well,” he says. And, he’s promised to sell saxophone number 3…
With a great saxophone and a great new practice habit, we can’t wait to see Nigel making great progress! Congratulations Nigel!
Want to make great progress on your saxophone? Start today with Sax School!