InstrumentsPosted 2026-10-22

Why I started on a digital saxophone

I am not an expert: this is simply the order I chose so I could enjoy playing. Plus Yamaha's official how-to video for digital sax players.

I am not a music expert. This is not a post about how you should learn; it is the way I chose so that I could enjoy the instrument. What works is different for everyone. If you can take lessons, follow your teacher first.

The order people usually picture

When you think of learning an instrument, it is easy to picture this order: learn to make a sound, learn to read music, then memorize the fingerings. Taken one at a time, it is a long road before you play a song you love. I thought it would be easy to lose interest along the way.

The order I chose

1. Put off making a sound for now. That is why I chose a digital sax: it has no reed, so you do not have to practice getting a sound out of a reed first.
2. Use fingerings to play the songs you want. I looked at the fingering pictures and played along with the song I had always wanted to play.
3. Because it is a song you love, you keep playing it. As I kept going, the sheet music started to make sense little by little.
4. A digital sax is plenty to enjoy making music with.
5. If you then want more and move on to a real saxophone, that is when you practice making a sound. Your hands and eyes already know the fingerings and the music, so I think you can move on faster than if you started from scratch.

FingerNola is built around this order. Every practice song has a fingering picture under each note, and on the practice screen the note to play moves along the music. How to make a sound is covered in the posts below.

Your first sound: fitting the reed and holding the mouthpiece →Breathing: fill up and breathe out evenly →Why I made this site →

A video worth watching when you start on a digital sax

With a digital sax, a video can be quicker than the manual. Yamaha Music Korea has put its YDS-150 how-to videos together into one. Tap a time in the list below to start from that part, and watch only the parts you need.

If you want to know how to make a sound, start with "Blowing with the right embouchure" (3:13).

If you have a YDS-120

• The video covers the YDS-150. Parts that connect to other devices, such as the app, sounds and recording, may differ on the YDS-120.
• The YDS-120 has no Bluetooth. You connect the app with a USB cable. See the YDS-120 owner's manual for details.
• The YDS-120 also has a headphone jack and an AUX IN jack.

Using it with FingerNola

1. Connect the earphone jack of your phone (or computer) to the sax's AUX IN jack with an audio cable. A phone without an earphone jack needs an adapter.
2. Plug headphones into the sax's headphone jack.
3. On a FingerNola practice song, play step ③ Backing. You hear the backing and your sax together in your headphones.

To finish

This is just the way I chose. Some people will enjoy learning the sound first, step by step. I hope you find a way that you enjoy and can keep up for a long time.