I often tell my students to be on the look out for psychological 'stuff' coming at them when they are learning the sax. Learning something that is so breath oriented (i.e. from the centre of most people's being) can challenge more than you thought! 

I am acutely aware of how self-esteem, self-image, life expectations - you name it - are exposed in the tutorial process. I don't want to put anyone off, make you think you're coming to see a psychiatrist or something, but just be aware that learning the sax can be, probably WILL be quite a life changing experience.

Self-discipline. Posture. Confidence. Joy. Dexterity. Pushing boundaries. OK so for a child a lot of this is what they do anyway, and I guess I am aiming at older people. You see, with a saxophone, YOUR voice is what makes your playing credible. In other words, you can tell which great sax player is playing just by the sound of him. Can you do that with a piano? Or guitar? (A = No...)

Developing YOUR voice is THE journey. You as a student are asked to learn an entirely new vocabulary, and this process is challenging, 'cos who wants to go around the place with a vocab of ten words? The vocabulary is learnable by all, however, and when you get to the stage where you no longer have to think about 'talking' on the sax, (in a limited way this might take couple of years perhaps?) you will have accomplished something very special. I guess that is why I enjoy teaching adults so much, as the process of accomplishing, acheiving, growing something good is such a rewarding one to share. And the world needs more saxophonists. Simple as that!