I can read music already - from playing keyboards and the accordion. Like Ensign Steve I'm not very good at sight reading, though right now I can do it much better on the keyboard than the sax. I've played the pieces I don't already know from my sax tutor books on the keyboard so I know roughly what the melodies and rhythms sound like before I attempt them on the sax.
I've been doing about an hour's practice every day. I find my lips get tired after about 30 minutes, so I break up the hour now with some sessions of just pressing the keys to learn the fingering, but without blowing.
I've used three 1.5 reeds in rotation. They all still look fine. I'm looking forward to the day when I'm consistent enough at blowing the thing to recognise that something is wrong with the reed, rather than something wrong with my chops.
