Instead of trying to mute the sax but stuffing a towel down the bell, has anyone tried stuffing something into the mouthpiece?

so, first: muting the sax. i`m sorry, but i`d just recommend against it. there is no good reason that i can think of to try and mute your sax. it is very important to learn solid dynamics. playing quietly is something you can easily do at your house, honing your breath control and aumbature (i`m sorry for not know the correct spelling there). and when your parents are out doing errands, you can practice playing loud and clear. trumpets may be able to put out a lot of sound, but a good saxophonist can easily threaten those decibals while maintaining his/her intonation. and as for finding good sax lessons? good luck. count on looking in the cities and towns around you as well as throughout your own. if you`re lucky, you`ll get someone who loves the sax and will give cheap lessons on whatever you want to learn. otherwise, chances are, you`ll be buying somebodies time to teach you, but, likewise, you can tell them what you want to learn and work on. my first solid technical lesson didn`t come until halfway through highschool, so if your band teacher is like my fifth grade trombone-playing doorknob of a teacher, embrace the opportunity to get creative and see what you can do with the horn. might as well get comfortable with your instrument now.

i`m sorry, i just have to reitterate on this MUTING business. don`t mute your sax. you`re only going to botch your tone. and if you practice with bombed tone, you won`t learn a keen ear. please, don`t carry on this muting nonsense. close your door and play quietly or sit in the driveway or backyard and play if you are scared of making noise. hate to break it to you, but without that noise, you can`t have music. make the decision.

play loudly outdoors. play softly indoors. living in an apartment isn`t a huge inconvenience. if you play easily, there is no reason your neighboor should complain. if they do, i`m sorry. that means you have sh*tty neighboors. will the sound travel? yes. will it travel far? no.

hm. i`d say buy her cheap liquor and hope she sleeps soundly, but if that baby isn`t dead yet, i don`t want to encourage its demise. so... i don`t know! personally, purple skittles are my least favorite. when i was in an apartment, i did most of my playing at friends` places because they had cool neighboors or houses. sorry. good luck with that though!