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How To Play G On The Alto Saxophone | How To Play The Saxophone from HowToPlayTheSax on Vimeo.

How To Play G On The Alto Saxophone How To Play The Saxophone - howtoplaythesax.com

ONLINE SAXOPHONE LESSONS MEMBERSHIP.

Beginner saxophone lessons. Save Time. Save Money. Save Travelling. Save Effort. Play the classic rock and soul songs that YOU want to play on your saxophone, quickly and easily.

Learn saxophone when and where it suits YOU. If you want to learn how to play the saxophone then visit: howtoplaythesax.com/saxophone-lessons/ and get started right now.

:-)

Find us at: Website - howtoplaythesax.com Facebook - facebook.com/HowToPlayTheSax Twitter - twitter.com/howtoplaythesax

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How To Play G# Ab On The Alto Saxophone | How To Play The Saxophone from HowToPlayTheSax on Vimeo.

How To Play G# Ab On The Alto Saxophone How To Play The Saxophone - howtoplaythesax.com How To Play G Sharp A Flat On The Alto Saxophone

ONLINE SAXOPHONE LESSONS MEMBERSHIP.

Beginner saxophone lessons. Save Time. Save Money. Save Travelling. Save Effort. Play the classic rock and soul songs that YOU want to play on your saxophone, quickly and easily.

Learn saxophone when and where it suits YOU. If you want to learn how to play the saxophone then visit: howtoplaythesax.com/saxophone-lessons/ and get started right now.

:-)

Find us at: Website - howtoplaythesax.com Facebook - facebook.com/HowToPlayTheSax Twitter - twitter.com/howtoplaythesax

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How To Play Db C# On The Alto Saxophone | How To Play The Saxophone from HowToPlayTheSax on Vimeo.

How To Play Db C# On The Alto Saxophone How To Play The Saxophone - howtoplaythesax.com

ONLINE SAXOPHONE LESSONS MEMBERSHIP.

Beginner saxophone lessons. Save Time. Save Money. Save Travelling. Save Effort. Play the classic rock and soul songs that YOU want to play on your saxophone, quickly and easily.

Learn saxophone when and where it suits YOU. If you want to learn how to play the saxophone then visit: howtoplaythesax.com/saxophone-lessons/ and get started right now.

:-)

Find us at: Website - howtoplaythesax.com Facebook - facebook.com/HowToPlayTheSax Twitter - twitter.com/howtoplaythesax

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How To Play C On The Alto Saxophone | How To Play The Saxophone from HowToPlayTheSax on Vimeo.

How To Play C On The Alto Saxophone How To Play The Saxophone - howtoplaythesax.com

ONLINE SAXOPHONE LESSONS MEMBERSHIP.

Beginner saxophone lessons. Save Time. Save Money. Save Travelling. Save Effort. Play the classic rock and soul songs that YOU want to play on your saxophone, quickly and easily.

Learn saxophone when and where it suits YOU. If you want to learn how to play the saxophone then visit: howtoplaythesax.com/saxophone-lessons/ and get started right now.

:-)

Find us at: Website - howtoplaythesax.com Facebook - facebook.com/HowToPlayTheSax Twitter - twitter.com/howtoplaythesax

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How To Play B On The Alto Saxophone | How To Play The Saxophone from HowToPlayTheSax on Vimeo.

How To Play B On The Alto Saxophone How To Play The Saxophone - howtoplaythesax.com

ONLINE SAXOPHONE LESSONS MEMBERSHIP.

Beginner saxophone lessons. Save Time. Save Money. Save Travelling. Save Effort. Play the classic rock and soul songs that YOU want to play on your saxophone, quickly and easily.

Learn saxophone when and where it suits YOU. If you want to learn how to play the saxophone then visit: howtoplaythesax.com/saxophone-lessons/ and get started right now.

:-)

Find us at: Website - howtoplaythesax.com Facebook - facebook.com/HowToPlayTheSax Twitter - twitter.com/howtoplaythesax

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How To Play Bb A# On The Alto Saxophone | How To Play The Saxophone from HowToPlayTheSax on Vimeo.

How To Play Bb A# On The Alto Saxophone How To Play The Saxophone - howtoplaythesax.com

ONLINE SAXOPHONE LESSONS MEMBERSHIP.

Beginner saxophone lessons. Save Time. Save Money. Save Travelling. Save Effort. Play the classic rock and soul songs that YOU want to play on your saxophone, quickly and easily.

Learn saxophone when and where it suits YOU. If you want to learn how to play the saxophone then visit: howtoplaythesax.com/saxophone-lessons/ and get started right now.

:-)

Find us at: Website - howtoplaythesax.com Facebook - facebook.com/HowToPlayTheSax Twitter - twitter.com/howtoplaythesax

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How To Play A On The Alto Saxophone | How To Play The Saxophone from HowToPlayTheSax on Vimeo.

How To Play A On The Alto Saxophone How To Play The Saxophone - howtoplaythesax.com

ONLINE SAXOPHONE LESSONS MEMBERSHIP.

Beginner saxophone lessons. Save Time. Save Money. Save Travelling. Save Effort. Play the classic rock and soul songs that YOU want to play on your saxophone, quickly and easily.

Learn saxophone when and where it suits YOU. If you want to learn how to play the saxophone then visit: howtoplaythesax.com/saxophone-lessons/ and get started right now.

:-)

Find us at: Website - howtoplaythesax.com Facebook - facebook.com/HowToPlayTheSax Twitter - twitter.com/howtoplaythesax

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How To Fix Sticky Saxophone Pads | How To Play The Saxophone from HowToPlayTheSax on Vimeo.

How To Fix Sticky Saxophone Pads - particularly a sticky G# key. Visit howtoplaythesax.com/saxophone-lessons/ for more saxophone lessons and become a Member today.

Sticky saxophone pads happen on a saxophone. Sometimes the keys stick shut and don't open properly. The G Sharp key on a saxophone is notorious for this !

This video explains how and why sticky saxophone pads happen and shows how to fix your sticky saxophone pads problem.

This also goes a long way towards showing how to clean saxophone pads too.

ONLINE SAXOPHONE LESSONS MEMBERSHIP.

Save Time. Save Money. Save Travelling. Save Effort. Play the classic rock and soul songs that YOU want to play on your saxophone, quickly and easily.

Learn saxophone when and where it suits YOU. If you want to learn how to play the saxophone then visit: howtoplaythesax.com/saxophone-lessons/ and get started right now.

:-)

Find us at: Website - howtoplaythesax.com Facebook - facebook.com/HowToPlayTheSax Twitter - twitter.com/howtoplaythesax

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Simple Saxophone Maintenance from HowToPlayTheSax on Vimeo.

Simple Saxophone Maintenance - 4 quick and easy ways to look after your saxophone with Matthew from howtoplaythesax.com

A saxophone is an expensive and complicated piece of musical amazingness. Just like a car, you need to be able to keep it in good working order , otherwise it will cost far too much when it breaks down.

In this video I show you 4 simple saxophone care ways to keep your saxophone in perfect working order.

How to look after your saxophone - I show you 4 easy ways.

ONLINE SAXOPHONE LESSONS MEMBERSHIP.

Beginner saxophone lessons. Save Time. Save Money. Save Travelling. Save Effort. Play the classic rock and soul songs that YOU want to play on your saxophone, quickly and easily.

Learn saxophone when and where it suits YOU. If you want to learn how to play the saxophone then visit: howtoplaythesax.com/saxophone-lessons/ and get started right now.

:-)

Find us at: Website - howtoplaythesax.com Facebook - facebook.com/HowToPlayTheSax Twitter - twitter.com/howtoplaythesax

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HTPTS-MembersBehindTheScenes from HowToPlayTheSax on Vimeo.

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Going to the Gym

Going to the Gym.

Hanging out at the gym has never really been my thing. I’ve always had the mental image of muscle obsessed fitness fanatics huffing and puffing and prancing and posing – wearing strange lycra outfits in gaudy colours, all the while flexing and flirting. However, now with my new fitness / recovery regime, I find myself hanging out at the gym. Fortunately, the local pool that I go to for my swimming and hydrotherapy exercises also has a gym.  The gym is fairly typical in that it has weights and fancy machines that appear to be designed to torture people. The pleasant reality is that there are very few really fit people.  They are all mainly normal people who are simply making an effort to try to stay healthy.  This came as somewhat of a relief to me.

I am NOT going to become Mr Universe.

My new routine now includes a short session on the treadmill.  Basically, all I’m doing is going for a controlled walk. I need to “engage my core” and do 3 sessions of 3 minutes at 3 kilometres per hour (about 1.85 miles per hour).  I am finding this little process surprisingly difficult.  I had not noticed, but with my disc protrusion and thus my sore back, when I walk down the street I kind of wander all over the footpath without really paying much attention. On the treadmill, it’s a different story. The controlled pace, the limited space and the concentration involved is surprisingly hard.  Balancing and not falling over has actually been a challenge. After 3 minutes I stop and have a rest for a minute, then do another 3 minutes, then rest for one more minute, then another 3 minutes. Then I stand around and die for a while and try not to fall over and embarrass myself.

I am still experimenting with swimming first then treadmilling, or treadmilling first then swimming.

I’m not sure what order to do this in, so I’ll mix it up a few times and see what turns out to be the best way to go. Either way, the combination of swimming, plus foam dumb bell exercises, plus time on the treadmill is exhausting.   I then need to go home and lie down on the floor for a couple of hours. I’m sure things will improve over time.  I have noticed that in the short time between filming the video for this post and actually publishing this post that I am not as knackered as I was. I’m still pushing myself both mentally and physically to do these pool and gym (treadmill) sessions.  For the moment this is as good an idea as any I suppose. The same applies for the wussy exercises I’m trying to do at home too.

It is all still very much a challenge – and a painful one at that.

But, as they say, there are people in the world who are much worse off than me. So, with this in mind, I will continue to keep on keeping on. I am trying not to make this blog a whinge and complain session, so please accept my apologies if it is coming across that way. I am merely trying to share my experiences and thought processes. Spending so much time on the floor has caused me to (re)consider various priorities and possibilities. Listening to podcasts, reading blogs about online businesses and how to create them has been an eye opening experience. I have dabbled in online schenanigans for years. I create simple websites for myself and for clients. I help friends with their websites and end up running them myself. I sell my music online. It fascinates me how people from all over the world download my stuff. My brain is still very foggy. The pain my body is experiencing is causing me to not be able to think clearly.  My moods are a direct result of the pain at any moment in time.

As previously mentioned, I am on the mend. I am nowhere near in as much pain as I was a few months ago. Yay !!

This is why I called this blog “MatthewsBack”. Firstly it is all about my sore back and my recovery from this rather painful and prolonged experience in my otherwise very healthy life. Secondly it is all about my come back – “Matthews has a sore Back” vs “Matthew is Back, bigger, brighter, better than ever, now with added awesomeness”. I will be sharing some of my hints and tips and suggestions about how I am growing my online businesses and presence as time goes on.  And I will keep going with my exercises and get myself back into a physically and mentally fit loving husband and father. To do this, I will keep swimming and keep going to the gym. Until next time – thanks for visiting :-) Matthew P.S.  Once again, if you have and suggestions for some simple lower back exercises, or ideas on recovery form a back injury, please feel free to share in the comments below ! Also, if you need a few suggestions of your own for some lower back pain relief products that may help you, please check out this post. P.S.  Don't forget to please share this post too ! This article first appeared at: https://matthewsback.com/sore-back/going-to-the-gym/ Click to Post

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Just Keep Swimming

Just Keep Swimming

For the record, I hate swimming.  But, I hate my disc protrusion more....... Swimming and hydrotherapy exercises are good for my disc protrusion injury and recovery. I have joined up as an Aquatics Member at my local swimming pool complex. I have very fond memories of taking my daughters to this pool when they were younger.  I'm not sure if you can see in the background of the video but directly behind me is an aqua play ground, with squirty things, a water slide and an enormous bucket on the top that regularly empties and dumps on the kids who are running around. I am very tempted to join in, but because of my disc protrusion injury it's probably not a good idea. That, as well as the fact that I'm an adult male without any small children of my own with me.... not a good look.

So, for the record, I have started my swimming and hyrotherapy regime with: 

Swim - 24 laps x 25 metres = 600 metres = 600 yards.  Foam Dumb Bells: Bicep Curls - 3 x 10 reps Side Arm Extensions - 3 x 10 reps Forward Arm Raises - 3 x 10 reps Kickboard: 3 x 20 pushes forwards/backwards 3 x 10 pushes up/down This takes me about 30 minutes, after which time I'm exhausted.

However, a wise fish once said: "When life gets you down do you wanna know what you've gotta do ?  Just keep swimming." Life is unfortuantely getting me down, so I will take this fish's advice and see where it leads me.

And my physio said the same thing as the fish, so it's probably true.

A disc protrusion is where a small section of the gristly bit between the vertebrae in someones back - for example, mine - is squashed out in a bubble.  Mine is about 1cm x 1.2cm , which, as far as I understand, is not what you want poking out of your lower back. So, in normal day to day life, such as walking, sitting, standing, bending over to tie your shoelaces, leaning over the basin while brushing your teeth so that you don't get toothpaste all over your chest, a disc protrusion becomes an unpleasant liability. It restricts movement and hurts.  A Lot. So, while my brain (and various doctors and phyiotherapists and fish) is telling me to keep moving, my body is strongly recommending to just lie down on the floor. The theory is, therefore, that swimming is a really good idea. Swimming takes the pressure off the disc protrusion injury and thus relieves some of the pain and swelling and inflamation. Swimming provides the body with exercise, which in turn helps it to heal.  Exercise also helps with the unhappiness and frustration coursing through my veins too.  So, it's a bit of a win-win.

There are only two main downsides with swimming exercises in the public pool.

 The smell of chlorine becomes an ever present reminder that the answer to the question, "are we having fun yet ?" is usually a big, fat, hairy "No, not yet". Speaking of big, fat and hairy, doing my laps and hydrotherapy exercises in the public pool means sharing water space with a surprisingly large number of very unfit and extremely old ladies pretending to do aqua-aerobics. I actually joined in one of these aqua-aerobics classes a few weeks ago.  I was the only male surrounded by a large number of large women and I lowered the average age of the participants by about 50 years. If it was anyone else, it would have been really funny.  But it was me, and it wasn't. (actually, in retrospect, it was a little bit amusing). So, I will continue to swim and continue to do my water exercises. Please feel free to let me know any other simple and gentle water exercises that might help my lower back disc protrusion in the comments below :-) Thanks, Matthew This article was first published at : https://matthewsback.com/sore-back/just-keep-swimming/ Click to Post

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Wussy Lower Back Exercises

Wussy Lower Back Exercises

My lower back exercises are so wussy that I seriously considered not publishing this post.  It would appear that I am a wuss. Embarrassing as it is to admit, I am struggling.  At least temporarily. My physio has given me a sequence of simple but unfortunately painful lower back exercises. These lower back exercises are: Step Ups - 3 sets of 10 reps up and down one small step, first left foot then right foot. Bicep Curls - 3 sets of 10 reps Straight Arm Lifts - 3 sets of 5 reps. I am finding these disappointingly difficult and upsetting. But, as "they" say: No pain, no gain. I'm not sure if I agree with whomever "they" are, but, hey, my physiotherapist Luke said these would be good for me, so, therefore they must be good for me.  As I have previously mentioned, my wife and two daughters are away without me. While they are away, I have committed to myself and to anyone who will listen that I will do my lower back exercises every day without fail. Continued at - https://matthewsback.com/sore-back/wussy-lower-back-exercises/ Click to Post

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All By Myself

All By Myself

This article first appeared at: https://matthewsback.com/sore-back/all-by-myself/ I am now officially all by myself. Albeit temporarily. https://youtu.be/A4kRjxhAqVM Last week I dropped my wife and my 13yo daughter at the airport - they are off on their big adventure... without me. We had been planning a trip overseas for most of this year.  However, because of my on going sore back it had become obvious that I was not going to go with them.  I'm VERY disappointed, to say the least. Today I dropped my 15yo daughter off at her gig.  She sings with senior and public facing group of the Australian Girls Choir and earlier this year she was fortunate enough to be selected to go on their International Tour - England, France and Italy.  An amazing opportunity ! Approximately 45 teenage girls from all over Australia are meeting up with 9 girls from here in Melbourne (my daughter being one of these) for three days rehearsal before they go off on their big adventure. So, because she was going to be away, my wife and youngest daughter and I decided to go away too. But then I hurt my back. This shouldn't stop my youngest daughter from experiencing other parts of the world, so my wife very kindly agreed to take our daughter anyway.  That's ok.  Admittedly if the situation was reversed, I would have done the same thing. As disapointing as this is for me - and it is very much a first world problem - I will be staying home all by myself. I decided to keep my annual leave booking at work, but take two weeks leave instead of three as was originally planned. As mentioned in my video above: I REALLY, REALLY, REALLY never ever want to feel like this again. So, I will use these few weeks to my advantage. I will do heaps of exercises, based on what my physio has suggested, and more.  I will do lots of swimming and walking.  I will rest and recuperate. I will go away for a few days to my father-in-laws holiday house in Jamieson - a little town about three hours drive from Melbourne.  My father-in-law passed away late last year and my wife is in the process of inheriting this house. I haven't been there for about 9 months, because of my sore back, so it will be good to go there again.  Jamieson is my "happy place".  The trees, the birds, the oxygen, the river, the Australian bush - fantastic. However, I suspect it will take me all day to get there as I still can't sit for more than 30 mins or so before I need a stretch, a walk and a little lie down. I have turned a corner and I am on the mend. These next few weeks will, fingers crossed, help in my recovery. I will also take the opportunity to have a few beers and eat far too much ice-cream.  While my only medical experience is that I used to play in a band with a doctor (and a physio), it is my medical opinion that beer and ice cream (not together because that would be strange) are extremely under-rated and under-utilised.  I will continue with my experimentation with these foods and drinks of life. I will doubtless make a few more videos over the coming weeks and post my exercise progress. Thanks, Matthew P.S.  Here's something that made me smile and is just a little bit silly....... https://youtu.be/l9XLWrCi6DE P.P.S.  Visit https://MatthewsBack.com for more sore backs, come backs, side hustles and internet schenanigans. Click to Post

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Physio Visit

This article first appeared at https://matthewsback.com/sore-back/physio-visit/

Physio Visit

Ok.  It's like this.  Today I went to the physio.  Today was the day for a physio visit. Talk about embarrassing..... Due to my disc protrusion, I am having extreme difficulty moving, sleeping and doing normal stuff. I've gone to the doctors, had MRI scans and we now have an official diagnosis. So, my theory is that the physio visit will be able to help me get moving again, which in turn should help the intense pain go away. I knew that a friend of mine - Jon - who I played in a band with years ago is not only a fantastic guitarist, but is also a physiotherapist.  It turns out that he actually owns and manages a small chain of physiotherapist centres that specialise in lower back pain. Sensational. Jon reminded me of this little fact and suggested that I should see a physiotherapist collegue of his - Luke from Advance HealthCare . I have been feeling terrible for ages and I'm over it. I have made the difficult (for me) mental leap to "I'm going to get better now".  And I am extremely confident that Luke will be able to help me. So, Luke handed me the smallest and wussiest weights in the world.  These "weights", if you can call them that, are so small that your stock standard chocolate bar is actually heavier. I proceeded to do some bicep curls, some side arm raises and some forward arm raises with these wussy weights. And it hurt. And it was embarrasing. But, the theory is that my core is cactus.  The muscles that provide strength to my lower back around my lower abs / lower tummy (below the belly button) and their equivalents in my lower back have been unused for so many months that they don't know what to do any more. Strengthen the core, strengthen the back, stop the pain, get back to normal. So - I now have to do some core strengthening exercises. I need to do these while sucking my lower stomach under the belly button in - engaging my core. My initial set of exercises includes the extremely wussy set of: Step Ups and Downs - 3 x 5 reps - 1 step up, then 1 step down - right foot. Step Ups and Downs - 3 x 5 reps - 1 step up, then 1 step down - left foot. Bicep curls - 3 x 8 reps - 1.5kg (3.3 pounds) Forward arm raises - 3 x 5 reps - 0.5 kg (1 pound). Walking - preferably 10 mins slow walk. Swimming - slowly, "some laps as I feel comfortable". Walking in the pool, "some laps as I feel comfortable".  This is starting to sound like hydrotherapy. In the pool I also need to do some core strengthening exercises using some foam dumb bells. Push outs, pull ins at chest height - 3 x 20 reps - using a kickboard. Push downs - 3 x 10 reps - using a kickboard. Bicep curls - 3 x 10 reps using foam dumbbells. Side arm raises and lowers - 3 x 10 reps using foam dumbbells. Forward arm raises and lowers - 3 x 10 reps using foam dumbbells.

Continue reading at https://matthewsback.com/sore-back/physio-visit/

Pain + Embarrassment = Motivation ! Thanks, Matthew MatthewsBack.com  https://matthewsback.com/sore-back/physio-visit/ Click to Post

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What Is Website Hosting ?

This article originally appeared at: https://matthewsback.com/side-hustles/what-is-website-hosting/

A Web Host With The Most – What is Website Hosting ?

Part 3 of a 7 part “website terminology” series. Websites need two main components to function. One is a Domain Name.  The other is Hosting.

So, what is Website Hosting ?  It is essentially some digital space on an internet server’s hard drive where you store the bits and pieces that make up your website.  Your domain name “points” to this digital Web Hosting space, and thus it serves out your website for the world to see. In real estate terms, your domain name is the “street address”, whereas your web hosting is the “land” that your street address refers to.  Your website itself is the “house” on the “land”, which can be found via a “street address”. When you have a website, you need somewhere to ‘keep’ it.  All websites occupy space in the World Wide Web, and every website needs to be ‘hosted’ somewhere. Web hosting companies hire out this digital space for customers to keep their websites in.  It’s easiest to think of these hosting companies as virtual landlords, hiring out virtual houses where people and companies can keep their websites. Without web hosting you will not be able to build a diy website, which makes web hosting and domain names the first things to consider when starting your website creation. Some web hosting companies have online website creation tools available to help you actually build a website.  These can be very handy, especially if you are not overly technically minded. When choosing a web hosting company, the one important thing to look for is the quality of the technical support that they offer.  The hosting company’s Technical Support team will help you if something goes wrong with your website.

..........

Continue reading at: https://matthewsback.com/side-hustles/what-is-website-hosting/

Thanks, Matthew P.S. Please feel free to share this article, using the sharing icons below. P.P.S. If you need a hand with your website, please feel free to let me know, or visit DomainsByMatt.com --------------------------------------- Part 2 of a 7 part “website terminology” series. Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3 - Part 4 (coming soon) - Part 5 (coming soon) - Part 6 (coming soon) - Part 7 (coming soon). Click to Post

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Back Pain

Back Pain

This post originally appeared at : https://matthewsback.com/sore-back/back-pain/

Back pain - chronic pain and all pain - is neither fun nor desirable.

Now, I am certainly NOT an expert.  I am not a doctor, nor a health professional (although I used to play in a band with a doctor).  I can purely talk from my own experience.

Back pain sucks.

When you are physically hurting, back pain is all encompassing.  It invades your mind, your body, everything you do and everything you feel. My lower back pain had many facets. First was the knife in my lower back, just a little to the left, that someone was constantly twisting.  All day and all night. Add to that was the intense ache all across my lower back and entire torso.  This made me nauseous all the time, to the point of almost vomiting.  Constantly. As well as this there was the sharp pain all down both butt cheeks, down the back of both legs, into my feet and toes and back around up through the top of my feet.  At least my right foot and toes only felt like they had pins and needles.  My left foot and toes were numb with the pain. Back pain - and all pain - is very lonely. You can feel it, but no-one else can.  People can see the ashen look on your face and they can ask you if you are ok, but they cannot feel what you are feeling. It affects your thoughts, judgement, memory and descision making processes.  I have described it as "making my brain go foggy" - it clouds your brain and stops it from doing once normal things.

Back pain stops your body movement.  Sitting, standing, walking, getting out of bed, brushing your teeth, getting the orange juice from the bottom shelf of the door in the 'fridge all become exceedingly difficult. This in turn becomes a bit of a downward spiral. After a while you know that "this is going to hurt" and very quickly everything becomes an effort. Which, at least in my case, is upsetting and frustrating.

Continue reading at :  https://matthewsback.com/sore-back/back-pain/

Click to Post