Tebogo hits the right notes
Despite the lack of formal tertiary education in music, Tebogo is a full time musician and a professional saxophonist who played in various bands.
Tebogo Smith is a tenor saxophone player who taught himself how to play the instrument.
He thinks of himself as a happy, free and accommodating person.
Despite the lack of formal tertiary education in music, Tebogo is a full time musician and a professional saxophonist who played in various bands.
“I have always wanted to play and my father was a cornet player. He sold the instrument. My brother and I were still young at the time,” he said.
He said even after so many years, his interest for music was still there.
The sound engineering graduate said his little background knowledge of the trumpet helped him when he decided to teach himself how to play a saxophone.
“A saxophone and a trumpet are two different instruments,” he said.
He learnt the basics of trumpet at Sir Pierre van Ryneveld High School, where music was one of his subjects.
“I was privileged to go to a private school where music was part of the school’s curriculum. Today I make a living out of this,” he said.
He advised youngsters, who are not as privileged as he was to attend music school, to join local church bands.
“They have the music instruments. If you show an interest and dedication, they will teach you.
“It’s a benefit for the church and the community. It will reduce crime because you will inspire your peers who will follow in your footsteps,” he said.
Tebogo said he is planning to buy different music instruments and use music to rehabilitate young people who are smoking drugs and doing crime.
Among his achievements, he counts Metro FM urban beat extra on Sundays where he played live on air for three months.
He was in a Castle Milk Stout talent search on SABC, playing in a resident band. He was playing with a band and they were voted by the general public to play at the Standard Bank Joy of Jazz plug-ins 2014 in a food court.
He will release his album with Zuko, a collective band.
He said young people must not give up.
“It’s going to be extremely hard but don’t give up. The hour before dawn is the darkest hour of the night,” he said
