Help! Is something wrong?

[Lisa Heselton]

Hi, I’m very new to this saxophone business having owned one for only a week.
I’m working on my first notes but they simply do not sound right. I think my G is flat but then they might all be a bit wonky.
I’ve tried new reeds and moving the mouthpiece further in and out but this hasn’t changed anything.
Am I playing a dud sax or am I just bad at it?
I have an audio file if I could work out how to upload it.

[Michael]

Hi Lisa,
Very cool that you are learning to play a Saxophone 🙂 Everyone has been right there with you when first learning to play, so no worries 🙂 At this point in just now learning how to play those first few notes, it’s going to take some work to get your notes sounding right and in tune. And to do this, we need to make sure we’re learning how to use the proper technique in our embouchure and air support into the Sax. If you go to the home page of Johnny’s website and scroll down to the bottom, you’ll find some great instructional videos on things like tone development, embouchure, etc.. These are very important. At these early stages of learning to play, the tendency we have when trying to play our first few notes is to think “blow” into the Saxophone and we end up trying to use our neck, voice, layrnx, because we so used to using these parts of our body when we talk, scream, etc.. With the Saxophone, we need to think about supply air into our horn by using our diaphragm and pushing air into the Sax and maintaining an open throat. If we tense our neck muscles up, we end up “choking” the note, just like as if someone was choking us and we couldn’t breathe, talk, etc.. I posted a youtube video of Johnny’s here for you on the C Major Scale, but toward the end he talks about air support. Finding the right reed in the box is important, but switching from one reed to the next can be counter-productive. Make sure in these early stages your reed is not too thick. For just starting out, like a reed in size 1.5 medium is perfect with a Yamaha 4C Mouthpiece. A cheap, inexpensive ligature like a Rovner ligature, cost like $19 or so, can really help open up the sound too…those cheap, stainless steel ligature that you get with your Sax are one of the worst in the world because they don’t let the reed vibrate very well. And this will also affect your tone/sound for sure.
At point in your playing, there are few things you can do to really get yourself headed in the right direction. One of those would be to get Johnny’s ebook on “How to Play the Saxophone” and it’s designed especially for folks like yourself who are just starting out on the Saxophone. It cost less than the price of a large Pizza 🙂 It’s perfect, I went through it when first learning to play, it’s a great book and it teaches you just about everything you want to know about the basic fundamentals of the Saxophone. I took everything I learned in the book and combined that with Johnny’s lesson on his home page that I was just talking to you about. Those things combined will give you a rock-solid foundation on the fundamentals of the Sax. The second thing I would highly recommend you get is an inexpensive Saxophone tuner. The tuner will show you right away if you are sharp/flat and it will teach you how to play perfectly in tune. When you get more experienced, you’ll be able to do with your ears. No need to buy an expensive tuner, you can get one really cheap for like $10 at your local music shop, get one on Amazon, etc.. .I believe you can also find some online for free download (don’t quote me on that one LOL) The third thing you wanna get yourself is a metronome as it will teach you to be able to play in the proper time/rhythm. Johnny talks about a metronome/how to use it on his free lessons on the homepage. There are several metronomes that you can get for free online, here’s one for you at https://www.metronomeonline.com/ The other thing I would also recommend, if you’re really wanting to learn to play the Saxophone, is do a local search and see if you can find an qualified instructor to help you. You can do this privately, one-on-one, take lessons at your local community college, etc.. Many times, Community Colleges have programs where folks can take music with them as an Elective because they’re playing music for fun. Rates for just taking it as an Elective is usually very good. Here locally where I live, they charge only $120 per semester, not too bad! The point being is to find a “qualified” instructor…just because someone works at a music shop doesn’t mean they’re qualified to teach. There are local music Academies that can also point you in the right direction. An instructor will be able to see exactly what you’re doing right-and-wrong. This is a long post LOL But it’s cool to see someone just starting out…we we’re all there (and we still have our struggles LOL). Hope these points give you some things to think about/work on.

[john]

“Am I playing a dud sax or am I just bad at it?”
could be Lisa, thats why I recommend in one of the very first follow up emails upon registation here that you have to know that your sax is in good working condition because at your stage it’s impossible to know yourself who’s at fault, you or your sax.
just one small leak in an upper pad can prevent anyone from playing a proper note.
can you play any notes that sound good?

[Anonymous]

Hi Lisa – here in the Uk, the best thing to do is find a music store in a town near you, that sells sheet music.

this is an example of the nearest music store near where i live
http://windblowers.com/

go in the store and ask for a list of local sax music teachers, as most qualified sax teachers usually provide name & address and the areas they live in etc..

i would get at least a weekly lesson to start out in the early months, the teacher should be able to tell you if something is wrong with your sax.

JF’s e-book is a great starting out information book (i found it useful) but its not meant to replace a teacher. Even with the help of the e-book i still had to go back to my lesson teacher on many occasions as i wasn’t convinced i was doing the right thing. Simple little things like i wasn’t sure i had the ligature in the right place, or why the note was squeaking..

Theres lots of demo’s on u-tube – for an english person i find it more suitable to look for people/teachers doing demo’s made in our country (sorry you guys over there in the US not trying to put you down), a lot of USA guys refer to stuff local to their proximity ie prices, shops, use a lot of words that have may have different meanings to us, some talk in 1/4 notes, we talk in crotchets. What i am basically saying a person in the Uk will say i use this and i got it from there and we know exactly how to get hold of it – don’t let that put you off,p thiugh, as i research a lot of usa university music stuff, and stuff done by famous usa sax players

[Lisa Heselton]

Hi everyone.
I had my first lesson this evening. And the first thing my tutor did was give my sax the once over. After fiddling with a sticky pad, lo and behold a little piece of cork dropped to the floor and suddenly all my notes sounded better!
I can’t believe it was something so simple. And I missed it! How embarrassing!
But problem solved. I can’t wait to get stuck in without the frustration now!

[john]

don’t be embarrassed, very easy to miss! that’s the reason for my earlier suggestion. imagine playing on it for months? you’d have given up.
good for you on starting with the personal lessons, this will get you going faster…let us know how it goes.

cheers
Johnny

[Lisa Heselton]

Thanks for your help and comments guys.
Just thought I’d let you know that I’ve managed to have a proper good practice since the problem was solved and it sounds SO much better! I am totally in love with my instrument and cannot wait to get good. With this websites help of course. Bring on the lessons!!!

[Author]

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