Johnnys valuable insights helped me catch myself making a mistake I didnt even realize I had made.

[Michael]

Hey guys, Johnny recently provided some valuable feedback on a video I uploaded to the blog and it helped me catch myself making a mistake I didn’t even realize I had made–I have caught myself making the mistake of not getting enough of the Mouth Piece in my mouth and my tone suffered a little bit because of it. I did okay with playing the song but I could see my tone was lacking just a little bit-not smooth and even as normal and notes were a little weak near the end. I tried a few things in a practice session and sure enough that was my mistake–I KNOW better than this! A little frustrating but oh well–It taught me another valuable lesson: The next time we’re thinking about improving our tone and before we go thinking about buying a bigger Mouthpiece, ALWAYS make sure we have enough of the MP in our mouth. We can’t supply enough air into the sax from our diaphragm if we don’t have enough of the MP in our mouth, and our tone will not be as clear/crisp as it should be. If Johnny hadn’t taken note of the notes falling off near the end, I wouldn’t even had realized that I wasn’t getting enough of the MP in my mouth. Thanks for your valuable insights Johnny 😎

[john]

So true…here’s what I teach as it was taught to me many years ago by someone who was a much smarter saxophonist than I’ll ever be…
As you practice, try to put a little more of the mp in your mouth…just slide the top teeth up a bit more until it feels very uncomfortable.
Now, pull back down just a little so it’s more comfortable but still higher than you started. This process goes very slowly and there is obviosly a limit to how much mp goes in your mouth….it’s a fine line but most people starting out play way too close to the tip.

[Michael]

Hey Johnny: That’s exactly what I did yesterday and today in my practice session and BINGO; a beautiful sounding tone, smooth and even. Look at my tone over the past few months on previous videos, look at the first one I ever did. The annoying part is that I KNOW to play with enough of the Mouthpiece in my mouth. But for some reason, ever so gradually, I caught myself playing just like you said most people start out. I don’t know why that happened, it just did. Thankfully I caught it before it developed into some kind of a bad habit; another plus of recording myself and uploading to the blog. I’m a beginner and it’s tough to overcome my fear and upload to the blog. But I want to play the Saxophone! It’s just plain fun, and that helps me deal with my fear of making mistakes on video, etc.. Also, I’m hoping it can encourage other beginners like myself (I hope so anyway).

[Author]

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