Resting the sax elbow on your thigh… bad habit?

[Marc]

Hi,

I have the tendency to slightly rest my tenor on the inner-front part of my right thigh, near the crotch, i.e. it’s not fully “airborne” by my right thumb.

My teacher insists that’s a bad habit that forces the right hand in a non-natural position, too near to the body losing some freedom of movement. He urges me to eradicate that tendency soon before it turns harder to do.

My right humb, most of my hand and wrist in fact, start aching after half an hour or so holding the sax only with my thumb… is it such a bad technique laying the horn on your thigh (or hip if it’s an alto) to give your thumb a rest?

I always use a shoulder harness that gives a shorter lenght to move the sax forward than a normal neck-strap

Comments welcome. 😉

[john]

Most people I see will rest the sax there-abouts. I’ve never heard anybody say negative things about doing that and I can’t see any harm in it.
personally I never rest my horn at my side, I like holding it in front of me because I like to move it around…it’s a personal and comfort thing in my opinion.

[Author]

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