sax problems

[Anonymous]

Choked Sound – Too much pressure from lower lip. Too little mouthpiece in mouth. Lay of mouthpiece too close.Reed too thin. Closes.
cure – Say “A” and “Q;” lip firm to teeth with pressure from jaw structure. More mouthpiece in mouth.Try mouthpieces that blow easily for mouth structure. Get reed with more heart.

Wobbly Sound – Upper lip touching mouthpiece instead of teeth.
cure – Always anchor teeth to mouthpiece first.

Rough Squawk – Too much mouthpiece. Reed too stiff.
cure – Less mouthpiece in mouth. Make sides and heart of reed lighter.

Blows Hard or Leaks – Poor pads and/or keys
cure – Check octave keys; look for bent keys and bad pads.

Weak and Nasal – Air stream is too slow.
cure – Faster air with resistance from mouthpiece.

Poor Intonation – Tenseness in throat. Inconsistency in adjustments in pads
cure – Sing and match tones using “Ah.” Check thickness of opening when pads are open on various notes.

CHECK YOUR EMBOUCHURE

Alto Mouthpiece Pitch = A Alto M.P. + Neck Pitch = Ab

Tenor Mouthpiece Pitch = G Tenor M. P. + Neck Pitch = E

If yours doesn’t line up, something may be wrong with your embouchure!

[Mel]

Good couple of posts sx poet!!

In your posts you hit on mouthpiece only playing. This is one of the greatest exercises for learning to play with a loose embouchure. It also is one of the best ways to play with a better pitch throughout your sax. If you do this exercise with the neck attached, it seems easier and can cover up the faulty embouchure. want a good embouchure and pitch throughout your sax? Start practicing with your mouthpiece only 🙂

[Anonymous]

Good Tips Mel.

Here’s my warm up routine before i start practicing.

1 using the Mouthpiece + Sax Neck + Tuner, i adjust the mouthpiece position on the neck so it plays an Ab on the Tuner.
2 using the Sax + Sax Neck + Mouthpiece + Tuning Pitch Generator – i go through the following keys
Generate a Low Bb Pitch from the Generator – then i play a Low Bb to be in pitch with the Generator
Generate a Low C Pitch from the Generator – then i play a Low C to be in pitch with the Generator
Generate a Low F# Pitch from the Generator – then i play a Low F# to be in pitch with the Generator
Generate a Mid C Pitch from the Generator – then i play a Mid C to be in pitch with the Generator
Generate a Mid F# Pitch from the Generator – then i play a Mid F# to be in pitch with the Generator
Generate a High C Pitch from the Generator – then i play a High C to be in pitch with the Generator
Generate a High F# Pitch from the Generator – then i play a High F# to be in pitch with the Generator
Generate a Altissimo C Pitch from the Generator – then i play a Altissimo C to be in pitch with the Generator

When i go through all those keys, i will adjust the mouthpiece on the neck so that sax is at least 75% in tune across all the sax keys played. It doesn’t matter where i put the mouthpiece on the sax neck, my sax will never play all those keys perfectly in tune, so i go for the position where the majority of keys are in tune. Adjusting Embouchuring while playing will take care of the rest as these are only out by 10 positons on a tuner, bearing in mind there are 100 postions between each note on a tuner.

I listen to generated pitches to tune my sax, i don’t use a tuner needle to check being in tune.

Then i’m good to go.

there are other useful tips when playing in the Low , Mid and High registers, the angle position at which you blow air on the reed is different in each register, if you don’t play change your angles it makes playing in tune a lot more difficult in different registers.

best wishes

[john]

generated pitches are good…as long as we learn the technique of levelling out the “waver” that’s the key. if done right can work as well as working with a tuner.
many good points sx,…taking in more of the mp is a lesson I share often.
when you do this, take in a bit more than feels good, and then pull it back little by little until you do feel more in control. but now you should have a bit more in your mouth than you did before starting this exercise.
the trick is to add a tiny bit more each time so eventually you are taking in more of the mp and are in control….this will eventually give you a bigger sound.

[Anonymous]

Good advice John!

i’ve started taking in a small amount of mouthpiece recently.

[Author]

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