Tenor out of Tune

[Khanthebrit]

Hi everyone,

I recently bought a yangi t991 tenor and also got it serviced. Now I have finally had the chance to play it, I find non-octave notes are out of tune. As I progress down the saxophone they get flatter. I’m confident and like to think it’s not the saxophones problem, but something I am doing. I don’t seem to get the problem as much on my alto. I really want to get to grips with this instrument and so my first obvious objective I’ve set for it is to get all the notes to play in tune. Do any of you know any useful exercises I can use in my practice routines to get notes in tune?
I’ve tried tightening my embouchure, which seems to distort the reed and trap the air. I Want to get this instrument sounding good but currently I feel like I am stuck at a bit of a dead end 🙁

Any help or advice would be great.

[Anonymous]

Simple – just book one sax lesson
with a sax teacher. In 15 minutes
he’ll have playing mid b, mid a
and mid f in tune.

SIMPLE AS THAT JUST INVEST IN A COUPLE OF LESSONS.

[Khanthebrit]

I’ll certainly be bringing it up with my music teacher, however, my lesson is not till Wednesday and I can only afford one lesson a week. So I was wondering whether I could do something in the meantime to help me get that sax in tune.

It is usually out of tune when I play long tones to the tuner cleartune (app). However, when I play a few simple melodies by ear to a backing track, it doesn’t sound as flat but I wouldn’t say perfect either. I was wondering whether my current methods of trying to get it in tune (playing long tones to cleartune app, intonation exercises and also playing long tones to different pitches) will help me improve or if their are other exercises I should try to adopt.

I understand where you come from as obviously the internet can’t tell you what is wrong with your embochure which is why you refer to me getting a teacher, but I was wondering if there is any advice I could get in relation to how people usually deal with this issue. I’ve played alto for 5 years or so now and still thought the transition would be easier, but I think I am mistaken now 😄

[Anonymous]

Interesting! You’ve played alto for 5 years with no problems
sounding out of tune, now you’ve switched to Tenor, you cant get
the tenor in tune? Also you say the Tenor has been serviced
recently, so that rules out the Tenor being faulty.

Make sure your cleartune app is set to 440Hz.

Play a Middle B on the Tenor and look at the cleartune Ap,
When the needle is spot on the center does the Tenor Sax
Sound in tune to you?

[john]

it sounds like a sax issue since you don’t have this problem on alto… they aren’t that different.
one lesson a week is good if you’re putting enough practice time in.
I find that many people don’t practice enough to warrant a lesson every week.
if enough progress isn’t made there’s not much a teacher can do so it’s a it of a waste.
now I’m not saying you don’t put in enough time caused i don’t know, just saying make sure if you’re going once a week that you are indeed so if not, once or twice a month is also good.

[Mel]

After my first lesson which lasted a little over an hour I opted to do one Hour lessons every two weeks. It was hard for me to imagine just a half hour lesson after being together for that first hour. An hour gives me and my instructor much valuable time together that always seems to fly by. I need the practice time. I practice at least an hour daily and sometimes two or three. It’s amazing in the beginning how fast your chops can get tired and not want to work.

[john]

sounds like you’re heading in the right direction Mel…keep it up!

[Author]

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