Thank you!

[Elisa Carroll]

I am very glad to have found this site; it is full of really helpful ideas, so thank you very much for taking the time to create and maintain it.

I was given a Roy Benson tenor sax back in April; I have never played a sax before, although like many primary kids in the UK I played a recorder for a few years! I have played it pretty much most days since April, for about 30 mins a day, with a 30 minute lesson once a week. I think you need a lot of determination; I have found it really hard!! I dropped the neck part about a month ago and it dinted the edge, just where it goes into the main body of the sax. Since then, I have found it harder to play, especially when I start playing a note with the octave key. Before, I could go up and down C major and D major scales without too much difficulty, now I get the most awful notes when I go up an octave then down again – especially the high (middle) D. Would it be a good idea to take it to a repair shop? My sax teacher, who has been playing for 6 years can play it better than I can of course; she thinks it is OK, but I genuinely find it harder to play. Or is it just me, with a warped reed or something? I have watched the first few videos again this evening, about breathing etc.. I have tried to play a consistent, energetic 'tongued' note, but I find that I still get a wavering sound… I take a deep breath in, keeping my shoulders down, hoping that this fills my lungs properly! When I breathe out, I breathe from the bottom of my stomach, so it is more like a 'huff' into the mouthpiece… is this right? When I play G, then F, as individual notes, I find it hard to get an even tone. when I blow a low D, I can feel my bottom lip vibrating a bit when I hit the right note and this sounds / feels really good 🙂 Why are F and G so much harder to get an even sound?

When I take the reed off after about half an hour, there is a ton of moisture on the side that faces the mouthpiece; if I dry it and replace it I usually get a better sound. It's a 1 1/2" reed. I have not been putting it back in its case; I just leave it on a piece of tissue, but It seems I should keep it flat in its case. Quite often, I get a high pitched squeaky sound – very embarrassing. When this happens, I try relaxing my lower jaw a bit, or wiggling my lower lip around so it's looser and this often helps – any other reason why I get a whistle rather than a nice note?

One of my worst things was spit coming out of the keys after about 15 minutes, but other posts on this site have said 'concentrate' and 'remember to swallow' so that has helped tonight; I did not get a puddle of spit in the bottom of the horn!

I REALLY wish that I could play my sax more consistently. It still seems really hit and miss whether I get a good note; I blow a nice one one minute then a few minutes later it sounds awful – I won't practice in front of people even now. Any ideas to get a more consistent, positive, even note?

Thank you again!

Elisa

[john]

Hi Elisa, wow that's a long hello! Nice to have you here. We will sort you out as we go but I can't address all your issues right away. You will slowly find stuff on my existing lesson videos and more on the upcoming ones here soon.

As far as being consistant that will come as you spend more hours with your horn. Your embouchure will strengthen thus giving you a stronger sound and as you practice you riffs and scale exercises your fingers will get faster (the don't really because it's all in your brain).

There is a solid lesson on proper breathing here so you should get some help there but as far as the dent in the neck, this is very bad as even the slightest one will hamper your playing. The neck is very important and a dent there can really mess things up as it is on the beginning of the sax, whereas a dent on the bell wouldn't matter at all. You should get it looked at. I've had to replace necks because of dents, although I don't know how serious yours really is.

cheers
Johnny

[Author]

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