In This Video:
- handling your sax safely
- hand positioning
- neck placement
How To Handle Your Saxophone
Getting your saxophone safely out of it’s case and putting it together will be a snap once you do it a few times. There are a few things you must know because this is a very delicate instrument with lots of parts on it that can easily break or bend. Grab it on solid smooth surfaces and avoid things like rods and tone pads. These things, along with springs, once damaged can prevent a few or many notes from being playable.
Transcript of the Video Lesson
Ok let’s take the sax out fit’s case without damaging it. It’s very delicate. Put your hand in the bell and lift it up just like that. The support it with your left hand outside the bell as well. Once you get it there put the body under your arm and hold it with one hand like that.
See that ring? It holds the saxophone body to the bell. It’s a good strong anchor. I put one of my fingers in there around to the other side where there’s no tone holes or rods to injure. Put your thumb also on the body. So with one hand you can hold your sax very safely and firmly like that.
Now the neck, you can keep holding the sax like that to put on the neck. You can also go back to the other position under your arm and put on the neck. What you don’t want to do because this can injure your horn. If you tug on the bell to hold it and you’re turning the neck like this where one and is pulling one way and the other hand is pulling another way you can pull your sax out of alignment. I have done this and it’s cost me money to get it fixed so this can save you some money, believe me.
Another thing about the neck, it should go on fairly snug. If it’s really really hard to move you should get it loosened by a repair man. If it’s really loose you should get it tightened because this nut that screws it on won’t work. Putting it back in the case is the same way.
When we get into the fingering lessons coming up we’re going to talk about where to put your fingers on the notes. Just before we do that, while we have a close up of the sax, there’s a thumb hook under that note. Put your thumb under there of your right hand. Up near the top there’s a plastic or pearl pad, depending on your sax. That’s where your thumb rests.