Question:

Why my new alto saxophone is not in tune?

My response:

So you open up a new saxophone, never played before. No scratches, metal is shining.

But…. it doesn’t play in tune?

Why does that happen?

Playing in tune happens because of both the position of the mouthpiece on the cork and your development on the instrument.

The position of the mouthpiece on the cork is the simplest thing to change the intonation with.

Adjustments

Pushing it in will make the saxophone ‘tube length’ so to say shorter and more sharp.

Pulling it out will make the saxophone more flat.

Is that all that’s needed?

No.

The entire saxophone will not magically become in tune if you adjust the mouthpiece position.

It could make one note in tune and that’s a start, but being able to play the entire saxophone in tune requires practice and knowing your instrument. That takes some time.

Having a good saxophone will make it more likely to play in tune more easily.

But a beginning saxophone player could play the best saxophone in the world out of tune.

And a professional saxophone player can play a sax that’s in pretty bad shape or not too great in the first place, perfectly in tune.