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“Does it make a difference on what reed you’re using? (on saxophone)”

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sax_reed_mouthpieceDoes it make a difference on what reed you’re using?

I have a 2 1/2. Should I be trying the lower and higher numbered reeds? Plastic?

What about mouth piece?

(playing for one month)

-Jamie

My response:

Yes. The reed plays an important role in how you sound and how it feels to play the saxophone.

I imagine that the 2 1/2 reed probably feels like a lot of resistance for you right now.

My recommendation would be to try a 2 or 1.5. Not below that, almost definitely not above 2.5. The lower number means the reed should be softer and will bend more easily, which requires less air.

The strengths of reeds by the number are not entirely consistent, but they are the thing we have to go by. You’ll find that some reeds with the same number are harder and others are softer. There can be a bit of variation.

In general, a softer reed will make it easier to play the lower notes and to play in general. If it’s too soft, the higher notes may be flat though.

A harder reed will make it more difficult to play the lower notes, but may get the higher notes more in tune.

For the first 3-4 months of playing the saxophone I would say you probably want to use a 1.5 reed and maybe get up to a a 2 after that if it feels like the reed is too soft.

Some experimentation is good after a while. In the beginning stages though, pretty much everyone should use a fairly soft reed.

For mouthpiece, you’ll likely be fine with the mouthpiece you’re using for a while. After a year or two you can try out some other mouthpieces. The mouthpiece will not make as much of a difference for a beginning player when you’re just starting.

-Neal

 

Newton’s First Law and Sounding Better on Saxophone

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Prinicipia-titleIsaac Newton wrote three laws in Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica (Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy). Published in 1687. Isaac Newton invented calculus among other things, but those three laws of motion are learned by many school students.

The language of science often has to be very specific to be practical. So the first law includes the specification of an inertial reference frame. That can be important, but chances are you do not need to worry about exactly what that part means if you are not an engineer or scientist.

Sometimes it can be better to think about the principles in more understandable language though. The ideas can be useful, but sometimes the complex language makes them harder to grasp. Between the options of understanding an idea somewhat and not understanding it at all, I would say the first option can be better.

The first law basically says that an object tends to stay at rest or if it is already in motion, it tends to continue to move as it was. Unless a force acts upon the object. This idea is known as ‘inertia’.

Sometimes people say they ‘wish’ they could play saxophone or wish they could dance, etc. A wish does not really have force. Actions have force.

So if you would like to sound better on the saxophone, you need to take action.

Check out this page to get some ideas on things to do, https://saxstation.com/steps

“What does this symbol mean?” Flats, Sharps, Natural Symbols

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I just have a question;
What does this symbol mean:
♮
Does it have the same meaning as this one?:
♭

Or maybe as this symbol :
♯

I can’t find the answer so maybe you could help me out..

Gr Cedric

Hey Cedric,
That’s not a bad question. Maybe I’ll do a video explaining it also.

It’s something you will usually learn about with a beginning book or a first year class.

Each symbol can shift the pitch by a half step.

The first means ‘natural’.

If there is no marking, you just see a note, the default thing it will be is ‘natural’.

The reason you see a natural sign is if you are meant to play the note natural but there is either a flat or a sharp in the key signature or as an accidental.

The next symbol is ‘flat’. You shift the pitch of the note down by a half step.

The third is ‘sharp’. You shift the pitch of the note up by a half step.

There are double flats and double sharps, but are less common.

Often times you can play the same pitch but see it written two different ways.

D# is a half step above D (and a half step below E) and Eb is a half step below E (and a half step above D). They sound the same.

B and C are a half step apart. So Cb sounds the same as B.

If you look at the keys on a piano, this may make more sense.

You can also check out my class ‘Saxophone Foundations‘ if you want to read through more on this and about other parts of notation, theory, etc.

-Neal

Frustration vs Discomfort & Sounding Better on Saxophone

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“That’s not gong fu.

We stared at each other for a long time, then he raised one eyebrow. I could fix it, if you wanted. I must have nodded, because then he asked me if I could chi ku, eat bitter, the Chinese expression to endure suffering.”
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(pg. 68 Iron and Silk by Mark Salzman)

Playing things on saxophone that are comfortable can be fun.

In fact, you want to get everything you play to be comfortable. That’s when you will sound the best.

When you perform on stage, you want to be comfortable! Otherwise…. you’re probably going to be frustrated and not sound great (or as good as you would like).

Imagine two areas: comfort and panic on a spectrum. It turns out, some discomfort is crucial to improving. But when you experience that discomfort should be in a particular environment.

comfort_panic

Frustration

Struggling to play tends to sound bad and feel frustrating. Not be able to play as you wish.

Frustrating because you do not have the control you want.

Not being in control and not even knowing where to go from your current situation can be extremely frustrating. Unfortunately, that is the situation for many musicians. I have been there in the past. It turns out you need to experience some discomfort in order to escape the plateau, the ‘sounding okay, but not good’.

Our minds have mechanisms in which things become habit. And to change habits and sound better, you need to step away from what is comfortable.

Discomfort

Unfortunately, you do not improve when things are comfortable.When things are comfortable that really means you are not thinking about them, they happen automatically by habit. And if you don’t think about something, it tends to stay the same.

There are things you do in your life in which you improved rapidly at first. Take driving as an example. But then you get ‘good enough’ and you do it automatically. You’re not really getting better at driving most of the time after you initially learn it. You just do it and unless there are major problems, your skill level stays about the same.

Taking lessons with an effective saxophone teacher can be uncomfortable. There is the expectation that you practice your instrument before you arrive. Then the teacher will likely be able to hear things in your playing immediately that you don’t always notice.

All the problems get noticed. Then you can work on things.

The teacher likely knows what things are important to spend time on. How to effectively practice.

It may not be ‘fun’ but the results you get are definitely fun. The part where you start sounding better and continue to improve.

It’s all right for things to be uncomfortable in lessons and when you practice. Between comfort and panic you learn and improve.

What you can play expands and music becomes more interesting.

Challenge

You need challenges in order to progress. That means moving away from comfort and towards panic a little bit.

It takes more effort and control. With music, it means really listening and figuring out what to work on.

You don’t want to completely switch gears and go all the way into complete panic though! That is also a problem.

comfort_panic_star

How much you push yourself depends on your willpower and ability to handle challenges.

Bad habits

It’s easy to develop habits which can be good or bad.

Fingers that move inefficiently. A strange position with your embouchure. Not knowing about different ways to articulate. Being only comfortable in a few keys.

Without a sense of direction, which a teacher can provide, it’s much easier to develop bad habits.

Knowing what to do

In the first weeks and months of playing saxophone, it can be somewhat clear what you need to do if you know some of the basics already and are on the path to developing good habits.

If you don’t know how to play any notes, you learn your first notes. Having a teacher and/or taking a beginning saxophone class is important to establish good habits from the start. And working through a solid book can also be helpful.

You learn about the basic rhythms. Then you play some songs with what you know. You start to learn about dynamics and the language of music.

At some point though, you exhaust the low hanging fruit. Learning a new note is a substantial improvement if you only know three notes. Beyond a certain point it becomes much harder to add notes and may not even be the most important thing to work on.

After a little while it can be unclear what your priorities should be. What you should practice. How you should practice.

Taking Action

If music is something you care about then you probably want to sound better.

Sounding better requires stepping away from what is comfortable and putting in some work.

To expand your awareness means focusing on listening and being aware of your sound.

Listening to records of great music and reading about ideas can help.

The feedback on your playing from an effective teacher can be critical to improving your sound. Someone who has learned the saxophone and can hear the things you cannot.

  1. If you have not done so already, go to the day 1 on saxophone page and leave a comment about how you sounded on day 1 of playing the saxophone. No one sounds great on day one. Check out how some others sounded and read some comments that are there already.
  2. Leave a comment below about what you are going to do this week to step out of your comfort zone and improve something about how you play the saxophone. (Other comments will not be approved)

Examples

  • Focus on a scale that is uncomfortable.
  • Go to a saxophone lesson with an effective teacher.
  • Sign up for a class.

After you have done those things, go to this page and ask a question to get some help.

comfort_panic

KT Saxophone Before/After

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KT in LA, with a few examples of her playing- one from earlier on and one a bit later.

Check out this video to hear a recording early on when she tried to learn something by ear, the Pink Panther Theme. In some ways she was getting it, but it changed quite a bit. Sometimes that happens when you try to play something from memory without having heard it recently.

Learning music by ear is a fundamental part of sounding better. Sometimes we lose track of that as we focus on scales, reading, etc. Music is all about listening, whether or not you’re reading.

She also plays ‘Taps’ and to me her tone has improved, she plays more melodically, and the sense of rhythm is better.

KT continues to study with me in Saxophone Tribe.

Saxophone Tribe

What does Day 1 sound like on Saxophone?

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Two examples of people playing the saxophone for the first time.

Check this out and leave a comment about what you sounded like on day one of playing the saxophone. (Other comments will not be approved)

After that, go to this page: https://saxstation.com/frustration-vs-discomfort-the-sounding-better-on-saxophone.htm

One is a musician (second example) and the other is not a musician.

You probably sounded/will sound something like this on your first day, possibly more like example 1 or example 2.

Leave a comment about how you sounded on day 1! Thanks

Off Rhythm: And How to Cure It

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Imagine the song ends with a quarter note on the fourth beat. Everyone hits it, except you. You come in a beat later……

If you’re at practice, everyone else will hear you being off and the entire group will go through the ending again to get it right.

We all make mistakes sometimes. But do you want to be the musician in the group known for not having good rhythm?

YBSC_CincoDeMayo_2013 (65 of 198)_sOr do you want to nail the rhythm perfectly and be the sax player that the others can count on and follow?

As a saxophone player, could your timing and rhythm improve at all? Do you ever get lost? Feel handcuffed to sheet music? Would developing great rhythm help you express yourself and feel more free on the saxophone?

“When familiar with a song, I can play along, when not I’m lost.”
-Sam (part of Saxophone Tribe)

If you play the wrong note, it’s slightly bad. It becomes worse if that mistake causes you to panic and lose your place.

If you play a ‘right’ note in the wrong place, it’s no longer right and can be very bad.

As you develop a great sense of rhythm, everything you play sounds better and you get closer to mastering music and becoming an amazing saxophone player. Cannonball Adderley and many other great sax players could hold the rhythm just as well as drummers.

In music, you can hear:

Three main categories- notes, rhythm, and tone.

notes_rhythm_tone

Of those three, rhythm is the most important. Rhythm includes articulation, phrasing, and phrasing. Rhythm affects emotions and is related to technique.

Rhythm is most fundamental.

You want a great tone and you want to understand harmony, but without any rhythm….. you should probably put down the saxophone.

Fortunately, you can develop a sense of rhythm. This involves breaking thing down and slowing down, among other things.

Sax Station breaks down music into pieces you can absorb and master.

I talk about saxophone groove on the site since I think it matters more if the music feels good than if you play the ‘right’ note. And the note is only wrong if it disrupts the flow and messes up your playing. If you use a ‘wrong’ note as a passing tone, it sounds good and gives some color to what you play.

Other saxophone teachers often focus on scales, harmony, and notes. You’ll learn some about those things on here, but we’ll also get more into rhythms, tone, articulation, articulation, feel, and more.

What’s the catch?

You’ll find a lot of free lessons (hundreds) on Sax Station. More recently, a growing number of video lessons. I have learned many things over years of playing and I share much of it. There are also paid classes and a program called Saxophone Tribe.

Sign up to get access to some exclusive sax lessons and find out when new lessons are made.

You can go through the free lessons and ask some questions, but if you want feedback on your playing and more direction on progressing and sounding better, check out the classes and Saxophone Tribe.

An Example of Improving Rhythm

Check out this progression where a student from Saxophone Tribe improves the rhythm, articulation, and phrasing of a melody. (Click on the link to Saxophone Tribe to see a video about this piece of music and hear what’s going on!)

If you look at the waveform of a recoding, you can see the rhythm.

First, rhythms are a bit off

first_recording_st_james

Here it is so you can see the divisions of the beats.

first_recording_grid

Comparison with notation:

notation_comparison_st_james

down_arrow

Next, it gets better but still needs some work.

second_recording_st_James

To see this lesson in greater detail and learn about the suggestions for the revision, follow the link below.

To learn more, click the link and follow the directions. Entering your name and email will get you the music that was played in the diagrams above and a detailed breakdown in a report. After that, filling out the survey will get you access (with a password) to a video lesson on this song.

And after that you will find out about more steps.

Click here

off_rhythm_report

Or consider joining Saxophone Tribe to jump in right away:

Saxophone Tribe

 

“How and when should I breathe and use my tongue while playing (saxophone)?”

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lizard_tongueQuestion:

“How and when should I breathe and use my tongue while playing (saxophone)?”

-Claire

My response:

You use your tongue to ‘articulate’ that is to separate notes and control the length of them. The tongue stops the air from flowing, so if you imagine a continuous pressure of air flowing then your tongue breaks that stream of air into separate attacks on notes. Sometimes notes are slurred together in which case you let them flow together without using the tongue.

The style of music you are playing is one of the things you should think about with regards to articulation. Some styles are more smooth, others have more sharp attacks.

Two syllables you can think about are ‘tah’ and ‘dah’. Each has its own place.

For breathing, you want to breathe when you need air but also in places where it does not interrupt phrases of music.

You might want to think about breathing as being similar to the period in the structure of a sentence. You start a thought (phrase in music) then complete it. At that point you can breathe before starting something new.

-Neal