Question:
Which way is the ligature supposed to be?

Should the screws be facing upwards like yours or down?

My band director said it should be down

– Mark Joel Orbon

My response:

On most ligatures the screws face downward. Some are designed for them to face upward, like the ones I have.

Those are called ‘inverted’ sometimes.

You don’t want to turn a ligature the opposite direction that it’s designed to go though.

-Neal

Question:

Hey Neal, I used to play the saxophone back in middle and high school but quit when I went to college.

I decided to pick it back up and went out and rented an Alto sax (which I used to play) I still remember the basics such as notes and fingering chart.

(Has learned some music by ear, hasn’t work on the scales)

I want to learn how to play jazz along with improvisation but i know i need to polish up my basics before i head that direction.

Is there any classes/exercises you can recommend where I will be able to polish up my rusted skills and play jazz with less frustration?

-Antuan

My Response:

-Neal

Question:

What’s the big different between the tenor, alto, and soprano saxophone?

I never played before but always dream of playing. I’m leaning toward the tenor sax.

I love jazz and blues music and I enjoy gospel music and r&b as well.

What do you recommend. I’m looking to buy within the next two weeks?

-Tony

My Response:

-Neal

Question:

How do you read Tenor saxophone sheet music?

-John

My Response:

You start by recognizing the notes and rhythms.

Notes:

The pitch of the note is determined by its vertical position on the staff. Higher is a higher pitch, lower is lower.

The symbols ‘b’ and ‘#’ either lower or raise notes by a half step, respectively.

Use a saxophone fingering chart to find where your fingers go for the notes.

Start by learning the mid range of the saxophone, the first note I would learn is ‘B’ in the middle of the staff.

Rhythms:

Music is divided into measures. Each measure lasts the same amount of time.

Notes and rests occupy the space.

If the measure has only one note and no rests, then the note lasts for the whole measure.

If more notes are in a measure, they are played faster and the notes are shorter.

They are called ‘whole’, ‘half’, ‘quarter’, ‘eighth’, etc.

Beyond notes and rhythms, there are also articulation, phrasing, dynamics, and other things to learn about. But start with notes and rhythms.

You can also get a sample of my beginning saxophone class and sign up if you would like.

Question:

Hi, Neal.

just wanted to ask, my friend, that has been playing for several years, says that if you flex your stomach muscles you will get a rounder sound and better tone. Is that true? If it’s not can you help me with my tone? it’s a bit muffled.

thanks, Justin

My response:

I think I probably do that at the end of some longer/louder notes.

But not all the time, and not something I really think about as I play.

More something that happens when it needs to and it’s not an abrupt movement, that would disrupt the sound.

Question:

Neckstrap adjusted too low here…..

My posture is good, but my neckstrap is slightly too low. how does that affect my tone?

-Justin

My Response:

It restricts the movement of air, since the pathway for the air to travel is not as wide.

That means less air and a weaker tone.

In the image to the right, my neckstrap is adjusted a bit lower than it should be. By that I mean that the saxophone is lower than it should be.

Adjusting the neckstrap to bring the saxophone higher would be a good idea.

In general, I know exactly how to position my strap for my saxophone and just do that automatically, was just trying out the straight alto sax in the photo, not something I have played before.

You’ll need to change how you adjust your neckstrap depending on the saxophone you play sometimes, two tenor saxophones may be a bit different for example.

-Neal

Followup:

Oh, i get it now. Thanks!

-Justin

Question:

My daughter is 12 and just started the Alto Saxophone.

She is currently using size 2 reeds and when she blows on it (lets say 4 beats) the first 2 beats no sound comes out and the last 2 are very loud.

I know that the saxophone is functioning properly because my husband plays it as well and it plays beautifully.

Could it be that she needs a softer reed or is she not blowing properly?

-Jessica

My response:

Seems like she’s probably slowly increasing the air until it makes a sound.

There’s a threshold, needs to be past that threshold to make a sound.

And you don’t want to ease into it, otherwise every note will start late. A lot later than it should right now.

Thanks

-Neal

You can ask a question on this page:
https://saxstation.com/ask-a-saxophone-question

Question:

“Is there a saxophone with a transpose button?”

Just like most piano are manufactured with the transposed button that would allow the player remain on a particular key while the musical composition is on a different key through the aid of the transposed button, has any sax been produced with such element/feature?
-Robinson

My response:

No, not really.

Playing the saxophone, for the most part, requires learning different keys since music is written in different keys.

There is an “electronic wind instrument” (acronym, the EWI) which can be transposed with a button.

But it’s not exactly a saxophone. It can transpose like that because it has electronics inside.

No actual saxophones with that feature.

-Neal

You can ask a question on this page:
https://saxstation.com/ask-a-saxophone-question

Question:
“Where to place your mouth (on the saxophone)?”
-Braden

(Has been playing alto sax for two weeks)

Written response + diagrams below video response,

My response:

About a third of the length of the mouthpiece.

More specifically, enough so that the space between the reed and mouthpiece is covered.

Here is a diagram of a mouthpiece with a reed on it. You’ll see that there is some space between the thin end of the reed and the mouthpiece, widest at the tip and then it decreases in width up to a certain point.

Diagram of mouthpiece

Gray area shows space between mouthpiece and reed

Therefore your mouth should cover at least to that point, otherwise air can escape through the gap as you play.

Arrow indicates point where the space between reed/mouthpiece ends

The amount of space between the mouthpiece and the reed will vary depending on the tip opening of the mouthpiece. The reed should be flat on the bottom, so it won’t change the geometry of the what’s going on with this.

That means that you’ll need to cover more mouthpiece with a wider tip opening and you can cover a little less with a more narrow tip opening.

That will be the minimum amount. You can try experimenting with a little more or less (beyond the minimum) to get what is comfortable and what seems to sound the best.