Received a question the other day about getting your saxophone in tune.  There are a number of factors with intonation.  A great player can make the horn work usually.  But you don’t necessarily want to fight your horn to be in tune.

Question:
Hello I have a question. I have a saxophone i’ve been using for a couple years now. No matter what i do even when i use a tuner i cant the sax to get in tune? What can be wrong? Can i get it professionally tuned? Is it possible that I might need a new sax? Please help thanks!
-Lissie

My response:
Hey Lissie,
Some saxophone are built better than others and tend to have better intonation. What kind of sax do you have?

That said, you have a lot to do with the intonation too. Adjustments with your throat, embouchure, etc.

Adjusting the positioning of the mouthpiece on the neck will help get you in the right range for the temperature/conditions.

But you can’t just set it and expect everything to be in tune.

Can you get any notes in tune? And do you tend to be flat or sharp?

-Neal

Your fingers affect your tone on saxophone much more than you might think.

A master teacher named Henry Lindeman came up with a method of playing in the 1930s that places a great deal of emphasis on technique for a solid foundation in playing. Henry Lindeman taught Phil Sobel who taught Gary Meek, who I have learned a lot from.

Your air stream, tongue, and fingers all need to be aligned to get the tone you want.

And the lack of steadiness or movement that is too abrupt will disturb your sound on sax.

Check out Saxophone Tribe to learn much more and improve your technique (and sound) on saxophone.

The sound you get on saxophone has everything to do with overtones and harmonics.

They’re what make the saxophone sound different than the piano and what make you sound different than another saxophone player.

Here’s a basic lesson about four notes you can play using the low Bb fingering (of course you can play more).

Sometimes we concern ourselves too much with the notes on saxophone.

When I learned a bomba horn line the other day, I got the notes quickly. But I wasn’t articulating it quite right.

Articulation is really about rhythm, but on a finer scale.

Check out how you can see the rhythm visually in this lesson.

Received a question from Robert the other day about tuning an alto sax.

Seems like the confusion was because of the transposition from concert key to Eb.  The tuner displays notes in the key of C which is perfect for piano, flute, guitar, etc.  But not for saxophones.

Robert:

Hey Neal, I have a tuner here and it has EADGBE on it, which note will i need on the alto to tune it to one of them notes, i think i am out of tune on the sax. The alto sax….c/sharp sounds a bit flat.?/

Any help…thanks son

Neal:

So every note on alto sax is different from ‘concert’ pitch (guitar, piano, etc) by a minor third. The C on alto sax is a concert Eb. An A on alto sax is C concert.

You should be able to hear whether you’re in tune or not.  And training your ear is a big part of playing in tune across the range of the saxophone.

The electronic tuner can be a good tool, but you also have to understand how transposition works for it to make sense.

Other ways of tuning include listening to a tuning fork or instrument you know is in tune, sometimes the piano or the first chair of an orchestra, something like that.

If you’re playing flat (across the range of the saxophone) push your mouthpiece in a bit on the cork.  If you’re playing sharp (across the range) then pull it out a bit.

I say ‘across the range of the saxophone’ since when you tune your saxophone, you’re only tuning one note.  Having one note in tune is better than having zero notes in tune though and the saxophone is built to be relatively in tune across the range if you do play in tune on at least that one note.

You’ll learn the nuances of your saxophone and be able to control the pitch better as you practice and progress.

The tuning process, using tools, can be helpful in getting to the point where you can play in tune almost automatically and hear changes you need to make with your ear.

Not just for bassoon anymore.

First note on tenor saxophone and soprano saxophone is C# (or Db).  First note on alto sax and bari sax is G# (Ab).

So it may feel a little bit unfamiliar, but it’s not too hard.  I play it slowed down, so you should be able to get it. Let me know if you have questions.

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