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“Where to place your mouth (on the saxophone)?”

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saxophone_embouchure_neal_mlYou 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.

saxophone-mouthpiece

Diagram of mouthpiece

 

saxophone-mouthpiece_space

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.

saxophone-mouthpiece-arrow

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.

 

“My selmer (saxophone) is 135771. Does this mean I got a good one?”

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

Question:

My Selmer (saxophone) is 135771.  Does this mean I got a good one?
-Les

My response:

You would know better than me, I’ve never seen it, heard it, or played it.

-Neal

A pretty brief response to the question. But really, I have no idea if it’s good or not. I have never seen it, heard it, or played it.

A number is not going to define how good a saxophone is.

It depends on who built it, adjusted it, and the current condition among other things.

Saxophones made by a certain company in a certain time period might tend to be good or bad, but a number will not define the horn.

“How do I play E# and B# on Saxophone?”

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Saxophone Fingering Chart - Low F

Saxophone Fingering Chart – Low F

Question:

“How do I play E# and B# on Saxophone?”
-Ray

My response:

E# is like F and B# is like C.

E to F is a half step and B to C is also a half step.

So if you raise E by a half step with a sharp, you get to F.

And if you raise B by a half step with a sharp, you get C.

Similarly, Fb is like E and Cb is like B.

Ray’s response:
It just had me confused when i could not find any fingerings for lower Esharp

That’s made things a lot clearer.now back to practise on those scales cheers
thanks again
Ray

Saxophone Notes & Diagrams Question

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Question:

Hello Neal,

I have been trying to follow your videos on Youtube, I have noticed that in the diagrams that you use (Which are great help no one else does that, that I have found) that you have it set out normally as 3 notes (buttons) line then 3 notes. Now on my Saxophone I have 4 notes (buttons) on top then the normal 3 on the bottom with all the other ones along the sides etc. Why is that?

I have tried looking for  answers for these questions, both on google and youtube. Can you please help, I would really love to hear back from you soon.

Thank you,

Trent

Answer:

So as you say, there are more keys on the top. But three of them are the default locations for your fingers.

Here are all the keys on the saxophone:

sax_all_keys

And circled in blue are the keys you generally place those three fingers for your left hand.

sax_all_keys_circles

The keys not circled in blue are the one on the top which is for a high F and a few other high notes and the bis Bb key, which is the small key under the usual position of your first finger.

Pure Imagination on Tenor Saxophone

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Pure Imagination. On tenor sax.

Written by Leslie Bricusse and Anthony Newley

In 1972, the film Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory received an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Score

You can play it up an octave on tenor, but the middle section is a bit tricky to go between an F and an altissimo G, at least on my horn.
I might teach part of this in a lesson, give it a thumbs up if you’re interested

“Where can I get alto sax notes for songs like “Above all Kingdoms” ?”

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sheet_music1_PaintingQuestion:

Where  can I get alto sax notes for songs like “Above all Kingdoms” ?
-AJ

Has been playing alto sax for a couple of months.

My response:

I tried searching for the sheet music for that song, and found guitar chords and lyrics but no sheet music for alto sax.

You probably would have to learn it by ear.

Sometimes you just can’t find sheet music for certain songs. And the only real option is to learn it by ear.

Learning music by ear will make you a better musician though, so try it out. Take it one piece at a time.

Check out my classes and Saxophone Tribe if you want my help with it.

-Neal

“Will I ever be able to read music quick enough? I can read ok if I know the tune but struggle if I have to read the rhythm and the notes at the same time. I lose the count trying to read the notes.”

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moto_perpetuo_pieceQuestion:

Will I ever be able to read music quick enough? I can read ok if I know the tune but struggle if I have to read the rhythm and the notes at the same time. I lose the count trying to read the notes.
-Russell

Background:

Russell has been playing for 18 months, practices five days a week.

He says that he knows all of the major scales, but has not learned any music by ear.

My response:

Theoretically, if you know all the major scales, recognizing the notes should not be a problem.

However, if the key changes in music you play, then being comfortable with rapidly changing keys may be difficult.

In the last thing you say, where you talk about losing count, the bigger issue seems to come up.

The problem seems to be keeping track of the count.

I would say you should focus and isolate the rhythm when practicing. When I started learning music in middle school we would count the rhythms out loud using syllables. Numbers for downbeats. The word “and” for upbeats. Etc.

The other thing to do, once you have a handle on the rhythm, is to slow down to a temp where you can play it comfortably.

Isolating the rhythm and slowing down should allow you to play the music on the saxophone. And then it will be a matter of practicing to play it at tempo.

“Sometimes when I blow the sax, I can hear ‘watery’ sound in the background. The sound is not ‘clean’. What could possibly be the problem in this case?”

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buescher_saxophone_keysQuestion:

Sometimes when I blow the sax, I can hear ‘watery’ sound in the background. The sound is not ‘clean’. What could possibly be the problem in this case?

Thanks!

-Luke (member of Saxophone Tribe)

 

Answer:

Probably some water building up somewhere in the saxophone.

I will blow through the mouthpiece, not making sound, but causing air to move the water forward and then shake out my neck sometimes.

Sometimes it builds up under certain keys, seems like the palm keys especially (the openings under the pads for them).

-Neal

 

Response:

I tried this method last night and it worked. Thanks!

-Luke

Red Clay by Freddie Hubbard

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I took a jazz improvisation class at the local junior college when I was in high school.

The girl who played piano there was somewhat obsessed over the song “Red Clay” by Freddie Hubbard.

She said that she would always play that song with her combo.

Freddie Hubbard has written a lot of good stuff, but just like any musician you’ll like some things they do, but not everything (usually).

Have listened to it quite a few times and played over it a few times, great song. More recently.

The changes are the same as those from the song ‘Sunny’ by Bobby Heb.

Here’s a video of me playing a solo on alto sax over Red Clay.