No Sound Comes Out of Saxophone for two beats, “Could it be that she needs a softer reed or is she not blowing properly?”

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:

Hello Jessica,
It wouldn’t hurt to try a softer reed, maybe a 1.5

But it also sounds like she’s not blowing properly into the instrument.

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