Steve
Hi I’m looking for inspiration as I am struggling to play very soft notes .

Neal Battaglia
how long have you been playing?

Steve
only one year

Neal Battaglia
can you play some notes soft?

Steve
I do struggle with all , I’m using a basic Odessy alto sax . I find that when I use a 3 reed I can do it better but I’m not strong enough to play with a 3 just yet.

Neal Battaglia
I would say you might want a softer reed
you haven’t been playing very long
do you practice every day?

Steve
I use a 2 but can only get the soft notes with a 3 well ,I am just getting back after illness but I do practice every other day.

Neal Battaglia
it should be easier to play notes with a softer reed
the reed number is not the definite indicator of how hard it is
but it describes it somewhat, reeds are inconsistent in their strength

Steve
I found that with this sax lower number reeds don’t sound very good and it plays best with a 2 and even better with a 3

Neal Battaglia
maybe try a 2.5

Steve
That’s what I going to get tomorrow ,its quite hard in the sticks to get them. It just seemed strange to me that I could get a soft sound with a 3 but struggled with a 2 any thing below that and its hard to get a constently good sound through the range.

Neal Battaglia
yeah, you probably don’t want to play below a 2
now anyway

Steve
Is there any benefit of trying different mouthpieces , ie the amount of air passing trough wide vers small opening ?

Neal Battaglia
depends on your preference
it could be good for you to try a few things if you haven’t before
I play on a fairly wide opening (Otto Link Metal 8)

Steve
Ok Neal thank you … ill have to buy some second hand ones to try because I would have to travel 3 or more hours to get to a good shop .

Neal Battaglia
you might want to order things
that’s how I got my current mouthpiece
and how I usually get reeds
amazon/woodwind and brasswind

Steve
Thanks for your help Neal …Ill get back to you after I have had a chance to try all this .

Neal Battaglia
all right, good luck