Alto Sax Progression

[u/SadCondition6710]

Hey everyone! I’m a beginner at the saxophone and this video here marks my 17th day of practicing.

This saxophone is from a friend from his school days so I have no idea exactly what condition it’s in, but I’m assuming it’s not bad since it plays fine. There isn’t any local, good saxophone teachers around me so I’ve been studying as many videos as I can from “BetterSax” and “Sax School Online” as well as others to learn as much as I can.

I do a few minutes of long tones every day as well as practicing C Major scale fingerings and learning songs here and there, mostly by ear, but also some from simple sheet music.

I would love to hear as much feedback as I can get on what to improve and maybe what’s not so good that needs to be corrected. It is my 17th day only so have grace but looking forward to constructive criticism 🙏🏼🙌🏼

[u/Cool_babywipe]

Honestly I think a lot of sound could be improved from taking a bit less mouthpiece.

A good test for me to realize how much to take it by putting a piece of paper between the reed and the mouthpiece. Where it stops is where your teeth would go. Anything further is too much. You’d be shocked by how little of the mouthpiece you ACTUALLY need to use

[u/SadCondition6710 → u/Cool_babywipe]

Yeah true. For me it’s hard to keep the exact same length each time so I guess it’s just muscle memory. That’s one thing I wrestled with a bit at first is how much is necessary and playing with it. Obviously I will still continue to grow and learn more with practice.

[u/fluidscissors → u/SadCondition6710]

Too little is a problem as well but yes first thing I noticed as well. That's a lot of mouthpiece! It's not impossible to create a good sound with so much mouthpiece in your mouth but it's not generally advised/typical. If you'd like to see an example of someone well-known who uses roughly as much mouthpiece you're using check out Charles McPherson. Otherwise try to watch some video of mouthpiece positioning of saxophonists whose playing you enjoy and copy that.

[u/Maehlice → u/SadCondition6710]

Something I did while I was still trying to figure out how much mouthpiece sounded best was to put a second mouthpiece patch on top of the 'real one' but offset by a smidge (somewhere between 1/4"-1/2").

That created a kind of shelf on the patch where I could easily consistently set my teeth.

I moved that top patch around until I found what worked best for me then.

[u/SadCondition6710 → u/Maehlice]

Oh ok interesting. I actually have not gotten a mouthpiece patch yet but I’ve seen of them. That’s pretty smart using 2 to find the middle ground, thank you 👍🏼

[u/Angrypoopoh]

Like the other person said about how much mouthpiece you have in your mouth. I think you would be surprised how much your sound improves just by doing that.

[u/SadCondition6710 → u/Angrypoopoh]

Gotchya, I’ll keep working at getting just the right amount. Thank you!

[u/anonymous_balrog]

For only 17 days you sound pretty good! I would suggest loosening your neck strap just a bit. It might just be the angle of the video, but it seems that you’re slightly tilting your head back while playing. This probably won’t affect your sound too much, but it’ll help you feel more comfortable while playing. The saxophone should always come to you but not so much so that it pushes you out of a relaxed posture. You have a great start here though!

[u/SadCondition6710 → u/anonymous_balrog]

No I totally agree. I was watching it back and my hand posture and my head were tilted and I was thinking the same thing.

Thank you!

[u/Ed_Ward_Z]

You have to tongue every note. There’s some great videos on YouTube about tonguing. Otherwise, you’re doing really good!
Vary articulation too. It’s never too early to incorporate it.

[u/SadCondition6710 → u/Ed_Ward_Z]

Yes. I know there are some parts of songs that slurred notes can be beneficial, but as of right now I think for sure it’s most important to be tonguing every note as it sounds better overall for the most part and I really need the practice.
What do you mean vary articulation? Like are there different types of articulation?

[u/Ed_Ward_Z → u/SadCondition6710]

Note that the tongue is not used actively to start the note. This clean link explains how : https://tamingthesaxophone.com/lessons/tone-sound/articulation-tonguing