Bighorn - Saxophone teacher in Hertforshire

Hints and Tips

Holding the saxophone: It may seem a little basic, but getting into bad habits with holding your sax early on can make it harder to change to the correct position later. Your two thumbs should control where the sax is positioned. The left thumb should be permanently on the thumbrest, located so with just a rocking action it can operate the octave key. Your thumb should not move around the thumbrest unneccesarily and should never be mover away from it.

Your right thumb should be under the hook on the sax body. However, do not use your thumb to lift or take the weight of the sax. Your thumb should be pushing away from you slightly and, with your left thumb also pushing away slightly at the top, this should give a balanced position for the horn to meet your mouth. The entire weight of the saxophone should be taken by the sling around your shoulders.

Try also to hold the sax so it never touches any part of your stomach or legs. This helps to eliminate a poor right arm/wrist position and it also stops pockets and belts getting in the way of opening/closing tone hole covers.
Remove the reed after playing: Take the reed off the mouthpiece when you've finished playing and put it back in its reed carrier. The underside of any mouthpiece where the reed sits is a flat surface. However, the reed is only secured to the mouthpiece by the ligature over half its length. As the reed is permanently wet and vibrating backwards and forwards at a vast rate, the tendency is for it to curl towards the mouthpiece facing (the open bit). If left on the mouthpiece for long periods of time, the reed will adopt a slightly curved shape. This in turn will make the tip opening smaller. As a beginner's mouthpiece has a smaller tip opening (to make it easier to play), a slightly curved reed will make the sax harder to play and can cause squeaks as the reed closes completely on the mouthpiece.
Don't use 'feather duster' sax cleaners: These are the big, long fluffy cleaners with a rubber bung on the top. They slide into the top of the sax as you put the sax away and are supposed to soak up any moisture inside the horn. In reality, all they do is hold the moisture inside the horn against the pads. There are some 'pull-through-shammy-type' cleaners which are much better - you pull through the horn to absorb some of the excess water. Moisture is the number one enemy of saxophone pads so the best thing to do is turn the horn upside-down to drain the excess moisture, and then leave it to dry naturally.
Crook cork and tuning: The only place to tune your sax to be in tune with other band members (or to a play along track) is by moving your mouthpiece in or out. Moving the mouthpiece out lengthens your horn and so makes your horn flatter sounding. Conversely pushing the mouthpiece in along the cork makes your horn shorter in length and so makes it sharper. If you only use one mouthpiece on a regular basis then after a while you'll see a mark or stap developing on your crook cork from where the mouthpiece sits. This mark can be used as a guage as to where your horn is in tune. It does, however compress the cork so if you subsequently switch between two different mouthpieces you may find they tune in different places. You can see why It is important to keep your crook cork greased and in good condition. The crook cork tends to need replacing about every two years or so and costs about £10-£15 to have done.
Sax slings: Always use a sling that has an enclosed clasp (not a hook) where it connects to the ring on the horn. I've seen many horns hit the deck where players have bent down with their horn around their neck and the horn has caught on a pocket or belt buckle, detaching the horn from the sling. The repair bill to get dents out of horns can be rather large!

Also, get a strap that has some support around the back of the neck, and preferably one that is not elasticated. Personally I find the more elasticated slings are harder to play with as there is too much movement between the horn and one's chops! Also, it's much more comfy if you wear a polo-neck top or similar shirt with a collar.
Damaged horns: As mentioned I have seen many a horn hit the deck and suffer reasonable damage on making contact with the floor. Fear not though if your horn is on the receiving end of a clout or a fall. There are many places (usually one-man-band craftsmen) that specialise in getting dents and dinks out of your precious horn using a rather frightening selection of bars and hammers! Let me know what type of damage your horn has and I'll try to point you in the right direction to get it fixed. Most dents and dinks can be repaired, especially if they are near one end of the horn or the other. Also, bear in mind that the bell and the bow (the bottom U-bend) are removeable which enables easy access to most parts of the horn from the inside to knock out dents. If your horn gets squashed by something larger than a hippo, then you can buy the individual body parts. By this point though, you may be looking at a new horn and hope your home insurance is up to date!
How to clean your horn: Any real solution to this would be gratefully received by all horn owners. The short answer is very carefully! If you leave your horn on its stand between playing it will pick up dust over time. This, greasy finger marks and moisture leaking from the tone holes during playing, means that your horn will need cleaning once a month or so. I've found that a silver polish cloth and a spare half hour here and there does the trick. It is worth doing this regularly to stop the build-up of dirt in some of the tricky-to-get-to spots.

Sticking G-sharp key: Most horns suffer at some point from the G-sharp tone hole cover sticking closed so when you go to play the G-sharp, the note still sounds like a G. This is due to the moisture inside the horn migrating towards this tone hole while playing, and it sticks shut as the horn dries out after being put away. The easy solution is to check it before playing the next time and, if need be, just ease the tone hole open with your fingers. This will stop it sticking during that particular playing session. Some modern horns (the Keilwerth SX90 for example) has a device that stops this happening (clever Germans!). And from experience it works. If you have any other tone holes that are stuck shut prior to playing, they will probably just need easing open and a good clean.
Wearing jeans!: If you're determined to keep your horn in tip-top condition, check your jeans! Although these days most jeans don't have rivets on the back pockets (to be kinder to leather sofas, chairs and car seats), there are rivets on some front pockets which can scratch your horn! Watch out. A long shirt should suffice.
Mouthpiece pads: If, like me, you're one of those people that doesn't like putting your front teeth on to a hard surface, then a mouthpiece pad is a perfect solution. Looking not unlike a bicycle inner tube repair patch, these pads stick neatly on to the top face of your mouthpiece, protecting your teeth. Perfect. These pads are made for clarinets and saxophones alike and are available from most good music shops. One pad should last at least a year, if not more.
Conditioned chops: To be able to play the sax for any long periods of time, the muscles in and around your lips need to be strong. This strength, or conditioning, will build up automatically in time through regular playing. Eventually you’ll be able to play for a couple of hours at a time without your lips 'giving way' through fatigue.
Reed strength: For many years you were deemed to have 'made it' when you played with a really hard reed. In recent times though sense has prevailed and there is no longer a 'macho' association with harder reeds. Play with a reed strength you're comfortable and happy with - one that suits your mouthpiece, your horn and your style of playing. I once picked up some strength five reeds in a job lot and I'll probably end up using them as replacement floorboards! Beginners should start with one and a half strength reeds as these are easier to play, while more experienced players move on to harder strengths as the muscles around the mouth develop. Metal mouthpieces tend to play better with slightly softer reeds compared to ebonite (black plastic) mouthpieces.
Finger positions: Once you have established where your fingers should sit on your horn (there are very slight variations between different makes of horn), you should get into the habit of not lifting them too far away from the keys. It's harder to play quicker passages of notes if your fingers have to move a long way back to make contact with the keys. One simple way of checking this is to play in front of a mirror - you'll soon see just how far away from the keys your fingers are moving. Another more extreme training aid is to put double sided tape on the keys...You'll soon get in to the habit of not lifting your fingers up too far! Another point - you don't need to press hard with any of the keys to get them to close. If you do, then your horn has gone out of adjustment and needs to be looked at. I know someone that pressed so hard to activate the octave key that she couldn't play for six months due to a thumb strain.
Mouthpiece hygiene: It is a good idea to clean your mouthpiece every month or so. The very nature of playing any reed instrument means that whatever has been in your mouth will get transferred to your reed/mouthpiece and therefore into your horn (a contributing factor over time to the sticking tone hole covers). I find that anti-bacterial wipes are good for cleaning both mouthpieces and reeds - and the taste is not too unbearable either!
Volume: Unfortunately there's not really anything that can be done to vastly reduce the volume of a saxophone. Unlike a trumpet or trombone whose sound only comes out the end (and can be muted), the sax has lots of holes all the way down its body where the sound escapes (although a large proportion still comes out the bell). You can make a slight difference by stuffing a t-towel or t-shirt (or similar) down the sax's bell, but this may only make a slight difference in reducing the volume. There is also a danger that you could stop the bottom C, B and Bb from closing properly. If you do try this method of noise reduction, be careful. In time, with practice and control, you will learn to play quietly.

More recently one or two manufacturers have brought out sax mutes. These resemble Star Wars backpacks in looks and are basically an over-size sax case that encloses the sax with a hole at the top for the crook and arm holes to let you in to hold the sax. I have not used one yet so can't comment on their effectiveness. They look funky though!
Sax stands: The first accessory you need to purchase for your sax is a stand. There's no easy way to put your sax down on a surface without scratching your sax or the surface you're placing it on (unless you put it down on a sofa, but then it'll get sat on!). Most sax stands are inexpensive (£10 to £20 typically) and they're adjustable for alto and tenor horns alike. Some stands are also built for a flute and/or clarinet as well, as some sax players double on these instruments. For a bit more dosh, SaxRax makes a range of great stands that are VERY nice indeed.
Sax cases: Virtually all horns (new or second hand) will come in a hard case. These are made for that particular horn and are very good protection while taking your horn out and about. Some cases, though, can be surprisingly large. I have a baritone that came in a case that you could fit a small car in! There is a large range of soft 'gig bags' on the market as well as hard shaped cases. These are much more compact, lighter, much easier to carry, and offer nearly the same protection as original hard cases.

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