Music Banter - View Single Post

Brendan123 · 08-19-2012, 02:24 PM

Hi, I've been playing the alto saxophone since early 4th grade, and now I'm a sophomore in high school. I've stuck to the alto for the entire time, when band camp started this year, (last 2 weeks of June) my director asked me to march with a bari sax, while remaining an alto for concert band and basketball pep band. I'm very well rounded with the both of them, and I'm able to use my experience with an alto's higher embouchure while playing the bari to reach really high into the altissimo range, and visa versa while playing the alto. The only problem is, I signed up to take jazz band this year, and the director told me he needed a tenor sax, the school is loaning me a fairly nice student model tenor sax, but I'm having serious issues even being able to produce a sound from it. My friend who is an incredible sax player and had used the same sax before, says I really need to honk the thing to get a sound, and another tenor player that marches with a bari with me says I need to try to use a cross between my alto and bari embouchure. I'm doing all that and it's a little bit better, but still needs A LOT of work, and I was wondering if anybody with any experience with something similar to this had any tips for me. All help appreciated.

Thanks!

08-19-2012, 02:24 PM	#1 (permalink)
Brendan123 Groupie Join Date: Aug 2012 Posts: 1	Saxophone Help Hi, I've been playing the alto saxophone since early 4th grade, and now I'm a sophomore in high school. I've stuck to the alto for the entire time, when band camp started this year, (last 2 weeks of June) my director asked me to march with a bari sax, while remaining an alto for concert band and basketball pep band. I'm very well rounded with the both of them, and I'm able to use my experience with an alto's higher embouchure while playing the bari to reach really high into the altissimo range, and visa versa while playing the alto. The only problem is, I signed up to take jazz band this year, and the director told me he needed a tenor sax, the school is loaning me a fairly nice student model tenor sax, but I'm having serious issues even being able to produce a sound from it. My friend who is an incredible sax player and had used the same sax before, says I really need to honk the thing to get a sound, and another tenor player that marches with a bari with me says I need to try to use a cross between my alto and bari embouchure. I'm doing all that and it's a little bit better, but still needs A LOT of work, and I was wondering if anybody with any experience with something similar to this had any tips for me. All help appreciated. Thanks!