Do These 8 Things for a Beautiful Saxophone Sound

#bettersax #saxophone #saxophonelessons
Jay Metcalf shares some tips on how to sound beautiful on the saxophone and answers common saxophone questions.

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[michaelprozonic]

when I was first started learning to play the clarinet as a young teen, I discovered that playing long tones while paying attention to my intonation and sound quality, both loud and soft, really helped me improve.

[stephenbashforth]

Hi Jay - since I retired from work I have been playing long tones every day - playing a (different) scale over the full length of the horn (so i get round the cycle of fifths ) listening to each note for at least a whole note or two or four (quarter note = 60bpm), and checking tuning / intonation against a drone.. Last week my band director walked past me and said my tone is really sweet and full of character . So - to everyone out there - Jay's message about long tones works. It just takes patience, persistence, dedication day in day out.

[danielnavarodrigues]

“Everybody needs a teacher”. That is so true. Years of self-teaching after acquiring some very rudimentary beginner’s skills from my high-school teacher brought very little gain. The past 3 years with a proper teacher and I feel I’ve progressed 20 years.

[stewartwforbes]

As a player, teacher and perpetual student of the saxophone I think this advice is absolutely the best advice out there. All credit to you Jay 😎🎷👏👏👏

[claretuckett]

Ironically, only an hour before watching your video my husband and I saw a guy sitting in his car by the side of the road playing his sax. Proves you can practice anywhere if you really want to. No excuses!!

[samuelcalello]

Im an older player and I chased the sound for many years until I found my sound about 15 years ago. I went to a sax shop that had many used quality tenor sax mouthpieces. I spent hours going through mouthpieces. I found the mouthpiece of my dreams, a Lamberson. I had never heard of that manufacturer, but now I'm very aware of him. I spent many years along with three years in the Army band system with the wrong mouthpiece for me. Jay is right, don't be afraid of using a softer reed. Some mouthpieces are designed for a softer reed. "Let the air do the work".

[timwallace]

Hi Jay, I don't understand why anyone learning the saxophone would complain about practising - for me its the absolute best time. I simply cannot wait to get home and start. Surely anyone who complains has made the wrong decision.

[jamiemeansjamesmusic]

Thanks for this Jay. The putting the time in is really important, and what you said is so true. 10 years ago I sounded terrible, and I was in college! But I practiced every day, had my ass kicked by the right people, and I sound a lot better. These days I mostly play to keep in shape, or learn music for new gigs, but pulling the horn out of the case and playing and being honest of where you stand with it is key.

[arrbeesax]

“Let the air do the work” is the most important tip from this video IMO.

[robm]

I find your videos VERY helpful. It's worth it to get an inexpensive microphone (used SM58) and stand, an inexpensive mixer and headphones. Then listen to yourself on everything you play, at least once a week, articulation, long tones etc.. The sound in front I discovered is very different from sound behind. It's easier to correct on the fly instead of after a recording. I found softer reeds also helpful, putting away my pride. Also, longer vamp reeds (like Rigotti) for longer chamber mpcs, shorter vamp (like van Doren) for shorter chambers made a huge difference for me and took me considerable study to discover.

[stanrivera]

I've seen many students playing only on the tip of the mouthpiece, which closes half the opening, producing a tight, and often sharp pitched, note. I show them to put the lips where the reed meets the lay, and squeeze in a circle, with most of the support from the sides - ie don't bite. Your advice is very good. I wish I could practise every day, like I used to. But long notes, every conceivable scale in every key, arpeggiated scales and pure chord-type arpeggios are essential data that has to be in there before they can improvise fluently. This takes years. Along with playing written-out solos and copying great masters. If they're not put off by all that, they'll do well, and hopefully end up better than me. And I also tell them it's not all about speed, it's about musicality - often they don't want to believe that. You have fantastic advice.

[sidneiramalho]

Great video as usual Jay. I wasted years that I could've been studying because of noise issues. About two years ago, I built a practice room which was not quiet enough, then I built a sound proof "shed" in my garage where I can practice any time of the day or night. Just one more note, golf is as frustrating as saxophone believe me. 🤣

[jonsande]

Thanks Jay! I’m a rare student who is starting off on bari and have been enjoying being a member of yours since August. I’m pleased with my overall progress but this was a great reminder to stay consistent and focus on the incremental improvements

[pamelatrent]

This is very good info. Every Youtube video always stresses 'learn this fast' or 'play better faster'. These are very honest answers.

[jennifermuschamp]

I already watched this video and I am watching it again because its just a nice reminder. Thanks.

[alainfontaine]

Thanks for these explanations. I can already see that practicing every day and stop bitting by thinking a word while playing changed a lot my sound. It's only begining but this is a first step for me. Thanks for your advice 👍

[stanrivera]

I haven't watched this all the way through. The saxophone is capable of a wide range of sounds. When it was invented, the idea was to make an instrument that was "as loud as a trumpet but with the agility of a flute". There are many players who have a "beautiful" sound - Stan Gets or Paul Desmond, for instance. But it's not a necessity. Some players have explored the raucous end of sax tone production, like Roland Kirk or Pharaoh Saunders. Some even hum as they're playing to increase the dirtiness, and this is never wrong, it's just a choice depending on the type of music being played. Classical players will almost always go for a beautiful sound. Rock and rollers will go for a gritty sound. I think that the big thing for sax students is to be able to do both with ease. I use a Vandoren V16 mouthpiece, which has quite a wide tip opening, with a Vandoren 2 reed, or Rigotti 2.5L, which gives the flexibility to play both ends of the spectrum. I will definitely watch the full video when I have time - you are a go-to teacher for anybody who takes the instrument seriously.

[timoteo]

I’ve been playing for 6 months. One of the things I discovered to help me get the sound right is I had my sax check up. Got it use but was in new like shape. Found out a I had a few keys that needed an adjustment and the octave key needed adjustment. But improvement on sound right there. Second I explored a lot into different reeds. Recently discovered a brand called rigotti jazz reeds. It end up being a expensive investment. Becus rigotti uses a weird numbering system. I end up living the rigotti jazz strong size three Reed and love how it respond. I had to try out two different size in medium strength and strong strength to find Wht works best with my mouthpiece. I end up loving better then the other brands. Then I tried different mouthpieces. Was learning on a meyer 6 mouthpiece. But just recently switch to Jody jazz dark series hard ruber size 5 and end up playing super well.

[Ryan-gbgb]

Been playing blues harmonica for 15 years. 2 weeks ago I decided to try out saxophone. Pick up a cheap alto saxophon like the one you demo on your YouTube. Watching your videos for instruction. Fingers crossed.

[ronglennproductions]

Nice! I’m a tone geek too and Here’s some of my favs:
1) turn out 2) push in 3) The “hinge long tone routine” 4) Joe Temperly’s long tone routine 5) Long tones with filter pedals and micing from the tone holes to isolate the fundamental blending and maximizing it through the dynamic range 6) Long tones blending the sound of the bell with sound of tone holes (play into a wall or put the neck on backwards to hear that the two tones are different (This is a UofMiami thing) 7) scales on mpc or mpc and neck and while fingering and playing on mpc slowly put the mpc onto the sax; keep it free-blowing by voicing to compensate for the added resistance (brass player exercise)