Saxophone beginners Bad Habits To Watch Out For As a Beginner

[jbtsax]

Some great tips from The late John Talcott:

Another thread gave me the idea to make a list of all of the bad habits that I regularly encounter when teaching classes of beginning saxophone students. This is intended to not only help beginners, but to help teachers know what to watch for.

Problem: Not putting the top teeth on the mouthpiece.
Solution: Use a mouthpiece patch to make doing so more comfortable.

Problem: Putting a different amount of mouthpiece in the mouth each time.
Solution: Use a mouthpiece patch with a groove for the top teeth to find and lock into.

Problem: Playing with the mouthpiece at a different angle each time.
Solution: Play with good posture and adjust the neckstrap to exactly the same length each time.*

Problem: Puffing the cheeks when playing.
Solution: Tighten the muscles at the corners of the mouth as if holding pencils there.

Problem: Poor posture.**
Solution: Use the correct neckstrap length. Bring the sax to you not the other way around.

Problem: Tight throat.
Solution: Say "HAUP" when you take a breath and blow warm air. Think first part of a yawn.

Problem: Moving the chin or jaw while tonguing.
Solution: Move the tip of the tongue the shortest distance to touch the tip of the reed.

Problem: Starting the note with a guttural "GUH".
Solution: Practice blowing an airstream against the finger voicing "tu tu tu tu tu".

Problem: Scooping the beginning of notes unintentionally.
Solution: Practice this sequence for starting the note: Breathe, Set (the embouchure), Release (the air).

Problem: Moving the fingers too far off the keys.
Solution: Practice slowly keeping the fingers touching the pearls to develop the concept. Double stick tape?

* Sitting with good posture adjust the neckstrap so the tip of the mouthpiece touches the curve above the chin. Tilt the head down slightly to insert the mouthpiece into the mouth.

** A useful definition of good sitting posture is 1) both feet flat on the floor 2) back straight 3) ribcage high 4) shoulders relaxed like a tablecloth hangs on a table 5) head straight as if balancing a glass of water on top of the head.

 

[Taz]

Ok, time to 'fess up! What do you class as "YOUR" bad habits and what are you doing to rectify them, if you are indeed trying to rectify them, or are you learning to live with them. In fact, when are bad habits considered cool techniques?

I think my worst habit (tune dependant) is sluring up or down to notes instead of hitting them cleanly! (I'm sure if you watched/listened to me you would notice many more bad habits than just this one! I do try to really think about what I'm doing and so this habit is getting slowly overcome.

So come on. What's yours?



P.S Sax related habits only please

 

[Fraser Jarvis]

Apart from making a ridiculous "w" kind of sound sometimes instead of tonguing notes and running out of air halfway through a phrase (because I thought I could make it, but couldn't!) I guess I have loads, one particularly bad one is flirting with young Lady's in the audience and having their drunken husband/boyfriend hurling abuse!

 

[jbtsax]

Mine was and continues to be moving my elbows up and down when I try to play expressively. My teacher in college said I reminded him of a seagull trying to take off.

 

[TheCureFan]

Mine was and continues to be moving my elbows up and down when I try to play expressively. My teacher in college said I reminded him of a seagull trying to take off.

Glad i'm not the only one, though my tutor has never said anything.

 

[Ads]

Me too, Tend to shrug my left shoulder also ...... I Probably have loads more as well .

EDIT - as for flirting with women onstage, I played a classical rock type Duet once with avant garde flautist Lynn Barber and it ended up more like musical dirty Dancing (or as close as you can get whilst playing), never lived that down .

 

[ArtyLady]

Mine is trying to play what is in my mind which is faster than my fingers can actually go!

 

[BigMartin]

Among other things, thinking about what I've just played instead of what I'm supposed to play next.

 

[nhmaf]

I will tend to start biting/clamping down on the reed with my jaw significantly more as I play long into the evening or in very long performances as the muscles around the mouth get tired. This will have a tendency to make the higher notes (particularly on alto) decidedly more sharp. Once I become aware of what I am doing, I'll try some exercises to loosen things up properly again.

 

[aldevis]

Mine is trying to play what is in my mind which is faster than my fingers can actually go!

Mine is letting my fingers go faster. It produces a lot of useless notes.

 

[TimboSax]

According to the family, my worst habit is trying to play the saxophone 🙁

Anyhoo, I reckon that my most ridiculous (of many) is shaking the sax to get vibrato. It's a hangover from the guitar, where vibrato comes from moving the left hand. It's taken me ages to get away from that.

Of course, now when I'm playing guitar, I move my jaw when I get to a wibbly bit...

 

[Little My]

Some days I think I have all of them. Not practising enough/the right stuff, biting down, inattention to tuning, concentrating on what I can play rather than what I can't, not always "getting" jazz theory/notation. Mainly, I'm with Bill on the not practising enough. When I consider how long I've had my sax, and how good I might be if I'd done even a little bit more practice..... still this is why I'm back here now, practising more, learning my scales and so on. I need to have a bit more faith that I can do better, too.

 

[Sue]

Loads! I'd say poor articulation is my worst and 'winging it' rather than preparing something properly. That probably goes under the 'not enough practice' label. I hear in my head what I want to play then boom something completely different comes out. I swear I'm not in control of my own mind sometimes. Another is lack of attention in the swing band. I tend to watch the dancers and before I realise, I should be back in

Oh now I feel even more inadequate than I did before - is lack of confidence a bad habit?

 

[aldevis]

Some days I think I have all of them. Not practising enough/the right stuff, biting down, inattention to tuning, concentrating on what I can play rather than what I can't, not always "getting" jazz theory/notation. Mainly, I'm with Bill on the not practising enough. When I consider how long I've had my sax, and how good I might be if I'd done even a little bit more practice..... still this is why I'm back here now, practising more, learning my scales and so on. I need to have a bit more faith that I can do better, too.

We all should practice more, but there other things, like developing our musical taste, that are not necessarily done on the instrument.
If you have a solid core of daily exercises, you will find yourself suddenly improved without noticing.

There are other exercises that can bring us down the horrible drain of the "playing fast" syndrome or, even worst, playing something we do not really mean.

You do not need faith, if you practice correctly you will do it better anyway.

Loads! I'd say poor articulation is my worst and 'winging it' rather than preparing something properly. That probably goes under the 'not enough practice' label. I hear in my head what I want to play then boom something completely different comes out. I swear I'm not in control of my own mind sometimes. Another is lack of attention in the swing band. I tend to watch the dancers and before I realise, I should be back in

Oh now I feel even more inadequate than I did before - is lack of confidence a bad habit?

Everything sounds quite normal here.
Attractive dancers? I often work with dancers or singers, and I am developing an enlightened ascetic attitude that allows me to stay professional. It can be hard, sometimes.
About the rest measures: you you have to count it's not a rest. I often call them "nap measures".

Lack of confidence? I am not good enough to comment.

 

[ArtyLady]

Mine is letting my fingers go faster. It produces a lot of useless notes.

Yes that's generally what mine tends to end up like! then I pretend I meant to play them

 

[BigMartin]

You do not need faith, if you practice correctly you will do it better anyway.

But faith (in yourself) is what brings you back to the practice room, and enables you to keep at something until you've learned it instead of giving up and moving on to (not) learning the next thing.

Attractive dancers? I often work with dancers or singers, and I am developing an enlightened ascetic attitude that allows me to stay professional.

Yes, aging will do that to you ;}.

It can be hard, sometimes.

Ooh, matron!

 

[Fraser Jarvis]

I guess another one is puffing my cheeks out like Dizzie Gillespie whilst battling it out with our trumpetist to see who can play the lowdest, strangely though he always wins...

Picture Attached !

 

[jrintaha]

I guess another one is puffing my cheeks out like Dizzie Gillespie whilst battling it out with our trumpetist to see who can play the lowdest, strangely though he always wins...

I often momentarily puff my cheeks when starting a phrase, because I like to scoop up to a note like Joe Henderson does with many of his recordings with Freddie Hubbard. The bad habit isn't puffing the cheeks (my teacher said it's all good for bends and scoops as long as it's not overdone), but using those scoops way too often.

Another one, which I've mostly gotten rid of now, was that I was lifting my pinkies off the keys when I didn't immediately need them, resulting in sloppy G#, bell notes, low C and D#. My teacher remarked something along the lines of "we're playing the saxophone here, not drinking tea, keep those pinkies on the keys".

 

[MandyH]

When I play bari, my body tends to get very involved - I either sway or bounce to the beat.
It is something that I am very aware of and try really hard to stand still, but it doesn't last more than a few bars.
I'm sure the audience find me very entertaining!

Since Dave told me off for tapping my foot, I now try only to wiggle my big toe to the beat, but when I am really concentrating, foot starts tapping again.

 

[Ads]

Isn't playing the sax enough of a bad habit without looking for more?

No way . in fact most non players seem to like the Sax (bar maybe Sopranos in the upper register) ...... The instruments which are notorious for "Polite not to play" jokes include the Banjo , Piano accordion , Trombone and Violin