Saxophone beginners Is the mouthpiece important for a beginner?

[kevgermany]

Stephen Howard's website nowhas a great discussion concerning mouthpieces for beginners. You can find it at

http://www.shwoodwind.co.uk/Reviews/mouthpieces.htm

What I can't understand is why he never mentions the Rico Royal Graftonite pieces - easy to play and very well priced.

 

[TomMapfumo]

If I read Stephen right he mainly says get a Yamaha 4C mouthpiece or a 5C if you insist. A good discussion but he did seem to be talking mostly to parents of young learners. I have found most of the ordinary metal ligs to be awkward to use or ill-fitting, can't bear to play without patches, and found Yamaha mouthpieces far too small from the start.,

In the trumpet world the Vincent Bach 7C mouthpiece is the equivalent of the Yamaha 4C in terms of starter recommendations - almost religiously so. Even my 9 year old daughter finds it too small, and I started on one (inner diameter of 16.3mm) but play something much bigger. (17.75mm - hardly anything bigger usually exists. It's probably the equivalent of a 10* on tenor sax!). My point is that it is good to start on something better than the unbranded mouthpieces that some instruments come with. At the same time it is important to recognise that stuff recommended for kids may be very different for later bloomers for a variety of reasons, and that it would to better to flag this up earlier in some way.

Kind regards
Tom😎

 

[Andante cantabile]

Stephen Howard's article on mouthpieces for beginners contains several messages. Two of them seem to be:

(a) make sure that the mouthpiece that comes with your instrument is of good quality to enable you to work towards a good tone; and

(b) if, on good advice, it is unsuitable because, for example, of problems with the workmanship or because it needs an experienced player, get something reliable and inexpensive such as the Yamaha 4C.

To me this seems to be good advice. Whether the recommended tip opening fits in every circumstance I don't know. TomMapfuno rightly points out, the situation may be quite different for late bloomers or people who are already competent on another wind or a brass instrument. The latter usually have a good idea of what they want and the expertise to achieve it quickly. The former unfortunately are often likely to overreach themselves (I've been at it for six months. Why don't I sound like Stan Getz? I bet you the mouthpiece is the problem).

All of this leaves open the question: what is "tone"?. And I don't think there can be a simple answer to that.

 

[Col9]

Further to my answer previous in the thread, have stared playing Jazz with some friends and did a course at grafam water. My yani 5 mp just isnt loud enough for jazz outside my living room. When I blow alot of air through it the reed clamps up and it falls silent. I bought a Rico graftonite B7 for £14. What a difference! Everyone wants to know what happened to the real colin "you know the quiet one" The graftonite is very near to the sound I want but not close enough to stop looking. I thought I found my perfect MP with the Yani, for classical it is but not that loud jazz stuff!

Hurry up and sort out the bari PPT Pete

Good luck with it
Col.