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Beginner Is there such a thing as overpractice?

MarkSax

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Hi. I noticed when I start practicing I sound awful, as the reed gets softer (am using a 2 1/2 vandoren on an S90/180) my tone gets better, but after 40 minutes of practice I start sounding less good and squeak and splutter a lot. I guess my embouchure must be changing over time or some similar reason. My inner lower lip is still more or less intact from contact with my teeth so I'm not compensating for pain or anything of the sort. Any ideas welcome. TY.
 
Hi. I noticed when I start practicing I sound awful, as the reed gets softer (am using a 2 1/2 vandoren on an S90/180) my tone gets better, but after 40 minutes of practice I start sounding less good and squeak and splutter a lot. I guess my embouchure must be changing over time or some similar reason. My inner lower lip is still more or less intact from contact with my teeth so I'm not compensating for pain or anything of the sort. Any ideas welcome. TY.

It could be that the reed is swelling from the moisture and so distorting. However if this happens it is usually after 5 or 10 minutes. The cure is to flatten it

How to Choose and Work on Cane Saxophone Reeds

Or it could just be you are getting tired. Take a few short breaks.
 
Reeds do play in but as Pete says, probably after five or ten mins, it should have settled down. I suppose after 40 mins embouchure fatigue will be playing a big part. Try practicing in 30 min bursts with a 15 min break in between for recovery. When your embouchure develops more stamina you can extend the length of the bursts.

If you structure your practice to include a little theory, you can keep in the mood. I like to look at any songs in my repertoire I'm having any problems with and study the harmony. Familiarising myself with all the notes in a chord sequence and their extensions will take long enough to recover. Pick something small thing you need to work on and toss it round your brain for a few minutes.
 
In order for practice to be effective one needs to be in the right frame of mind. If you are focussing on say scales and your embouchure is going off a bit ....you are now practicing how to have a bad embouchure.

3 x 15 minutes of focussed goal oriented practice is, way better than losing focus part way through a longer practice session.

Sometimes I am in for 5-10 minutes, and sometimes when I am fresh and focussed a few hours. While I still find myself wanting to carry on at times when things are not going as they should, once I lose my focus I end things on a simple short focussed exercise and call it quits.
 
My practicing is way more satisfying since I started to practice 10 minutes, pause 5 minutes. I repeat that 4 times when I practice one hour. When I pause, I distract myself, write emails, surf the web, make coffee.
This forces me to find a quick way back after a break, to reorganize.
In each of the 10 minute "workouts" I focus on one special aspect of my playing (aspects of breathing, posture, embouchure).
I repeat this practice hour once or twice a day.
I must say that especially when I have much time (for instance in school holidays) I sometimes ended up playing 7 or 8 hours or even more, and playing to a point where my head felt like a balloon full of information and thoughts.

Cheers
 
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When the muscles around the mouth begin to tire it is very common to compensate by using jaw pressure commonly known as "biting". When you feel that begin to happen, stop and rest. Over time it will take the muscles longer and longer to "give out". Try to do most of the work with the air stream so the embouchure doesn't have to work as hard.
 
Might also be the reed getting too wet. Try swapping to another when it gets difficult.
 
Thank you all. Today I started with 10 minutes theory while my 2 reeds were soaking in vodka. Then had one 15 minute session with the 2.5 and after a 5 minute break another 15 minutes with the 2. Then another 10 minutes of theory and clapping to keep time on the pieces I want to play. Kept watch on my embouchure, no pinching and did my scales. I could hear myself and my tone was good, wavering a bit near the end. So glad I asked for help here. Give yourselves a slap on the back from me.
 
And if you re-soak your reeds in vodka during each of the 5-minute breaks, that could make the practice sessions quite a bit more entertaining.
 
Such thing as overpractice? - No, the only guideline I will provide is only play until you feel like you aren’t improving anymore.
I practice 2.5hrs a day, somehow. This isn’t manageable for everyone, or enjoyable. What I do is cut it into 1 hr chunks then one 30min chunk.
Break up your practice to let your reed recover and yourself recover. I have found always washing ur MP and Neckpiece with water and drying it thoroughly before every practice session helps tremendolously in receiving a greater sound.
Hope this helps good sir :)
 
Try to do most of the work with the air stream so the embouchure doesn't have to work as hard.
Interesting
But how do you do that?
Embouchure fatigue is my major problem (besides "not enough time to practice" .....)
 
But how do you do that?

First of all get the air to where you can use it (relax your throat while inhaling) - Arnold Jacobs would say "breathe to expand, don't expand to breathe." Imagine a yawn - feel the cold air in your throat.

Then blow a focussed airstream to the read. How focussed depends on many factors, (from "hooh" to "ssss") I prefer something like a hiss "chee"
Learn how to get register changes (overblowing) without changing the embouchure (too much), learn to VOICE as exactly as possible.

Start with playing longtones on your MPC alone, then intervals, then simple melodies. There is lots of information, you could start by googling "Shooshie and Mouthpiece exercise" or here, if you can cope with the accent :)
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