Hello,
I started playing the sax 12 years ago. I should be an experienced player by now but I stopped after a couple of years for personal reasons.
I have picked up my sax again with renewed enthusiasm, determined to master it. I started yesterday and immediately had trouble getting the lower notes (a-d) on the lower octave. I found that if I slurred into the notes I had no problem but trying to tongue the note would come out with a screech! I resolved this by using a rico #2.5 reed instead of a van doren v16 #3. Now I can get the notes reliably. I have ordered some rico #2s and will try them.
I hava a Yamaha yas25 alto sax and I have a yamaha 4c mouthpiece. I feel that I am breathing out very hard to generate a note and thus playing very loudly. I try to breathe from my diaphragm.
Is there a way to play quietly? Is it a setup thing? A breathing thing (probably)? Is it something that will come back with practice? I can't remember!
A problem I have is that I live in France and locally there are no sax teachers. In Luxembourg where I work there are but I do have a problem understanding them 'even if I am fluent in french).
Any ideas?
Robert
ps. I like the site and the forum. It has a nice feel to it.:welldone
I started playing the sax 12 years ago. I should be an experienced player by now but I stopped after a couple of years for personal reasons.
I have picked up my sax again with renewed enthusiasm, determined to master it. I started yesterday and immediately had trouble getting the lower notes (a-d) on the lower octave. I found that if I slurred into the notes I had no problem but trying to tongue the note would come out with a screech! I resolved this by using a rico #2.5 reed instead of a van doren v16 #3. Now I can get the notes reliably. I have ordered some rico #2s and will try them.
I hava a Yamaha yas25 alto sax and I have a yamaha 4c mouthpiece. I feel that I am breathing out very hard to generate a note and thus playing very loudly. I try to breathe from my diaphragm.
Is there a way to play quietly? Is it a setup thing? A breathing thing (probably)? Is it something that will come back with practice? I can't remember!
A problem I have is that I live in France and locally there are no sax teachers. In Luxembourg where I work there are but I do have a problem understanding them 'even if I am fluent in french).
Any ideas?
Robert
ps. I like the site and the forum. It has a nice feel to it.:welldone