Saxophone beginners practicing embouchure and breathcontrol and loads of odd questions ;)

[Colin the Bear]

You're quite right. I was just simplifiying/generalising. Perhaps I shouldn't have.

Sorry Kev. Just adding my 10 pennyworth. Sometimes the same thing explained several different ways can make more sense. I know it does to me sometimes.

 

[Colin the Bear]

Thank you all! Now some of the pieces are starting to fall in place and i start to get some understanding of the workings of the saxophone and all it entails, though i'm sure I'm far from actually knowing even half of everything that there is to know. Or make that one-tenth even. xD
Anyway, thank you all for your great answers!

More questions will probably come your way anytime soon though 😉

(btw, even on a recorder I noticed how i could shift pitch by just moving my tongue around. Really something I had never known! kinda fun, though it didn't give much of a pitch-shift, and on a side nite, I really found it hard to consistently close all the holes properly xD guess i'll just have to keep working on that, though i really dislike the (much) too high sound of the recorder (and no, i'm not blowing too hard, i've been trying to keep the airflow as slowly as possible, while still getting a tone and when all the holes were properly closed the sound was pleasantly low, but anyway, i'm now probably boring you all with this useless chattering so i'll stop.. 😛 bye! (is 'cheerio!' still being used in the UK btw?)

You have a recorder already?

 

[Lalythil]

yes! bought it today! couldn't wait 😛
btw, was looking at the mouthpieces in that shop and they only had the metalites and 1 graftonite c3, so no b3 unfortunately. oh and very weird, but the metal ligature was way too small for that mouthpiece though the package clearly stated that it was for an alto saxophone. anyway, they're stopping with selling any wind instruments since none of them actually knows anything about them. The old owner did, but he passed away and so they're shutting that part down and keep more focus on guitars, drums, pianos and musicproducion equipment and such. quite a loss...

but oh well.. i got a recorder now and hopefully a saxophone anytime soon 😉

 

[photoman]

You may not want to spend any money on another side-line instrument if you are saving for the Sax, but this instrument - the Xaphoon - a cross between the recorder and a Sax mouthpiece may be worth looking into.

The plastic version is much less expensive than the bamboo model, and should help with embouchure building and fingering.

If nothing else, have a look and listen to the video, especially the last half; it's quite impressive.

 

[kevgermany]

You may not want to spend any money on another side-line instrument if you are saving for the Sax, but this instrument - the Xaphoon - a cross between the recorder and a Sax mouthpiece may be worth looking into.

The plastic version is much less expensive than the bamboo model, and should help with embouchure building and fingering.

If nothing else, have a look and listen to the video, especially the last half; it's quite impressive.

I've yet to hear anyone say anything good about a Xaphoon. Guess I should get one and find out for myself.

 

[kevgermany]

(btw, even on a recorder I noticed how i could shift pitch by just moving my tongue around. Really something I had never known! kinda fun, though it didn't give much of a pitch-shift

I think you can also bend notes by partly closing the tone holes. Certainly can on the tin whistle (which is also close to sax fingering.
One trick with this is to roll the instrument a little as you play, gives you finer control over the amount of cover, and hence bend. Goes with the tongue of course.

 

[Colin the Bear]

They burn well.

 

[Lalythil]

That xaphoon seems fun xd but id rather get a sax first ;-) tnx thougg!!

 

[photoman]

They burn well.

I owned an Irish music shop for a few years and proudly boasted the biggest variety of tin whistles available in the county - and possibly the country. When I closed the shop, because the landlord wanted the building back, I would dearly have loved to have proven you right and built a big bonfire with then, but I doubt that the brass, nickel and plastic that most tin whistles are made of would ignite well.

Interestingly, some of the better tin whistles I sold (some costing up to €200) were made of wood and those may have fared better - but I managed to flog a few of them on eBay.

 

[Colin the Bear]

They burn well.

The Xaphoon I meant

 

[sushidushi]

I was once thinking of getting a Xaphoon, chiefly because I thought it might be a good thing to keep in the car or something. But the fourth hole for the left hand pinky put me off. The fingering is generally a bit odd. It seems very different from other woodwind instruments.

I might get a recorder for the car instead - and thereby go in the opposite direction from Colin the Bear's natural progression.

 

[kevgermany]

I justified a sop for using in the car. Was a bit cramped, but OK. Loud, though...

 

[MLoosemore]

I justified a sop for using in the car. Was a bit cramped, but OK. Loud, though...

Using the phone, eating or applying makeup is bad enough... But playing the sax while driving??

 

[kevgermany]

Using the phone, eating or applying makeup is bad enough... But playing the sax while driving??

It's a Landrover, doesn't matter if I hit something...

 

[Lalythil]

🙂))🙂))🙂))🙂))🙂))

 

[photoman]

It's a Landrover, doesn't matter if I hit something...

Don't be so inconsiderate to others.

(You might want to sell that sop later and it'll have a ding in it. 🙂 )

 

[interinfi]

Hi there!

Get a Bari Esprit II mouthpiece if you think of playing alto sax later - better than both the Rico and the Vandoren and only cost £15 in UK. Excellent beginner mouthpiece which lots of newbies have successfully bought/played on the forum. I have all three and no comparison!

I still have to start taking lessons, will my teacher approve this mouthpiece ?

 

[interinfi]

Is learning playing a sax compatible with learning to play a xafoon ?

 

[sushidushi]

I still have to start taking lessons, will my teacher approve this mouthpiece ?

I wouldn't worry too much about that. In a sense, you have to take a leap of faith, and the Bari Esprit II is considered to be very good, as well as cheap, so it's not much of a gamble.

I would worry more about a teacher who tells all his students that they must get the same mouthpiece and same reeds. People are different and have different mouths, different embouchures and different expectations and opinions.

 

[sushidushi]

Is learning playing a sax compatible with learning to play a xafoon ?

The Xaphoon uses a tenor sax mouthpiece, so it is compatible in one sense, but the fingering is very different, so I wouldn't suggest that you try to learn both at the same time.