thought I was doing well till i played with accompaniment

mick_wilson · Jan 31, 2008

🙁 Ive just changed my Mouthpiece to the Yamaha 4c and when i first played i noticed a difference in tone.. I have had a good practice session or thought I was today but when tried to play along to the cd that I got with the absolue begginers book I soon realised I was hitting flats. I also recorded it as I was going to put it on my site. when i played it back it was flatter than a scotch pancake. and sounded really bad. I decided to play track 2 which is a single long(b) and track 3 which is a single long (c) and play with them to find that I needed to change my embouchure the shape i use now makes my cheeks ache. is this to be expected due to mouthpiece change? my lips tingling too 😛. Could this also be the cause of a tired emouchure too? i have paracticed daily this week for about 30 minutes to 1 hr. any thoughts ? it takes alot of concentration to keep the embouchure also.

jersey_mike · Jan 31, 2008

Mick,

Do you have a tuner for your horn? It may just need a mouthpiece adjustment in if you're playing a bit flat. Also--are you taking into account the Eb instrument compared to the concert C instrument?

Mikec · Feb 1, 2008

I certainly have found that a new mouthpiece requires a slight change in embouchure. Pete's embouchure exercises help a lot.

mick_wilson · Feb 1, 2008

I dont have a tuner no i have a guitar tuner can you use that?

the cd im playing with is a cd that came with the alto saxophone for beginners so the sax i play along with should be the same tone as mine?

i can play a single note I think its in tune? with the cd but its difficult to tell.
i thought i sounded ok playing with the cd until i replayed it ouch :-(

Pete Thomas · Feb 1, 2008

If your guitar tuner has ec=vet note of the chromatic scale then you can use the, ideally you do need to check each note of the instrument and I think some guitar tuners just have EADGBE.

The saxophone is not a perfectly intune instrument on every note, so you need to get to know which notes are the best to tune to to.

e.g. D at the lower end of the upper octave is often a bit sharp.

Do you have a teacher? If not it sounds like now is a good time to get one.

mick_wilson · Feb 1, 2008

i dont have a teacher no :-( altho not through not trying they seem a little scarce here :-( I recorded myself again today and sounded alot more in tune 🙂 i am looking for a teacher even if its 30 mins twice a month.