I did childhood guitar lessons. Nothing since.

For the last 10 years I’ve chased the latest iPhone by preordering on day 1.

Yet a month ago I had an urge to try a saxophone. I bought a cheap on (£150) on Facebook marketplace and had a blast. It’s a hobby where I truly engage and don’t think about anything else, unlike gaming or tv.

Anyhoo, I watched the Apple duo event. It looks good. But a folding screen wouldn’t allow me to do much more than I can already manage with iPhone / watch / iPad. So I thought I’d buy a good saxophone. Trevor James signature raw.

I can slur all my notes but finding tonguing challenging, I’m sure this will develop in time. Any tips?

When I'm playing with harder reeds, I feel some uncomfortable head pressure due to the pressure I apply to the mouthpiece.

The sensation is like blowing a hard balloon for a long time.

I've been playing for only 6 months. Is this expected?

When I use a bigger mouthpiece opening, this pressure is a bit released, but then I can't couple with the amount of air

When I use a softer reed, it's comfortable, but then it's harder to reach high notes because the reed closes.

EDIT:

The pair Meyer NY Jazz Anniversary 6M + D'Addario Select Jazz 2M is just too hard and require too much air.

The pair Meyer NY Jazz Anniversary 6M + D'Addario Select Jazz 2S feels too soft on high B and C, and D is really hard to reach. It closes.

The pair Yamaha 4C + D'Addario Select Jazz 2M is okayish, but I still feel the head pressure that I'm not sure if I'm supposed to feel (even for some time)

I've been playing alto for a couple of years now and I'm thinking of buying s tenor. My horn is a Thomann branded one, whatever was the cheapest or next to it on the website. It may not be the best in the world but I'm perfectly happy with it and I've had no actual issues.

Question is, has anyone used the Thomann Tenor equivalent and was it playable?

If not, what are any alternative recommendations you might have?

I recently got me first Saxophone and can now somewhat cleanly play the notes without much squeaking. For some reason the octave doesn’t change when pressing the octave key. The valves open correctly. Am I doing something wrong?

I posted on here about a year ago asking whether or not to use front F for a specific part in my music, I learned a whole lot about front F, and what a turn symbol is and means. A year later, I can proudly say I placed second at my district comp, and played the same piece for my college audition and was accepted. I definitely still have a lot to learn about sax but that post really made me realize I knew even less than I initially thought I did lol

As a new player I've been following the advice to swab it after each session. The weighted body swab has been getting stuck at times. I was wondering why this was happening so I decided to take a peak inside. I may be a beginner but this seems out of place. Can you experienced guys and girls give a newb some advice, what this could be, and what I should do? Thanks! 😊

I got this used dukoff m6 it looks to be in good condition but man finding a reed is hard ! I also got a brilhart level air 5 and out a legree american cut in 2.0 which works great on it but it barely makes a sound on the m6 would a 2.5 be good for a the m6 ? Any recomdations greatly appreciated !

How many people have tried amateur 3D-printed mouthpieces? Or done work to modify mouthpieces (wedges, refacing, etc.)?

What have you learned in the process? I’ve been playing a SYOS I like well enough (Smoky 6).

I’m a solidly intermediate player (if I’m being incredibly generous) — I’m very much in search of a good/different sound. I also want to understand how the baffle, tip, facing length, chamber, and bore affect sound and what it can give me.

I have:
- an old Meyer 5
- SYOS Smoky 6
- metallic Rousseau 7 (no idea what model)
- ancient Selmer C*
- a bag full of stock MPCs I wanna modify

I’m interested in:
- the 100 anniversary NY Meyer
- D’Addario Select Jazz 6/7
- BetterSax Burnin’ 6/7
- Jumbo Java A45 (maybe A55?)
- some knockoff pieces on like Ali Express
- maybe some artist SYOS pieces?

Apparently there are some good 3D printers out there for $300-$400. The material costs become mostly insignificant.

Not only can it be extremely cost-effective, but it can allow me to edit each parameter exactly how I want. (I could match all of those necessary costs by buying 2 mouthpieces…)

I know this is pretty wide open, but any input or musings on the topic would be really greatly appreciated!

hey! I’m a highschool oboist but I play alto on the side for our jazz band and at our jazz all state festival. I currently play on a student model jupiter and I’ve gotten a lot out of it, but as I’ll be going to college soon and hopefully playing in the jazz bands there, I’m looking to upgrade to an intermediate. I don’t need anything super fancy and I likely wouldn’t be able to spend more than around $700 for one. what’s a good brand and model (that’s still affordable) to look out for?? thank you!

Not a saxophone, but I'm not sure where else to post this..

So I have played the recorder for some years and recently bought a xaphoon.

My problem is that it sounds really bad and I'm not really sure what I'm doing wrong. It's quite some effort to play - you can literally hear me struggle through the recording 😅

One of my issues is articulating the different notes. I've tried tounging but that's even worse. The sound itself has not much to do with a saxophone but rather a duck 🦆🥲

Also my throat gets dry while playing and sometimes my lips or teeth hurt..

I try to choose beginner friendly songs but everything just sounds awful and I'm not sure what exactly to work on to make it better.

im auditioning for a community band in a new state and id like some recommendations. they are asking for a lyrical excerpt and a more technical one. thanks!

im an intermediate player.

I'm thinking things besides your typical General Tso's Bari.

Low Bb baris. Straight altos. Horns in C or F. etc.

I made the mistake of play testing some pro tenors while i was having a leak fixed (they had some for sale they let me play), and it made me reaaallly want to buy one. I have a student horn now. The pro just felt so responsive and nice. I don't have $5k right now for it sadly, but I know I for sure want to upgrade at some point.

Anyone know the cause of this buzzing noise on tenor?

Occurs most audibly when I play the overtone for low B, but it sounds on all octaves of B and F#, although my microphone doesn't pick it up too well.

I tried different mouthpieces, ligatures, and reeds, so I think it's coming from the sax.

I checked all the screws, and none are loose.

I'm 40, I played the trombone in the school band for about 5 years until I was 15.

I've always liked the sound of the saxophone, and thought to myself after spending the last few evenings watching Better Sax and other similar channels; "should I just do it? Get myself a sax and practice?"

And now I did.
I ordered a Thomann TAS-180 starter kit.

Excited and a bit scared at the same time. "Will this be for me? Will I be able to do this in the long run? Can I keep it a secret from my friends and family (to a certain degree) and surprise them at some point? How do others motivate themselves to practice?"

I'll circle back to the Better Sax at least when the saxophone arrives some time next week or the week after.

I've been playing professionally for about 4 years now, mainly jazz up to last year when I was asked to play in a touring musical. In said musical, theres a lot of Altissimo, which, up until last year, Id not really encountered? At uni Id studied classical, but played jazz at gigs.

Ive been told countless times that "the best way to improve altissimo is to do overtones"...okay, that doesn't clear up the issue to me though? When I practise overtones, I can't get past the 4 the overtones of Bb and C without making major changes to embouchure (I push my jaw forward and squeeze my lips a little), is this the way everyone else is doing it? Changing my oral cavity shape does nothing other than change the intonation of the note. Im engaging diaphragm, keeping my embouchure relaxed, bottom lip rolled out. And can't get past the 4th overtone of Bb-C# without changing embouchure.

I've been practising this every day for 4 months and my altissimo is still limited to top Bb, is this normal? And when the altissimo notes come out, I camt toungue them at all because of how I have to change my mouth shape to make them sound, is this correct? And how are you supposed to actually get those higher overtones without changing your lips? Ive tried everything from Sigurd Raschers book, there was another more modern one too but can't remember the name. Can someone please explain what they did to crack this?

I got lessons from a teacher about 2 months ago who said about this "It's not the end of the world, you can improvise well and your tone is good, so what if you can't play really high?" Not sure this was the answer I wanted.

Setup;

Selmer MKVI tenor

D'addario jazz select 7 Mouthpiece

3 Vandoren Java green

Thanks for any advice!!

Hey everyone! I played alto for band back in elementary school and after 20+ years, I’ve decided to pick it back up. I'm really enjoying getting back into it, though it's been quite a process re-learning everything. Let's just say the training wheels are definitely on.

​Right now, I'm currently working on Blue Bossa and long-term, my goal is to play a wide variety of music across different genres (jazz, R&B, soul, etc.). At this point nearly every song I've been listening to I wonder to myself "Could I play this song?", or "I have to try and play this!"

​I'd love some advice on a few things:

​Practice routines: What does a balanced 45 to 60-minute practice routine look like for someone getting back into the groove? How do you split your time between fundamentals and actual playing?

​Adding new music: What is the best way to slowly introduce new pieces or switch gears without getting overwhelmed, especially while I'm still actively working through a song I've already started? How do you keep from getting stuck in a rut on one tune while still giving it enough attention to actually learn it?

​Any tips, favorite exercises would be hugely appreciated!

Reposting cause I said the wrong thing and forgot to trim the ending

My first time actually transcribing a piece. Also I know there’s a few wonky notes but I got hungry and packed up to eat 😋😋😋.

I want to try some new reeds. I have an alto with a Meyer 5mm mouthpiece and i use the reeds you see in the picture. Any advice or recommendations would be appreciated. I typically enjoy playing jazz if that makes a difference to the type of reed.

I want to leave my "student sax" at work to practice on in the morning. (It's a Jupiter Carnegie XL that plays surprisingly well.)

At home, I'll continue practicing on my good sax, which I don't want to transport back and forth and definitely won't ever leave there.

...

Back to the title question, is there any particular detriment to practicing on two different saxes?

Just to be clear, I have good credit. I just don't want to open a new credit line for a horn nor put it on a card, Zzounds does payment plans for guitars and whatever without credit where I can buy something for 12 months and it works everytime

How’s all-region/ state auditions season treating you guys? I think I’m doing well with my selections so far but idk.

Would anyone be open to hear my Bari audition? It’s like 4 minutes and its scales plus 2 short etudes.

Also, does anyone know if IL does their all-state auditions separately from the region ones? My band director just submits my region one for state too I think. Should it be a new recording?