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I am having squeaking issues with my tenor sax? I know it is a reed or embochure problem.?
I normally play clarinet or bassoon, but I play tenor sax for our school’s jazz band. Usually I can play for about twenty mintutes just fine, and then I start to squeak really bad. Sometimes I can’t even play anymore. My director has checked over the saxophone, and it was okay. I’ve tried lots of different reeds: new reeds, older reeds, harder reeds, softer reeds. Usually the medium hard reeds are the best. A lot of my reeds quickly become wavy too. Could this be it? What do I do to prevent/cure wavy reeds? I also never really had a director teach me really good sax embochure, so any tips on that are needed and will be appreciated. Thanks!
First of all, the proper saxophone embochure is a bit different from the one you use for bassoon or clarinet. This may be the problem. That is hard to tell without my actually seeing and hearing you play. Generally, you should think of the saxophone embochure as making a firm, but not tight, round seal around the reed and the mouthpiece. Your top teeth should be on the mouthpiece, and your bottom lip should be curled in over your bottom teeth. A little bit the the dark part of the lip may still be showing. Try to avoid pushing your bottom lip out. Many players play this way with some success, but it can cause tone an intonation problems. As for wavy reeds, this can be mostly avoided by storing your reeds in a proper reed case. These will store the reed flat so that it may dry properly. If your reeds do become wavy, try soaking them in luke-warm water for a few minutes. Then gently flatten the reed by pulling it between your thumb and the flat table of the mouthpiece. In fact, the best way to prepare your reeds for practice is to soak them in water for a few minutes. Your friends may think it is funny, but this is how many professionals care for their reeds. Finally, I believe the problem of squeaking may be caused by one of two things. Either your reeds are a bit warped or the table of your mouthpiece is not perfectly flat. Even new reeds occassionally warp as you play. Play for a few minutes an check to see if the sides of the reed dry out, but the center stays wet. Check this near the tip and in the middle on the back side of the reed(the flat part). These dry “rails” could be caused by a warped reed or a warped mouthpiece. To check the mouthpiece, try a different one and see if you have better results. I hope these suggestions help!
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