Saxophone Embouchure Tutorial
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- čas přidán 5. 09. 2024
- #bettersax #saxophone #saxophonelessons
Jay Metcalf gives a lesson on the importance of saxophone embouchure to avoid bad habits as a beginner.
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I've been playing alto sax for years, and apparently I've been doing it wrong this whole time aaaaaaaaaah. After watching this though, i sound better instantly. Thanks for giving me something new to practice!
Eli Hodges hey it may be 4 months later but I had the same problem! I just realized i need the mouthpiece a lot further out of the cork because I was getting very sharp sounds.
Same here, can't wait to try this technique
If you had been my teacher 30 years ago, I might not have given up!
ya boi travis what grade of school band?
Commitment is the best teacher - The Jazz on jazz
@REKTORS REACTS DON'T give up!! Keep trying, it will come...be patient with yourself!!
Never too late to pick it up again.
same here picked it up around 7 years later and found this gem of a channel!
I’ve been holding my mouth wrong for more than twenty years. I just hit notes I’ve never been able to ply clearly. I have to completely retrain my embouchure. But that’s ok. Thank you for this. I can’t believe I waited so long to look this stuff up. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
Bought my first Alto today. Feeling amped. Your videos are a tremendous help...thank you so much.
Thanks Leroy!
Alto=best sax
I know it has been two years or so, but you still shred?
How are you doing 2 years later?
Neel Singh how dare you BARI!!!
I recently got back into playing alto sax and this video made me realize I've been using the wrong embouchure for a while
As a sax player who hasn't played in several months, your videos have helped me get back into playing
I make a habit of coming back to this video every week, just to get into my mindset for practice and avoid developing bad habits.
Whenever I feel something going wrong or my sound needs work, I’m always coming back to this tutorial and I’m set straight again. Thanks for this video.
Best, most informative embouchure guide I've ever watched on CZcams
Wow. I've been on this video as I practiced for about 70mins now... I'm taking a short break right now. I must say a very big thank you... I have really improved in a short period of time. This is unbelievable
+stephen Smart Glad it's helped. Thanks!
Great video. After an absence of 30+ years, I had my alto reconditioned and am starting up again. I was experiencing embouchure fatigue and your advice was valuable and timely. Thanks and keep up the good work!
Best of luck I'm also starting up again after 10 years
Did it come back for you??? I've been absent for 30+ years as well and tried a soprano and sucked (I had played alto very well from age 7 - 17).
I just picked up sax again after 16 years of not playing, and this video has been helpful getting me back into it. Thanks!
I play b flat clarinet and bass clarinet, and honestly I still watch this sometimes even though I played for over a year. I watch it again sometimes to make sure I never forget anything
Dang. I am coming to this after playing for about 6 months. This has helped me so much with some problems I was having.
dang you band teacher for telling me to bite down. Now I've got to practice the correct way instead of understanding it from the beginning
Best embouchure tutorial I've seen. Even in the paid courses they don't explain it that well.
Why doesn't anyone teach you this stuff? Also I got my sound better then before but I'll keep on practicing to get an even better sound
Just play 10 or 15 minutes several times a day on stuff you want to know. Keep it up so it gets ingrained in your mind and you can't forget it.
I don't think my jr high teacher really knew a lot of this stuff. I learned most by taking a few private lessons during the summer.
This is a good bit of advice. I never played a saxophone before and decided to but a tenor sax a few weeks back. I practice up to 2 hours a day. I understood the issue of my embouchure tiring and thus my playing faltered towards the end of my practice sessions. So now I take breaks and practice like this:- start session playing long notes and tonguing, take a break and play scales practicing until I can’t get them wrong, take a break and play tunes (as set by my tutor). It increases my overall practice sessions but I’ve started to maintain a good sound albeit a few frustrating errors, but it’ll get better over time. I’ve only been playing for less than 3 weeks but I absolutely love it. Oh and I’m 54.
I Am A Beginner On Sax To Play Jazz Band, Very Informational And I Understand Every Word!
I’ve been struggling with this in band a lot and this helped me so much ty my teacher tried helping me with it Thursday and Friday and I still couldn’t get it but this helped and I got the sound and really improved , sometimes I guess someone else explaining in a different way really can help😂🎈
IM 52. Fan of KG wen i was 25. Shuld hav started then itself. But not too late. I bought ASaxo 2 months ago. My goal is 2 play my most fav song, I just called. And I started with it right away. Learning all the wonderful tips from CZcamsrs as I go. Thank u so much.
I really mesh your teaching style, your videos have been a tremendous help to me starting out. I really appreciate your efforts!!
Great video ! Jay was sharing the most precious rule of learning. Slow and clear practise is the quickest way to play fast and accurate ! I totally agreed with that. He is a great teacher to follow
Great job on this tutorial. I have a DMA in Clarinet. It was not until college when I took lessons with the school prof. that I learned a propper sax embouchure. It is so very different from clarinet. Your tutorial is perfect for a rank beginner to view. Bravo!
Awesome video! My teacher also showed me a pretty cool exercise to strengthen the embouchure and making sure to work with your diaphragm. You'll need only your mouth piece your s-bow and a medium sized ballon (around double the size of a normal party ballon when empty and around triple the size when blown up, the walls have to be a bit thicker than a normal party ballon to give a bit resistance.) You start every practice session by putting the ballon on your s-bow and do the following 3 exercices.
1 : you'll blow up the ballon with only hair through your mouthpiece without sound trying to have steady strong and long blows from your diaphragm
2 : you'll blow up the ballon again but this time with a steady and long tone (remember if you breath air will escape the ballon which will also remind you to take quick breaths and play long notes) the note will add more resistance for your diaphragm. In this exercercise you realy start training your embouchure.
3: You do the same as in exercise 2 but this time you improvies rythms to a metronom click. This will get you thinking a bit more about rythms add again a bit more resistance (it will take a bit longer to blow up the balloon) and you'll have to remember to not move your jaw while using your tongue to play the rythms.
As a very new player you will most likely have to take 1-2 min breaks between the three exercises. You can blow air through your mouth while having your mouth slightly closed to help them recover faster between exercises and get the blood flowing
This exercise helped me a lot with a my embouchure and other differnt things as a beginner still serves me as a great way to warm up befor practice.
Stopped playing for around 4 months, started renting my own tenor and this has helped me a crap ton with getting better sound!!!
i switched from flute to alto sax today and i’m excited
Thanks so much for this! This is awesome for music educators who have to teach middle school band.
+Nicole Chui Thanks! My kids teach themselves music with CZcams videos all the time. I wish we had this when I was that age!
My elementary band teacher didn’t teach us how to set up our instrument AT ALL. We had to learn from the 6th graders and each other ( I started in 5th grade). Going into middle school I was so so with my embouchure, some correct and some wrong. Thankfully, my middle school band teacher taught me the correct way. This helped me with the things my middle school band teacher didn’t mention, thanks!
I am turning 68 in a couple of months and just started playing. I play congas and some flute. I love the sound of the sax and really appreciate your tutorials. Thanks!
I need to work on breathing and posture in addition to good tone. Working on it.
Great lesson I just got my Jean Paul sax based on your review and now this lesson helped me start getting a better sound
ive been playing 5 and a half years and was never taught this the right way. In fact my most recent teacher ENCOURAGED tightening my bottom jaw - biting down on the reed - rather than the corners of my mouth. I didn't realise until a last night that I was doing it wrong but my sound has improved tremendously and obviously the corners of my mouth are tired. Thanks so much!
I've been playing alto sax for about 4 years, was pretty good at it. Switched to tenor maybe 2 weeks ago, picked it up pretty well but needed a refresher on embouchure, thanks!
Lmao I play trombone why am I watching this
JUST BOUGHT MINE .. ARRIVED IN CASE ,BEAUTIFUL . THANKYOU FOR THESE LESSONS OL MATE... PUT THE REED ON . CANT SEEM TO GET THE POP LOOKS EASY
Thanks have been struggling with my bottom lip feeling sore, this will help Many Thanks !
Hey Jay- I love your channel. This embouchure video is amazingly right on. I was taught to practice long tones with just the neck and the mouthpiece by Rene Saemes, a local legendary player in San Antonio. You and Rene are the only ones I have seen teaching this. I might add that your explanation of embouchure is the best I have ever seen, clear, to easy to understand making perfect sense and I have studied with some great teachers including the late great Bill Green. Thanks for your great channel.
I am doing mouthpiece testing tomorrow and this helped not make me as nervous
Thank you so much for sharing,I've had my sax 4 days never picked one up in my life,I thought I was to old to learn(66)but I will do exactly as you say,thanks once again.
I like your sound and instructional videos. I was a very good alto player and won a music scholarship to a University in NY. 30+ years ago. I have not played since and have started back. Now my tone sucks and my embouchure is terrible. It hurts when I play. I’ll be practicing these techniques with the hope of getting my good sound again. Thank you.
Something else I've found helpful to do with just the neck of the horn is to angle it up and down a little (keeping my head still) while playing a long note to see which angle gives the biggest sound. Then, with the whole sax, set the length of the strap to maintain that angle.
This video saved my mental life! I just got my sax and was having a hard time setting my mouth into place, I was about to say “I give up, I’m not playing...” and this was the first video I saw and I’m soooo glad. THANK YOU 🙏
This is the correct method... other tutorials show various other methods that are wrong. I've been playing alto for many years and learned from a private teacher who played with some of the best back in the day. PEACE
Thankyou jay I have been playing for 3 days :- I can play trumpet cornet and piano and wanted to learn my dream instrument, your tutorials and explainations are phenomenal ! Thanks a lot you have helped me tremendously!
I’m an adult learner and your video builds my confidence. Your mastery and delivery exudes confidence. Thank you.
Thank you Dapo
Got my alto yesterday and this is the best video I've seen so far. The basics. My own personal sound. I like it.
My first clarinet teacher was a cornet player. They never went into detail about the embouchure, only saying to roll my bottom lip over my teeth and there you go. It held me back so much. I couldn't play very high notes no matter what reed I used. It wasn't until I went to a different school 2 years later that my new music teacher corrected me and taught me the correct way of using my mouth. I was so pissed off.
got my sax a few weeks ago and was unsure exactly how to blow on the mouthpiece, thanks!
Ms Sax says right on! I add that if you get a mouthpiece cap just keep the mouthpiece w/you & practice here & there throughout the day (brass players do it too to build & keep up their chops). Just don't over do it, build your chops up a bit at a time. Remember Hendrix kept his axe w/him at all times & look what a master he became.
For care of mouthpieces & reeds watch this dude's vids.
For a perfect embouchure breathe through you're nose not the mouth it will secure a tight fit and no change have been doing this technique for 33 years improved control and no tonal changes.
I haven’t played a sax for almost 20 years. I bought another one and I can’t wait for it to show up.
THIS GUY IS AWESOME. :D I tried to play today for the first time in 10 years and didn't even know how to properly put on a reed!
The “draw string” piece was so helpful. I had the top and bottom down but the sides (corners) were not tight allowing squawks through. I just started yesterday but wanted to make sure my embouchure was on point before going too far. Thanks! Subb’d
Im 11 years old and this video has been very inspiring
Batuhan Cihan 10 oof
Thank you, this helped a lot. Im trying to start on sax right now coming from percussion so there is a lot that i still have to learn.
I've been playing flute for awhile and am happy with my embouchure. Thinking about giving the alto a go. I heard that it could be a slight advantage when starting with the sax having already developing somewhat of a embouchure. Eric Dolphy is one of my inspirations.
The best embouchure instruction for beginners which I've seen so far! Thanks!
helped me a lot coming from clairnet to tenor for jazz it's different
Just started to play, mid sixty's, never to la................. Played today on..tune a day, going well, also played a backing track / play along, "One note Samba" (Jazz book). However, did eventually get a tired embouchure and notes went off. These videos are amazing, concerned about my bottom lip folding over though recall Stan Getz does this. Will practice daily now that it is mentioned. Thanks, loving all your videos!
😀Excellent video. I've been playing the saxophone for 2 years and following advice about tightening my mouth in to an e shape, based on other CZcams tutorials. This was obviously wrong and I improved instantly after following this video. THANK YOU Jay!
I was having trouble and I found this vid very useful
This helped me more then anything ive seen so far.
Carlen, Great to hear this from you thanks!
I'm a beginner and I have been trying to learn how to play my sax for a while but could never get it right with the sound. This video has helped A LOT in showing me what I was doing wrong. Thanks for the video and your help.
Wow, first second I got my sax, didn't know how to even get a sound out of it(somewhere I got a duck sound tho lol). Then I watched this and within two days it started to sound like an actual saxophone, I'm still a "work in progress" but this was a huge help, thnx man, keep up the good work.
Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you..... I'm a begginer and I almost quit, but then I saw this video, greetings from México!
Where should the tongue be, that's a problem for me....it keeps moving
I got my first saxophone today, got me a tenor!
I play the four main saxes and I use to do the same exact mouthplacement what I didn't know what the whole history or the saxaphone which I why I continued to play biting my bottom lip. I didn't know that was the wrong way to play the saxaphone until I got a professional tutor that has been taught by many famous saxaphone players. He said that we have to until the bottom lip so the reed can vibrate more(the more it vibrate the more sound you'll get) ask asked him "why do most saxaphone players teach you to bite your lip when you playing?" Well when he told me to research the history of the saxaphone I've notice the first people to start playing the saxaphone were clarinetist. The sound wasn't as revealing until jazz player got a holed of the instrument. Once i looked into a few nor details I began to realized my emochure has been wrong the whole time so I untucked my lip and played with my lip out I never realized the diffrence It made please try it out for yourself and see for you self and if you want I can give you the history of the saxaphone and everything will add up.
Thanks for your comment. The lip is out in this version of the embouchure. As I say in the video, you want your lip to be as fleshy as possible. However, you need to use your jaw to support the lip, (without biting) and your teeth are behind/under your lip. As I also say in the video, everyone is different physically so each individual saxophone player needs to experiment and find what works best for them. There is no one size fits all embouchure.
i liked the part telling how the throat should be shaped when playing. . its very difficult to notice the difference of AA or OO instead of UUs when you are a toal beginner.
i immediately subscribed your channel. great lecture videos!
This helped so much! I just got a Bflat tenor saxophone today for my bday. Thank you!
Thank you. I have been considering a good used one. Probably Yamaha. I hear very durable, good tone and not suicidally expensive used.
I always wanted to play the sax parts in classic rock. Think Who can it be now? or Careless Whisper...lucky for us, the parts generally only go 8 bars.
If i get tired, i can sing (get your face uncramped) or play anther instrument.
Thanks for such an understandable instruction. Your way of describing mouth/lip configuration greatly helped a newby like me l.
I'll be getting my first Sax this weekend Yamaha Yas296 Alto. This has been very helpful to me. Thanks
Thank you so much, all my bandmates are on the 20th song and I’m not in the book yet
Very help and given my teacher
Thank you so so so really much. I was watching lots of sax embouchure but i didnt see any progress. THank you so much. Now I can blow the sax Thank you again. I am just a beginner.
Thank you so much. Just getting started with the saxophone and like your points in this video and nice way to just get use to it all. Like knowing I can just play the neck for practice and focus on tone and learning where my sweet spot is...thanks again!
Simple but really helpful and encouraging video.
Most helpful video! Thank you
Thank you!!! I have been struggling with low notes for a long time. This helped a lot. It's not quite there yet, but it's definitely less frustrating
Jessica, I hope you watched my video on low notes as well. If you practice long tones daily on the low register, over time, they become almost automatic.
Better Sax Thank you! I'll check it out.
Thank you very much..These are things my teacher never told me so clearly...:)
Thanks Jay, for these videos. Like others here mentioned as well, I was a self-taught beginner and had been doing it all wrong for years by curling my lower lip in too far. I'm assuming that explains why I could never get beyond a 1.5 ~ 2 reed? Now, while using only the mouthpiece and neck like you showed to find my embouchure's "sweet spot," I hit a spot where it sounds like the mouthpiece/embouchure suddenly becomes resonant? At that point, the tone became much louder, clearer and easier to maintain with less pressure. Does that make sense? Wow! what a revelation! Thanks again.
Just started on a east rock straight soprano saxophone from amazon today.
You are great!! I have subscribed and will watch your videos religiously ♡. Thank you
I am only really starting but having a lot of trouble in even making a steady high note. The funny thing is that with just the mouthpiece and neck, I can raise and lower the pitch perfectly- just when I put it in the sax, it fails badly. I think it might be that I don’t have my sax high enough. These videos are exactly what I need, and have signed up and started back at the basic to make sure all is good.
You may want to check the condition of your horn.
I have a Tenor Saxophone, but the ombouchure helped me out too.
This video really helps for beginners like me thanks
Great tutorial. Thank you. So, do not roll up the lower lip over the lower teeth like many others have suggested, correct?
The bottom teeth have to support the bottom lip. You want your bottom lip to be as fleshy and cushiony as possible. So if you roll it entirely over the teeth it will be thin and not fleshy. You need to find the spot where you can get the most fleshy bottom lip while being able to support it with the teeth at the same time.
time to watch all the tutorials and attempt to correct years of bad habits!
Jay, Where were you in 1968 when I needed your Saxophone guidance…lol!
I was sharp on most notes, more so when focusing on playing. I suspected poor embouchure, which led me here. After applying your lesson, I'm playing on key, with nice tone. Thanks!! I subscribed. But, I'm concerned now that it will take me awhile unlearn my natural embouchure. I DID notice my mouth getting tired quickly, which I found weird, so that confirms my natural one was wrong. I'll focus on long tones, and overtones multiple times / day, and hope I can "right the boat" in a few weeks. (If it was easy, everyone would do it, I keep telling myself.)
I really needed this for my upcoming audition for a jazz band! I've been playing sax for about 4 years, but I always either curl my bottom lip too much which prevents me from tonguing faster notes in quick succession, or not curl at all thus affecting my overall tone.
justin, keep practicing long tones everyday and your sound and embouchure will improve.
Thanks, this is well clearly explained 👍
Really helpful sir 🙏❤️
Thank u sir..
I'm planning to start ....
Thankyou so much for sharing your expertise, this is by far the best lesson I have watched , such clear instructions,I have liked & subscribed, 👍😁👍😁⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Thanks for This Video and for your response on the other vid. I finally am able to make a sound that doesn't sound like a dying goose. Yay! and my MP and neck sounded like yours at 2:25. I know you said not to worry about it at first, but it really means a lot to me that I finally did get it to match.
Awesome advice man. Super super helpful
nice vid, clear, consise and easy to follow thanks.
I hope those suggestions will be in my mind if i can start to play the sax after the pandemic :)