How to Play the Saxophone

When playing or holding the saxophone for the first time, you may find things a little awkward. With an expert to guide you this should not be for long. Taking up sax lessons will be even better. You can become an excellent sax player in just a little time.

Saxophone has been one of the most interesting and flexible instruments to play, but has also the most maddening sound when played by a beginner. The sound is louder since it is made of metal, and there are a variety of sounds produced.

For starters, there are things you need to know, and below are important points to bear in mind.

1. Work and practice with someone who is knowledgeable in this field and who can check the button and sound of your instrument. You might not be able to produce the sound properly if the sax you are using isn't blended properly.

2. Sometimes, beginners tend to play too soft with a reed instrument. Avoid soft playing at first. Try to play as hard as you can. You can start with a 1½ tone on a normal mouthpiece.

Naturally, what is vital will be for you to be constantly practicing. Don't stress yourself too much though. If you are passionate about playing, you can perfect the sound, and the music it produces will come out naturally.

If you have not decided what to practice on, then you should start instead with long tones. This doesn't mean you need to play long notes until you are bored to death. This kind of tone will help you develop control and strength in playing the sax.

It is also a way for you to know how this instrument works. Experiment with blowing and producing low, high, soft and loud notes. Blend them together well to produce the best sound that you get from it. Listen to the tone it creates until you can make the right shifting that makes the best sound.

Don't settle for just mediocre playing. Strive to make more tunes and blend more sound. Sax is difficult to perfect, so a lot of notes can become off-key if you don't know how to adjust well. That process will develop your tone in playing.

The next important things to learn are articulation and clean playing. This will give you a distinctive sound and make your music more soothing to the listeners. Usually, people who play the saxophone tend to tongue too much.

To become proficient in tonguing, you need to know the difference with staccato and legato tonguing, as well as know when the tone needs to be slurred. Don't sound too choppy and broken because this won't have good results.

You can create many tones using the sax such as overtone, bending notes, altissimo, vibrato, growls, enharmonic fingerings, and so on. As a beginner you are advised to start with the very basic. You will first have to know how to make good tones and intonations. Only after that can you slowly expand your skills to play the saxophone.