2 Simple Things to do to Improve your Saxophone Section
by Rheuben Allen
1 Find the Sweet Spot and clean the neck and mouthpiece.
What is the Sweet Spot? The sweet spot is the mouthpiece position on the neck of the saxophone where it will respond the best. Finding the sweet spot will improve the intonation, response and tone of the
saxophone.
Each mouthpiece, saxophone and player will have a different sweet spot. How to find it is to place the mouthpiece on the neck where you think it will play best and then most likely push it in a little. It is the natural tendency of the young saxophonist to play with the mouthpiece out to far on the neck. There are many reasons for this for example we tune the alto saxophone to the middle G or F#. These are naturally sharp notes so the saxophonist will pull the mouthpiece out
when tuning these notes. Now the lower register of the saxophone is flat and the response of the lower register is not good.... It is important to make sure the mouthpiece is pushed in far enough on the neck for everything to work properly. The alto saxophone should be tuned to the first finger B in the middle of the staff. Then the saxophone player should learn to play the rest of the saxophone in tune.
Now this might seem simple but there is a lot of times that the young saxophonist and the old pros do not keep their mouthpieces or necks clean. If the neck or mouthpiece get a lot of stuff in side then it will change the way the saxophone plays. Cleaning the neck is a very important part of keeping the saxophone playing well. I have pulled out necks and mouthpieces from cases over the years and it is surprising what can be inside them...
*Do not use hot water to clean the neck. Hot water will remove the lacquer. Use slightly warm water an a neck brush you can buy at any Music Store to clean the neck. There are also neck savers that you can pull through the neck. I do not recommend leaving them in the necks..... all the stuff stays on the neck saver, they do not get a
chance to dry out and it is likely most of the stuff stays in the neck.
If the neck and mouthpiece are clean and the mouthpiece is in the sweet spot..... then your saxophone section will have the best chance of sounding good. Both of these things are good either for any style of music. Classical, Jazz, Country or Rock & Roll... There is a story that Lester Young found the Sweet Spot on his saxophone and never moved it again. When he got to a session he just played it in tune and never moved the mouthpiece.
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