Straight Soprano Minimum Playing Angle

[SuiZen]

Getting ready to make first soprano purchase.

What's the smallest reasonable angle, to the body, that a straight soprano can be held, e.g., would a Bb clarinet or about 30 degree angle be okay? If it needs to be greater than 45 degrees, I'll go with a curved neck.

Bill

[Dave Dolson]

SuiZen: Me thinks you worry too much. The horn should be held so that the mouthpiece enters your mouth at the same angle as any other saxophone. It is a matter of personal comfort, though, and there is room for a lot of angle changes without creating problems. DAVE

[Razzy]

I'd say 45 degrees is about right... that's how I play it and how my teacher plays it and he's very successful with that, so it seems fine to me. This is actually a little lower than the angle the mouthpieces of other saxes enter the mouth but I also use the slightly curved neck so it makes up for the difference.

[singlereed]

Ideally, keep it up, like a clarinet or oboe - you will realise that you need to do that to get a decent embouchure. Personally, I find the curved neck models a lot more comfortable and it also means that a strap is a more useful accessory.

[Dr G]

I. too, prefer the curved neck. I figure that if, to get a better angle on the mouthpiece, I need to hold the horn higher, then I can be more comfortable for a longer time if I use the curved neck. As it turns out, even if I compensate for the different angle, I prefer the sound of the instrument when I use the curved neck. I have played a variety of sops, vintage and modern, over the last 30+ years and (currently) prefer the straight sop using a curved neck over any other variant of the horn. I find the curved sops to have a nice sound but the feel of the bell against the back of my finger tips is distracting to the point of annoyance.

[Morry]

I think the comfortable playing angle for each person is defined more by their anatomy and dentistry than anything else. The muscles of the embouchure can be trained to support most any reasonable angle. The main thing is find an angle that is comfortable enough that you'll feel good about practicing more often.

[Dr G]

I respectfully disagree, Morry. It's not just an issue of adapting one's embouchure to the angle - it's also a matter of how the lip is spread along the length of the reed. As Dave noted, it is important to get the angle of the mouthpiece to approximate the same angle that one uses for the other members of the saxophone family. Holding a straight sop as a clarinet results in either a bad angle of the mouthpiece entering the mouth or a very bad angle for one's neck (with resultant closing/choking of the air passage).

One needs to either hold the straight sop higher than a (traditional/typical) clarinet or compensate for the angle by using a curved neck.

[MojoBari]

Stand facing a wall and gradually change the angle. You should hear a more resonate sound at a good angle. You can do this with clarinet and straight soprano. The sax will typically be held out farther for the best sound.

[Paul Coats]

The proper mouthpiece angle for soprano sax is similar to the alto sax angle... and this is critical to good tone. So many players have thought their soprano had a leak, or was otherwise defective, when really it was improper mouthpiece angle.

A curved neck is beneficial, or a fully curved soprano may be used.

With a straight soprano, and angle of 30-45 degrees below horizontal is good. With a curved neck, you may also use a neckstrap, holding some of the weight. This may be helpful for some players.

[SuiZen]

I got a straight soprano (Yamaha YSS475) on approval. The angle is just like your answers. I find it uncomfortable to hold, and the neck strap unusable.

Thanks, Bill

[MBushaw]

With a straight sop the neckstrap is more of a safety measure. Keeps the thing from hitting the floor.