[mothsong]

Hi,

I'm new to this forum (and new to the saxophone actually). I started teaching myself Alto sax yesterday and I'm fine with the first octave, and all the other notes in the 2nd octave apart from D2!

When I finger D1 and then hold down the octave key it sounds an A2 rather than a D2. I don't get this problem with any other note other than D. Does anyone know what could be causing this? I'm definitely holding down the keys fully and have tried various adjustments to my embouchure.

If anyone has any ideas of what's going on I wold be very grateful.

 

[Noj the Terrible]

Mothsong, Does it do the same thing when you are comming down the scale from the E above? D can be problematic. How is your horn? Have you had someone play it that knows how to play?

 

[Agent27]

So you're playing middle D :line4: and are getting the A above :line6: ?

When does it happen? When you try to start on the note? If you slur down from E or play a descending scale like A G F# E D, does it automatically jump back up? Do you ever just get the D or does it jump to A every time?

A' is an overtone of 'D'. Getting that overtone instead of the intended note is usually because of biting/too much pressure on the reed and/or improper throat voicing. Make sure your embouchure isn't too tight and make sure you're blowing warm air instead of cool.

 

[hakukani]

To get a good idea of the correct embouchure, play the mouthpiece alone. You should be getting ~concert A (f# on alto, if you don't have another reference).

 

[jbtsax]

A few ideas that have worked with my students:

-Say "haup" when you take a breath and blow with warm air
-Blow the sax with the same feeling in your throat and tongue as when singing Ah on the lowest note you can sing.
-Make sure the head is level and the mouthpiece is going straight into the mouth
-Blow your airstream as if your are blowing toward your thumb on the octave key
-Have your embouchure set so that an Ab Concert is produced when you play the neck and mouthpiece alone

If you practice doing all of the above and a high A still comes out when you play a D, check to see if the neck octave key is opening slightly (it should only open on high A and above). Good luck. Hope some of this helps.

John

 

[mothsong]

Hi,

Thank you for all your ideas. I found out what it was - as jbtsax suggested might be hapenning, the neck octave key was opening slightly. I reduced the pressure on the octave key and now I get D rather than the overtone. Is this something that can easily be fixed on the horn? I'm going to get a sax-playing friend to have a go to see if they notice any problems.

The tip for trying to get A 880Hz when blowing into the mouthpiece alone was handy and after some adjustments I managed to get it. I'll keep practising that.

Again, thank you for your responses.

 

[Saxplayer67]

Hi,

Thank you for all your ideas. I found out what it was - as jbtsax suggested might be hapenning, the neck octave key was opening slightly. I reduced the pressure on the octave key and now I get D rather than the overtone. Is this something that can easily be fixed on the horn? I'm going to get a sax-playing friend to have a go to see if they notice any problems.

The octave mechanism may need some adjusting. It may be possible to bend the part of the crook (or neck) lever that meets the actuating lever on the body. What make of sax are you playing? I wouldn't be surprised if you said Yamaha, many of my students have had the same problem with Yams (though it can happen to all different makes).

 

[Agent27]

Well, I'm gonna chime in and give advice that has repeatedly been given here on the forum:

Get a teacher. It's relatively easy to teach yourself SOME guitar and SOME piano without creating too many problems for yourself later. It is SO much harder to teach yourself a wind instrument because it's SO easy to do things wrongs. Adding the lips/mouth/throat/lungs really complicates things too. I played for about 8 years in school bands before taking lessons with a REAL teacher. It was amazing how much stuff I was doing wrong. Don't fall into that trap, get a teacher. SOTW can be helpful, but it can never replace a live human being willing to give you hands on instruction.

 

[Nefertiti]

Your neck octave key is probably bent like someone else mentioned. This happens all the time to my students. It's very easy to fix although you have to know how to do it. I usually grab th top of the mecanism on the neck so it can't move and slightly bend the bottom of the mechanism either towards the neck or away from the neck depending on the problem. In your case you want to bend it away fro the neck. When you are pushing the octave key for the D it is hitting the top octave mechanism slightly and opening it. If you bensd it away slightly it will stop doing that. If you have no idea what I'm talking about I wouldn't mess with it. Just let your sax player friend do it.

 

[mothsong]

Hi, thanks for that - I will mention it to my friend when she takes a look at it. Agent27, I would get a teacher but I can't really afford it at the moment - I appreciate I am probably doing things terribly wrong but I support with my diaphragm in a similar sort of way to when I'm singing and I seem to be able to get a decentish tone out. We'll see how it goes.

Saxplayer67, it is a Boosey & Hawkes 400 sax.

Thanks for all your advice everyone.