[TerenceZ]

hi. i am using a curved soprano sax... and i have problems playing high esharp and f. anyone have any tips on how to solve this? i feel pain in my lower lips because of the squeezing when i try to play the high notes.

 

[harmonizerNJ]

Hi TerenceZ, a few questions for you:
What brand & model of soprano sax are you playing?
What mouthpiece (include brand and tip opening) are you playing?
What brand and hardness reeds are you playing?
How long have you been playing this soprano sax, and what is your experience with playing other types of saxes?
You mentioned "esharp and f" - these are the same pitch - did you actually mean E natural and F, or something else? In any case, how do the notes immediately below these sound and feel?

 

[Dave Dolson]

All good questions. My comment is that your oral cavity should be really small to hit those notes - but biting or squeezing so hard that your lower lip hurts is probably unnecessary. It is the overall oral cavity that needs to tighten, not your lips and jaw.

AND, some mouthpiece/reed/lig combinations just may not work for you. That certainly is the case for me - and I've been at it awhile. DAVE

 

[TerenceZ]

i just started on the sop. im good and have no problems plaything high notes on alto, bari and tenor. its just that when i blow the high nots on a sop, sounds do come out, but not the high notes i wanted. im using a chateau sop made in taiwan...and a selmer mouthpiece and lig.

 

[A Greene]

TerenceZ,

This takes time. Just for fun - try to sing the pitch you're going for. You voice probably can't go that high so just sing as high as you can. When blowing the high notes on the soprano - try to set your oral cavity the same way you do when singing high. (Don't acutauly sing into the horn - althought his can also be really cool)

The issue is matching the air speed to the note. Biting or pinching the reed well only result in closing the tip of the reed to a point where it just stops. Many people simply use extremely hard reeds but I don't like this path.

Relax and Sing - Good Luck

 

[Pigpen]

hi. i am using a curved soprano sax... and i have problems playing high esharp and f. anyone have any tips on how to solve this? i feel pain in my lower lips because of the squeezing when i try to play the high notes.

I think you definitely need to stop whatever you are doing that is causing pain. It sounds to me like you may need a harder reed.

I think that what you are doing with your lip is kind of like making the reed harder by biting on it and making it shorter.

I had a similar problem as yours in that I was unable to reach higher notes, but wasn't biting. I solved it my going from a Rico Jazz Select 2M to a Vandoren blue box #3. I just ordered some La Voz in a medium hard, which is an equivalent hardness.

Interestingly I also play tenor and solved this problem on tenor by going to a softer reed than I was using, which doesn't seem to make sense, but worked.

The next thing to do after that I would say is to try different mouthpieces and even different ligatures, which for me have both made differences. I tried larger mouthpieces but didn't have as good a result as increasing my reed strength.

Be careful though, you can over do practicing high tones, and if your throat muscles aren't developed enough, you can over strain them. Drink a lot of water to avoid muscle cramping.