[jaker]

I went to return the rental alto I had since I bought one of my own. And I decided right away that I wanted to play alto... But when I was in the shop they had a yamaha yts 275 on display and I figured, why not so I rented it. felt I at least had to try before dismissing the whole thing.

First I felt kinda clumpsy around it and didn't like it at all. But after a while It grew on me.

And when I picked up my alto it felt like a flute, after 30 minutes on the tenor the alto felt awkward and the tenor felt home. I've been struggling with my intonation on the alto for a while but the tenor worked almost flawless.
(And I brought my alto to an old jazzer who said the intonation was almost spot on way better then his selmer so nothing wrong with the horn)

I'm still a bit reluctant towards the tenor coz I kinda like the alto. I've read somewhere that the lower tone of the tenor is more forgiving when it comes to playing in pitch. And some people say ithe tenor is more freeblowing and I can sign off on that. Maybe that's the thing.

I think my embrouchere is way to stiff in the upper register on the alto but I don't know how to get rid of that habit.

The question is should I play more tenor and work on embrouchere long tones scales etc (it sounds way more musical)

Or should I keep honking the alto?

One must give the other either way right?

I've only been playing four months but I'm developing fast (10 years of guitar).

 

[SaxTMan]

i alto is your thing see if is really every ok with it and stay with it. You can develop your embouchure. 4 months is almost nothing. You have plenty time. Good luck.

 

[artstove]

Only you can decide what horn (or horns) you want to play. So play whatever you feel like playing. The most important thing is picking up the horn, so go with whichever one makes you want to play it.

 

[NissanVintageSax]

I have all 4, and many sax players do as well (as well as doubling on flutes and clarinets, which I haven't learned fingerings to yet).

 

[jaysz]

First off get the horn out and play a high D with one hand, using the other hand touch your chin,
is it hard and tight because all the muscles are tightened , to see the difference take the horn out of
your mouth and touch the same place, you will probably notice a significant difference. Your lower
jaw and muscles should be very relaxed if your playing a low d or a high d, the support for the
higher notes needs to come from your abdominal air supply and speed not a clenching of the
embouchure to give support.

To get a proper embouchure say the word TAW without the sax in your hands, notice how
your jaw drops and is relaxed and your tongue is pulled more towards the back of your mouth,
this is critical for allowing the reed to vibrate properly. When you say TAW you set things
up exactly how they should be to play, now try it with the sax. One way to check and see
how well you are doing these things is finger the middle C, without changing your embouchure
use your other hand to engage the octave key, let go, engage it again, it should jump back
and forth without any change to your embouchure.

Hope the helps.

 

[kavala]

Only you can decide which horn you prefer.
They are a bit like choosing a partner. What suits one person may not
necessarily suit someone else.

If you cannot decide, play both.

I am often traveling, and have extended lay off periods. My own personal
experience is that tenor is less forgiving under these circumstances. Alto is
okay if I am playing it all the time.

I also find that the tenor more easily (for me) covers a range of genres.
Of course in the hands of an expert any horn will sound great on any tune.

Most of the pro's play more than one sax, for the same reason, that one sax
may suit a particular tune better than the others in the family.

For all round general playing, if you are intending to use only one horn for a
while, then go for the tenor. It blends in with combo's of all sizes more
easily IMHO.

 

[JL]

Tenor is the king of saxes.

Is my bias showing?

 

[jaker]

thanks for all replies. I think I should try to find a teacher. considering all my problems are technical.

 

[maddenma]

Is my bias showing?

Have you considered having it plated?

 

[JL]

Have you considered having it plated?

What, my bias? Gold-plate bias! Yeah.

 

[milandro]

The only way to be proficient with different saxophones is to practice and play them as often as possible.

At the moment I play Tenor, Soprano and Alto. If I don't play any of these for any extended period of time, returning to any of these horns requires some adjusting and the first thing to suffer is intonation especially in the top register. you are dealing with reeds that are responding in a very different way and your body will have a certain amount of muscular memory and capability to adapt but like everything else you need to practice.

I have recently added the sopranino to the panoply and I am struggling to get used to both the size of the damn thing and the embouchure ( incidentally this is not a unkind correction, please don't get this the wrong way! But it is spelled this way! :bluewink: ) is very different from all the other horns.

 

[CHASAX]

First off get the horn out and play a high D with one hand, using the other hand touch your chin,
is it hard and tight because all the muscles are tightened , to see the difference take the horn out of
your mouth and touch the same place, you will probably notice a significant difference. Your lower
jaw and muscles should be very relaxed if your playing a low d or a high d, the support for the
higher notes needs to come from your abdominal air supply and speed not a clenching of the
embouchure to give support.

To get a proper embouchure say the word TAW without the sax in your hands, notice how
your jaw drops and is relaxed and your tongue is pulled more towards the back of your mouth,
this is critical for allowing the reed to vibrate properly. When you say TAW you set things
up exactly how they should be to play, now try it with the sax. One way to check and see
how well you are doing these things is finger the middle C, without changing your embouchure
use your other hand to engage the octave key, let go, engage it again, it should jump back
and forth without any change to your embouchure.

Hope the helps.

Thanks

 

[kcp]

I have always been a tenor player, but whenever my chops are in need of a workout that’s when I pick-up the alto.

 

[empressdiver]

Its probably good to play both for a while, and see what you like more over time. Its good if you can become good at both.

 

[Turnaround]

Alto was a state of mind for me. Tenor seemed to take what I gave it and sound good. I didn't find my alto voice until I started recording a lot of really good rappers (they exist, I promise, and it was my job in the mid/late 90s). As they were delivering their lyrics, with their very forward attitude, I suddenly heard the alto voice in their delivery. I tried playing alto with a very alert type of mindset (despite what rappers portrayed, but like I said, I was working with some very good ones) and suddenly I found my alto voice.

I think alto sounds best in a more excited type of role, and tenor can sound good in that same role, but also can sound good relaxed. Alto to me sounds amateur when played relaxed.

And that is not saying in front of the beat.

Alto is that 5 foot bouncer in your face and tenor is that 6'8" bouncer in your face.

When you see that 5 foot bouncer, watch out... he won't be lazy. The 6'8" guy can relax a little bit.

 

[jrvinson45]

The great thing about saxophones being built in different ranges is that it gives a single individual multiple voices. You'll hear people say that tenor emulates the range of the human voice, but in reality some human voices fall in the alto range and some song sound better sung by an alto than a tenor, just as some tunes sound better in some voices than they do in others. Also, some tunes fall under the fingers more easily on an Eb horn than a Bb horn and vice - versa. Right now you have a rental tenor and own an alto. Learn to play both of them better. There is a video in the "Jazz Icons" video series of Dizzy Gillespie and he is playing with Sonny Stitt. On that video you can see Sonny put down one horn and pick up the other without blowing a single warm-up note and not miss a lick due to the difference in horns... that's a goal to strive toward.

 

[kavala]

I am often traveling, and have extended lay off periods. My own personal
experience is that tenor is less forgiving under these circumstances. Alto is
okay if I am playing it all the time.

That line should have read that the tenor for me is MORE forgiving than the alto.
I can lay off tenor for a period and still get a reasonble sound although my
lips will tire quickly.
Alto, unless I play it regularly, then I find it difficult to be always in tune.