Don't bite the mouthpiece. Tenor requires a very loose embouchure as compared to your clarinet. Playing that D an octave high is indicative of an embouchure that is too tight. You must play relaxed. It will be a conscious effort at first. Then it becomes natural.

Good luck with the concert!!

 

take in more mouthpiece, keep a loose embouchure, breath with your diaphragm, keep an open throat, think AH, and push air through the horn!

 

+1 on this recommendation. In addition, you might try to angle your head (or tenor) so that the mouthpiece points more downward in your mouth. Doing this will help prevent you from inadvertently using your lower teeth to support the reed (via your lip). I find that simply opening up my embouchure in concert doesn't help much in playing low Bb staccato. I need to either tilt my head down or adjust my neckstrap to hit it consistently.

Many moons ago, I played the flute. After quitting, I picked up the clarinet briefly and it was really easy to play, likely due to the similarly stiff embouchure. Couldn't get a sound out of a Trumpet at the time, though. 35 years later I picked up the Tenor.....can't get a note out of the flute with my new emouchure, but all of a sudden the trombone and trumpet are playable. Fingerings are the same as clarinet and tenor sax are both woodwinds, but the mouth is very different.

 

True this. I don't play tenor very much one in a blue moon. But when i switch from alto to tenor i find it some what difficult for me until my embouchure adjusts. I imagine you just need to loosen up quite a bit.

 

Hmm, I'll try those. Thanks a lot!

 

Use warm, fast air. It takes a while to adjust, stay loose and relaxed. I've learned that the more you worry about getting out those lower notes, the worse they will get. Have faith the note will come, and use an open throat and fast air!

Practice long tones!!! Go from G to as low as you can by half steps. Don't move down a half step until you have a good tone and can consistently play the note you're on. Do this slowly!!!

Also, you might want to practice switching between clarinet and tenor during your practice time, and note the differences in playing the two...(maybe even write down the differences so you don't forget?) This way, the two won't blend together and you end up getting a hybrid tenor-clarinet sound (that's BAD).

 

to practice getting down the bottom do as "soundandtime" suggests with the long notes gradually chromatically going down...

further that by practicing you major scales descending... start at the top and finish on the tonic held as a long note... you could also do this from the 5th descending so you are able to hold the lower note for longer... i.e. F major starting on 5th... C, Bb, A, G, FFFFF as a long note... then E Major... B, A, G#, F#, EEEE as a long note.... just 'baby steps' chromatically descending gradually expanding your range.

this well help you get the range down the bottom and help with the tuning because you are hearing the bottom notes related to the major scale, rather than isolated... THEN... when that starts to get comfortable... you will be able to do long tones down the bottom...

remember to vary the dynamics as well... so eventually you can play a sub-tone B - Bb at the end of the tune pianissimo.... or just belt out a low Bb... either or...

tris


PS... maybe try and experiment a tiny bit with the position of the neck in the yolk (the big bit of the horn)... i find that on my tenor when its 1-2degrees anti-clockwise there's a problem with everything... so FOR ME, i have to move it back so the octave key mechanism is like 1.5mm to the left of center... i assume your not touching the palm keys when your playing opening them ever so slightly (just thought id ask)

 

You've already received some good advice. Here's my "2-cents worth"

Without being able to see and hear you, it's difficult to give advice with any certainty.

Sometimes, a player will "reach" for the low notes by dropping the jaw when playing in the lower register.

To see if this is the case, practice the long tones and slow, descending scales while watching yourself in a mirror.

If this isn't the case, you may notice something else.

What you would be watching for is excessive jaw movement. Keep the embouchure firm and steady. Be sure to provide plenty of air.

Good luck and be sure to let us know how you're doing.

 

Let's keep in mind, long term vs. short term. Max needs the biggest bang for the buck as his performance is this Wednesday.

 

This should clear up your problem. Start with the lowest note you can play which is F. Play the note just to get the pitch and then sing the note. Sing it like an opera star with an AHHHH and a relaxed very open throat. Sing it full and with a good sound. Sing it several times so it is very natural and sounds full and good. Then play the F with that pitch in your head and without changing anything. You should get a beautiful F.

Continue working your way down. If you can't hit the pitch just keep singing the note and go as low as you can. Think Barry White. Playing sax should be just like singing. Clarinet is quite a different animal, but sax playing should be just like singing. I often sing low notes with the different vowel sounds while driving to a gig. When I put the horn in my mouth it is effortless to play.

Wisco

 

If you are playing on a school owned horn, you may want to have it checked for leaks.
If it's leak free, work on relaxing that clarinet embouchure, and making sure you're not accidentially opening one of the palm keys a hair.

 

Bandmommy is right. When I played a tenor that belonged to my school, it had a few ripped pads, almost no lacquer there was a resonator falling off, the cork on the neck nearly didn't exist.... The list of things that didn't work goes on and on and on... forever. I hated it. My tenor has gained a few leaks but it still plays well.

 

Thanks for the great advise! I'm using the school's sax for the concert, but I own one that I practice with at home. The school's is actually really nice. I don't know the model exactly, but I know that it's a Yamaha, it was about $2400, and it was recently repaired for something, so as far as I know, there aren't any leaks.

My personal horn, a Belmonte, isn't bad, but I'll be using the school's tomorrow.

Also, I just learned today that I have an improv solo in one of the songs, so wish me luck!

 

Hello!

The fact that the low notes are harder to get has a scientific explanation, it's due to the shape of the bore, here's an article with more details:Why is the low register of the saxophone harder to get?

Maxime

 

Interesting stuff, also when browsing a bit further on the Syos site!

There's one thing I found surprising, and hard to believe, in the Input impedance study. https://www.syos.co/en/blog/science/impedance-entree-acoustique-saxophone

"Depending on the strength [Dirk: meant is: force applied to the keys], the pads will be more or less pushed inside the chimney, slightly changing the inside geometry of the instrument and thus changing the input impedance."

A geometric effect of reducing the effective chimney height by - well... 0.25 mm ? - leading to a lower (?) frequency of the input impedance peak?

My gut feel (and my physics education) says that a much more plausible explanation for impedance peaks shifting to higher frequencies at low finger pressure is that the pads don't seal 100% - and in my experience, the majority of woodwind repairers (at least the ones around me) do just a so-so pad job.

A "gorilla grip" will close most leaks, while a lighter touch on a less-than-perfectly seated pad will be extremely sensitive to leaking. A leak on one of the higher tone holes will shift the lowest input impedance peak to higher frequencies.

 

any little leak compounds and then-----
the fun begins when you sub tone down f to Bb

 

You might try using a softer reed