How To Play A Low A On Alto Sax

Lately I've been asked by other saxophonists how I am able to play notes below the normal range of the saxophone, which, as just almost anyone reading this would know, is the low Bb, below the staff – especially since there don't seem to exist any keys on the instrument which would appear able to get you down the low, so please note that all of these notes are played using the standard fingering for a depression Bb.

I do have to admit that I, myself, am new to this annals at the moment. For a full year, I couldn't get below the depression A, only over the by six months, using the spare fourth dimension many of us musicians find ourselves with during the COVID-xix pandemic, I've been able to final play beneath that low A.

Now, it's not as though I figured everything out over the by year and a one-half. I was working for xx years on other things which helped give me what I needed to extend the range of the horn all the way down to F# below the staff.

1 of the reasons I started working on low annals more seriously is my latest project, a sax and drum duo, JZ Replacement. I wanted to play some bass lines under the drum solos, while likewise getting as many as possible colors and furnishings to make the project more interesting.

There a few things which brand information technology possible to extend your depression register.

1) Use a Mouthpiece with a Large Tip Opening

If you have a 16th opening like me, you will need very light reed. I use Vandoren 1. Most of the time it'southward all the same as well difficult, and then I have to resurface the reed. I utilize Vandoren Resurfacer and simple sand paper. It's not an easy thing to practise, as different parts of the reed command different parts of saxophone. Plus, there is a certain corporeality of variation betwixt all reeds. Truth is, you volition be half-guessing most of the time.

As for the opening size of the mouthpiece, y'all'll be difficult-pressed to detect annihilation bigger and so 10. I reached out to a few companies to ask for 12 opening, and they were quite slow to respond, and those who did told me that I don't need it considering nobody else uses such a mouthpiece. At that place is also the matter of the prohibitively high cost that I would accept had to pay in order to go such a customized mouthpiece.

I recommend SYOS for these types of mouthpiece "experiments". They can create a custom mouthpiece quickly without any fuss, and it's cheaper than some other brands which offer a similar result. However, it could have some time to become used to a mouthpiece with such a large tip opening.

I played a 12 for nigh 2 years, then a 14 and, at present, I am up to a 16th. I kind of adopt 14th, every bit its more even through the whole annals, although yous tin can't play low F# on information technology. But there's nothing wrong with using unlike mouthpieces for different occasions and fifty-fifty unlike tunes.

I also bask playing a Nadir Ibrahimoglu "Cresent" metal mouthpiece when want another colors. I asked to resurface it, so at present it's a 9 opening. Y'all tin can still play depression A on information technology.

2) Develop a Flexible Embouchure

Your embouchure should be very flexible, every bit you lot need to really relax your lips and make them more circular while blowing "straight" from your upper throat to go those low notes, while at the same time being able to quickly alter the pressure on the reed to move between those notes.

Y'all also need to modify the pressure on the reed when going to a higher annals of your saxophone. And for those times where you need to utilize the higher pressure level, you need to be relaxed. Everybody has a unlike embouchure, so the style you change it for certain notes will vary, but it has to be very flexible.

Plus information technology is besides helpful to play different mouthpieces regularly likewise as different reed strengths. For the final three-4 years, I have 2-3 mouthpieces which I regularly go betwixt. I sometimes alter them inside the aforementioned melody. I don't know the mouthpiece on which yous can play "everything". And by "everything", I hateful all of the tonal "colors" possible. But it's nice to enjoy some colors by playing on ane mouthpiece, and then switching to a different mouthpiece to make available some other colors.

Besides, playing different articulations really helps with embouchure. Transcribing Sonny Rollins and writing down all his tonguing helped me. In fact, as a dominion, when transcribing, it'south good to really pay attention not just to the notes, just on articulation as well. The reason these nifty solos audio so amazing is not because of the notes, but because of the way they were played.

So, don't worry nearly getting down the notes, become downwardly the articulation, which includes learning the breathing, tonguing, and rhythm of the phrases.

3) Consider Making Modifications to the Saxophone Itself

To make things easier in this function of the horn, I opened all my keys very loftier to allow more than air to comes out of the instrument. I was aiming for a bigger and more than even sound. But this change required that I employ a bit more pressure level from the lower lip to striking the depression Bb, and for the notes below the Bb, the lower you get, the more you'll want to relax the lower lip.

Equally a side note, I also accept my own developed my ain primal arrangement, which will brand it easier to get around those lower notes in terms of manual dexterity (for example, moving apace from from B to Bb or from C# to Bb). I have a separate video on this key system, so follow me on Youtube or Facebook to make certain yous don't miss videos like that one.

Determination

Those are the main "secrets" of playing those low notes. If everyone is interested in more than detailed caption, please experience gratis to message me via my Facebook page for individual lessons on any of the techniques described in this article.

Lastly, here is the video where you tin encounter me playing those notes below the saxophone'southward "official" range, and talking almost how to play them.