Varying the depth of the mouthpiece

[blurt]

How far/deep into my mouth should the mouthpiece be and should it vary. It seems to me (as a real beginner who started last night) that when moving between the first and second octave I have to change it. For the higher notes, it's about half as far in.

Advice about this and general embouchure technique appreciated....

[saxmasta89]

The mouthpiece should feel comfortable in your mouth(keep in mind that you should have the best sound you can get in that certain position). for different players it varies. If you are a beginner, you should start long tones to develop your embouchure. They will make you sound better, give you more control, and develop your embouchure. Higher notes are a lot harder for some players because their embouchure isn't developed enough.. As it strengthens you can play more and more notes. Also i think your reed might be too hard if you are moving your mouth out for higher notes...try about a 2, 2.5 rico just for a starter..and move to harder and better brand reeds as you progress. Rico reeds don't really sound that good in my opinion for a rich clean classical sound, but they are very easy to play on.

[blurt]

thanks for the tips. I am already using 1 1/2 Rico's, so it isn't the hardness. I suspect it is just my inexperience. I will be practicing my long notes and we'll see what happens. At least I have managed all the notes from low C and the C 2 octaves up.

[saxmasta89]

i forgot to mention that it could also be your mouthpiece and/or ligature...
also blow cool air(like your cooling off soup) for the higher notes...and warm air(like your trying to fog up glasses) for lower notes...

by the way....low c to 2 octaves above that is nothing to be put down about :D

let me know how its comin along...
Ryan

[Peter]

I would say that Rico reeds are of excellent quality.
I have no problem, with Rico Royal.