tension in the throat, to the point of pain

[iverson]

I have inadvertently developed an evil habit of "coughing" out tones. I also play with a lot of tension in the throat. I also believe my vocal cords are inadvertently being used in the toneproducing process. All of this creates pain in the throat area every time I play. My teacher has tried to help me resolve this but nothing he says seems to help. I am appealling to all of you out there to help me. I dont want to injure myself, and the saxophone was not meant to hurt when one plays it. I posted a similiar question a few months ago but no one replied. I am hoping that someone can give me some insight this time.

Thank you in advance.

[iverson]

sorry about the double post, my mistake

[orions_belt27]

oh my gosh.. first of all my friend, please stop using the throat to produce your air. your air support should come straight from the diaphragm.

has your teacher taught you proper breathing techniques? no offense but i think if u cough out ur notes, you should sound really terrible :) the proper way of producing a good tone has a lot to do with proper breathe support and proper breathe support comes straight from the way you control air with the DIAPHRAGM :)

you can do it simply by imitating singers. They sing using the diaphragm and they push the air out of the lungs with the stomach muscles. you have a lot of work to do if you are getting so used to the throat thing. you have to stop that immediately and start learning the correct way of blowing air into ur sax, otherwise you'd damage your vocal chords.

the moment u start to tense up in the throat, stop and start over again until you ingrain the correct technique of producing the air and blowin it into the horn. get ur teacher to monitor the way you deal with this too :) gd luck~ and dont give up~

[Lyle]

It is difficult for me to imagine what you are doing by coughing notes. Blowing seems to me such a simple process. Imagine blowing dust from a surface. Imagine blowing a feather, or blowing on your hand if you get a burn. Try it! Does your throat tighten? Do you cough? Perhaps you are just trying too hard. Relax! Have fun!