Okay, so I'm having some trouble tonguing down low. I've been working on a passage that features continuously tongued sixteenth notes and from about a G in the staff on down the notes really don't want to respond and if they do, it's typically with an edgy, ugly quality to it. I think my air and voicing are good, and I'm using a pretty light tongue stroke. I think it may be a jaw issue, but it's tough to tell. I feel like I can't even work the passage up because the response issue is preventing that. If I could get good response everything else would fall into place I think. Any thoughts or exercises would be appreciated. I'm not a beginner, I make my living playing saxophone. However, even though I played classical music pretty well in college, I took a multi year break from practicing or playing any classical music seriously and well, now it shows. Help! : )
I've found, to my dismay, that the saxophone parts in many concert band arrangements seem to be much more difficult than the rest of the band, possibly because they were written for strings, and then the arranger transposed them for the saxophones without regard to the limitations of the instrument, other than range. Slurred large intervals are my usual peeve.
The first step is to take your horn to the shop and make sure everything is sealing properly. Tenors are more finicky about good adjusting than altos are. My next question is what strength reed are you on? Maybe it's too hard (or too soft)? Another concern could be tongue placement on the reed. I had this same problem on tenor, and I found the problem was that as I went lower on the horn my tongue moved farther down the reed - focusing on keeping the tip of my tongue at the tip of the reed solved a lot of response issues down low. Could also be an air issue???
Perhaps it would be worthwhile to simply honk the low notes out for a while just to get something out. From there you can scale it back to a sound within the realm of good taste.
interesting thoughts but i don't think any of these are the problem. it's definitely not the part, it's reasonable. my reed is a vandoren 3 on an optimum tl4 mouthpiece. my tonguing is consistent. i can "honk" the notes out, but I'd rather make a good sound : ) i don't think there are leaks. there could possibly be some, but it's only been a couple months since it was last looked at and i don't have response issues with my jazz setup. i don't think my reed is totally flat and that doesn't help. i need to get some sand paper. other than that i think it may be my jaw placement.
I didn't mean to honk for your final product, just during practice so that you have something to start with and refine. A warped reed I'm sure is contributing. Do you soak your reeds? I'd give them a good soak for a while, then polish the back of the reed on a sheet of printer paper. That will seal the pores on the back and cut down on the warping in the future. I would only sand as a last resort. You're jaw shouldn't move too much from where it is in the mid-range of the horn. Are you biting as you get lower? Try keeping a more relaxed grip on the mouthpiece throughout the range and bring support in from the corners (the wheel embouchure).
Have you had your mouthpiece facing checked out? An uneven faeing or a table that is not flat can cause response problems. Also, you may want to start keeping your reeds in some sort of container which keeps them moist. I do this because I had problems with my reeds drying out and warping. Warped reeds can make response difficult, especially in the low register.
A tl4 is probably going to be generally well made, and reeds are only small part of the problem with tenor. As DWoz said, it's probably an embouchure thing. In addition to relaxing the embouchure a bit in the lower range, make sure your airspeed is fast enough to help the note to speak quickly. However, this fast airflow must be a focused airflow to get a focused attack and sound.
Agreed. One of the biggest mistakes players make is to play with a low, flat tongue position for the low register, which causes the air to move to slowly to initiate a good response. Instead of AHHHHH, try arching your tongue to 'AAA' as in 'At' or even as high as AYYY. EEEE is likely too high for that register. An arched tongue position will remove the obstruction of the tongue muscle in your throat, and will simultaneously accelerate the airstream as it moves over the arch through the space between the arch and the hard palate. If you've been using 10mph air, work towards 25-30mph--or at least that's one way to think of it.
Good luck!
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