Alto Tenor
Alto Tenor
How to Play the Alto Saxophone
Are you wondering how to play the alto saxophone? This article covers the first steps for beginning saxophone players.
Your First Alto Saxophone
The first step, of course, is buying a decent alto saxophone. A good new instrument will cost between $1000 and $2000. You can also save money by buying a used one. Some of the most recognized brands in alto saxophones are Selmer and Yamaha. For beginners, some Conn horns are very suitable for beginners, too.
Accessories
You will also need some accessories to go with it, such as a cork grease, a Neck Strap, and reeds. As hard reeds make it more difficult to produce a tone, it's best to buy reeds with a low level of hardness. If you're a beginning saxophone player, a good size to choose is 1 1/2. A recommendable brand of reeds is Rico. You also need a cloth to clean your instrument. This is because saxophones have a lacquered finish that shows finger prints very well.
Putting it Together
When putting your alto saxophone together, the first thing to do is to put a reed in your mouth to soften. The thin edge should be put in first. The neck can be held in place by tightening the screws. The reed fits under the screws on the mouthpiece (which is called the ligature) and the mouthpiece fits on the cork on the end of the neck.
Your First Sounds
When learning how to play the alto saxophone, you should play the first notes with the mouthpiece attached to the neck. However, the neck should be removed from the body of the instrument. This way, you don't have to fuss about the weight of the saxophone on the neck strap, and you can focus on your mouth.
Next, put the mouthpiece in your mouth with your upper teeth on the top of the mouthpiece. The distance from the end should be about a third. Hold a straight chin and fit the lower lips against the bottom end of your reed. Some saxophone players like to turn their lip to the inside a bit. Both lips should now be sealed around the mouthpiece. If you now blow into the mouthpiece, you should hear a steady note, which should sound roughly like the quacking of a duck.
About the Author
Roger Charles is the editor of The-Saxophone.com, covering everything about saxophones. Find more about alto saxophones at his site.
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Alto Tenor
Altissimo register fingering for Tenor , Alto & Baritone saxophone explained and demonstrated.
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CHARLIE MARIANO : PLAYS ALTO AND TENOR $21.04 CHARLIE MARIANO : PLAYS ALTO AND TENOR |
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SIMS,ZOOT: PLAYS ALTO TENOR & BARITONE $16.27 SIMS,ZOOT: PLAYS ALTO TENOR & BARITONE |
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On-Stage Alto and Tenor Saxophone Stand $17.99 This On-Stage SXS7101B stand is designed to hold 1 alto or tenor saxophone and features a removable wood peg to accommodate a flute or clarinet. Double yoke support helps keep your instrument secure. |
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Something I Said -- Brian "Snowman" Powers, premiere saxaphonist
SIS-Brian "Snowman" Powers
Dwight Hobbes -- Twin Cities Daily Planet
There was Snow in July in downtown Minneapolis, and it was smokin' hot. His show at the Fine Line was my first time catching sax ace Snowman the Soulman and His Ice-Cold Band, but I'd seen Brian "Snowman" Powers plenty as a member of Afro-Cuban rock powerhouse New Primitives, making some of the most ungodly noise known to humankind, playing the pure and absolute hell out of a saxophone. As New Prims frontman Stanley Kipper puts it, "Man, Snow is terrifyin'."
You name the style of music and Powers, a seasoned session man and nationally-known producer (Odessa, Oleta Adams) can play it. For his incarnation as Snowman the Soulman he has elected to go with a sort of rock fusion anchored by funk. The whole night at the Fine Line, he stayed close to the anchor and proceeded to get, as the saying goes, funky as a fat man's drawers. His Ice-Cold Band comprised a killer crew: Jay Corkran (drums), Daren Markk (bass), Chico Perez (percussion), "Downtown" Bill Brown (accordion, keys, organ), Todd Bergren (electric guitar), and Todd Ernster (acoustic and electric guitar). Powers alternated among alto, tenor, soprano, and baritone saxes. Everybody except Enrster is on the album From My Soul to Yours (MGS Records). Which is too bad, because Ernster played incredibly tasty—downright stunning—solo after mind-blowing solo. To be sure, From My Soul to Yours stands up just find. It's just that, well, maybe Ernster'll be on the next CD.
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What marked the night even more than Powers's prowess on sax was his instinct as an arranger: the instinct that helps make From My Soul to Yours a winning effort. It is, no matter how strong the artist, very easy for most listeners to lose interest without a vocalist in there. Instrumentalists simply are not known for holding an audience spellbound for very long. This guy, however, shrewdly shifts textures, fattens the sound here, thins it out there, and without the slightest contrivance, keeps coming up with unexpected places to take the music.
Opening was gifted singer-songwriter J Pierre, who accompanied himself on acoustic guitar with a tight four-piece backup. The overall impression brought to mind a fella from Zimbabwe who comes through these parts every once in a blue moon, Oliver Mtukudzi. It's a sparse sound that leans on minor and major-7 chords for a lush texture. Real fascinating stuff. Pierre's voice washed out a couple of times at the high register, but his set was solid. He has, by the way, been taken under the wing of Yohannes Tona, who's producing J Pierre's in-progress CD.
About the Author
Coming: "Angels Don't Really Fly" EP by Dwight Hobbes & The All-Star Hired Guns featuring Alicia Wiley. The crew: Me, Alicia Wiley, Stanley Kipper, Chico Perez, Jeff "Boday" Christensen, Aaron "Orange A.C." Cosgrove and Yohannes Tona. Singer-songwriter Dwight Hobbes recorded the single "Atlanta Children" (BeatBad Records) and gigged 10 years in the Long Island/NYC area, including The Other End, Kenny's Castaways and My Fathers Place. Fronted the Boston blues band Midlight. In Minneapolis, Hobbes opened for David Daniels at First Street Entry, James Curry at Terminal Bar, sat in with Yohannes Tona, Alicia Wiley at Sol Testimony's Soul Jam, The New Congress at Babalu, Willie Murphy at the Viking Bar and Wain McFarlane & Jahz at Lucille's Kitchen. Dwight Hobbes still drops in at the occasional open mic around town. Dwight Hobbes has written for ESSENCE, Reader's Digest, Washington Post, Minneapolis Star Tribune, St. Paul Pioneer Press, City Pages, Mpls/St. Paul, MN Law & Politics, Pulse of the Twin Cities, Twin Cities Daily Planet, Women & Word, San Diego Union-Tribune, The Circle, to Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder (where he contributes the commentary columns Hobbes In The House and Something I Said. He's spoken his mind over National Public Radio, Minnesota Public Radio and KMOJ in Minneapolis and St. Paul. Was regularly featured as guest commentator on NewsNight Minnesota (KTCA-Minneapolis/St. Paul) and Spectator (Minneapolis Television Network). His monthly column "Hobbes In The House" in MN Spokesman Recorder comments on domestic abuse and rape. His plays are Shelter - produced at Mixed Blood Theatre by Pangea World Theater, Dues - produced by Mixed Blood Theatre, University of Southern Illinois in Point of Revue, selected for Bedlam Theatre's 10-Minute Play Festival and published by Playscripts, Inc. You Can't Always Sometimes Never Tell - produced by Theater Center Philadelphia, Long Island University, reading at The Kennedy Center and published in the anthology CENTER STAGE, In the Midst - produced by Long Island University, starring Samuel E. Wright. Hobbes spoke on the panel "Farewell To August Wilson" at the Guthrie Theater, broadcast on Conversations With Al McFarlane (KFAI, KMOJ). Twin Cities Daily Planet articles archived at www.tcdailyplanet.net/dwighthobbes
Alto Tenor