You need to know what a good saxophone tone sounds like before you’re able to develop your own sound. It is difficult to play with good tone when you haven’t listened to musicians with good tone. Listening to the best musicians of your instrument for the genre you are interested in is one of the best things you can do for your tone outside of practicing. If you are instead more interested in classical saxophone, you may want to look into: If you are interested in jazz saxophone, consider looking into the following modern jazz saxophonists: If you can internalize what you want to sound like, you will have a much easier time getting there. Likewise, if your intention is to play primarily classical saxophone, listen to professional classical saxophonists. If you have the intention of playing jazz saxophone, then listen to professional jazz saxophonists. Regardless of which one you are playing, one of the best things that you can do is to listen to what good saxophonists of your preferred genre sound like. More importantly, the correct embouchure for a classical saxophonist is different from the correct embouchure for a jazz saxophonist. Classical and jazz saxophone tend to be largely separated in the saxophone world, and are taught in two completely different ways. Are you playing classical or jazz saxophone?īefore we even discuss the specific nuances of embouchure (that is, lip position), we first need to address whether you are interested in playing classical or jazz saxophone. Furthermore, the way that you apply these tips should depend on what kind of sound you are trying to develop. In short, you can improve your saxophone tone most easily by practicing proper embouchure (ideally while playing long tones), opening your throat, using plenty of air support, and using equipment of reasonable quality.Īs is often the case, however, the devil is in the details. The goal of this guide is to discuss the most important factors which affect saxophone tone to help you sound as fantastic as you possibly can. If you have a good sound, many people will automatically assume that you are a good player even if you aren’t playing a particularly impressive piece of music. Improving tone quality is one of the most important endeavors for every saxophonist.

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