Saxophone Help

[cheesemonkey]

Hey I'm a saxophonist (alto) along with being a bassist and have been having some trouble getting my low C# out clearly a good amount of the time. I'm currently working on a piece for school where i need to play several low C#'s right after a mid C# and G# as part of a saxophone solo so i have to make sure i can get them out 100%. Can any other saxophones suggest a good way to work on this besides just playing from those notes over and over again?

[Peck_Time]

1) Check for leaks on your horn. If an upper key is leaking air, all the lower notes will be affected.

2) Check that your reed is good, your ligature is good and that the mouthpiece fits on the cork good.

alright let's play the low notes! Can you subtone from the low D to low Bb? Can you play all of your scales going down as low as the scale permits on your horn? (eg, low Bb on a Bb scale, Bb on a B major scale, B on an A Major scale)

Can you play low C# then hold that fingering and overblow middle C#?

And most important... Long tones !!eleven!! yay! Long tones will cure anything!

[cheesemonkey]

Originally Posted by Peck_Time

1) Check for leaks on your horn. If an upper key is leaking air, all the lower notes will be affected.

2) Check that your reed is good, your ligature is good and that the mouthpiece fits on the cork good.

alright let's play the low notes! Can you subtone from the low D to low Bb? Can you play all of your scales going down as low as the scale permits on your horn? (eg, low Bb on a Bb scale, Bb on a B major scale, B on an A Major scale)

Can you play low C# then hold that fingering and overblow middle C#?

And most important... Long tones !!eleven!! yay! Long tones will cure anything!

Actually I'm not sure what the problem is any more i can play my low D low C low B and low Bb fine its just the low C#

[bigthemat]

If it is just the C# my guess would be the pads. Have you cleaned off the pad? Is it sticky? Take a piece of paper, like a dollar bill, and try and clean off the pad. It may help. Also, see if it is sealing. It could be bent slightly, not making a full seal, and thus, no note.

If all else fails, take it to a repair guy.

[cheesemonkey]

Originally Posted by bigthemat

If it is just the C# my guess would be the pads. Have you cleaned off the pad? Is it sticky? Take a piece of paper, like a dollar bill, and try and clean off the pad. It may help. Also, see if it is sealing. It could be bent slightly, not making a full seal, and thus, no note.

If all else fails, take it to a repair guy.

hah i've got a piece of crap saxophone that i've been renting for 3 year and will be getting my first saxophone that i will actually own over the summer. so its probably something to do with my instrument