Correct breathing is essential for playing the saxophone. Diaphragmatic breathing is the proper term for this controlled breathing. When you inhale your diaphragm moves down to pull air into your lungs. When you exhale it moves down.

Place your hand just below your ribs. Cough and you will feel your stomach tighten. This is you diaphragm forcing air out. Slowly inhale and exhale. Did you notice that your stomach and back enlarged to make way for the expansion of your lungs and diaphragm?

Breathing Exercises

The correct diaphragmatic breathing techniques allows you to learn how to expand your lower ribcage and back when you breathe instead of your shoulders and chest. You need to be in the habit of breathing like this. Of course, it helps to practice whenever possible.

Sit in a chair. Back straight. Inhale slowly paying attention to the expansion of your lower ribcage and back. Hold for the same amount of time it took you to inhale then exhale slowly. Learning to control the release of air through your lips will give you a better lung volume and a good consistent tone.

Try inhaling then slowly exhaling while you are humming a note. The tone will probably be jerky at first and taper off at the end. The goal is to get the tone even with no tapering. Try doing the inhale/exhale with the mouthpiece from your saxophone.

Once you have the hang of it, try it with your saxophone. Your tone should be stronger and more constant. Don’t stop practicing this diaphragmatic breathing until you are an expert at it and it comes as second nature.

Circular breathing

This method of breathing will allow you to play on the inhale and exhale. That way you can play a long musical passage without stopping to breathe. This is a skill for intermediate and pro players. Beginners should be aware of its existence, but not try it for quite a while because it is a hard skill to master.

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Yes, that means those boring old scales that you are so fond of. Scales have a purpose. They are there to teach you the basic notes that build a tune. If you learn a tune before you learn scales you could end up with gaps in your knowledge that will show later on. This first lesson goes beyond what you might learn from another teacher. Some numbers have been added underneath. You still need to learn the names of the notes, just add the numbers, too. It will come in handy for jazz or rock improv.

This does make things a bit more complicated. You will be learning about harmony from the start. This gives you a feel for the notes instead of just mimicking the notes in scales. Start with G major. It does not have all of the extreme highs and lows of C. That makes it easier for beginners. You must play these evenly. No speeding up or slowing down for different parts of the scale. Start out by thinking of the names of the notes, then the numbers on the second round and then go back and forth. Hold the last note as long as you can do so evenly.

A great thing about the number system is that it is based on a root note. This means that although you start on a different root note each time you learn a new note, it will always be number one.

You will notice that the arpeggio is the same. There are just a few steps left out. This is the least complicated arpeggio. It is called a triad since there are three different notes in it. On an instrument that can play multiple notes at once this would be called the G major chord. To separate it from a more complicated G major it is sometimes called the G triad

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Things are going well with your new sax, but you want a new mouthpiece to improve you tone a little.

Welcome to the never ending search for the perfect setup. It all started with new reed, not it is down to a new mouthpiece or four.

No matter what, if you are truly committed to playing and want to improve, you will eventually have a need to change your set up. Whether it is an actual need or just psychological doesn’t matter.

You will need to develop your tone before you change set-ups. You may have stop reading right there. Alright, but remember who told you so.

Which mouthpiece

All new saxophone come with a standard mouthpiece that has a small gap between the tip and the reed. This is called a closed lay.

Beginners should stick to that mouthpiece for the first few months. That way you get used to it and can truly decide if you are happy with that set up.

If at all possible get someone who is more experienced to give you a little advice before your buy. Some people like the Yamaha 5 lay. It has a smallish opening and the reed will stall if you blow hard enough.

Others like the Otto Line tone Edge 5. It is a 5 lay, but it is more open than the Yamaha. It gives a more mellow sound, too.

Gap size is not standard across the saxophone industry. A 5 lay can be many different actual gaps. All you can do is get some advice and try different set ups until you are happy.

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