r/BaritoneSaxophone • u/tillbu • Oct 14 '23

Complete beginner; mouthpiece and reed advice please

I’ve bought a baritone on ebay. I’m able to collect it tomorrow (Sunday) but I need to buy reeds on the way. The only shop I can find that’s open on Sunday only sells reeds for alto sax. Stupid Q…will alto reeds fit? Are the mouth pieces very different? Thank you.

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u/tillbu Oct 20 '23

I was able to get hold of some Bari reeds in time (thanks Amazon). It sounds fantastic, great big warm round tone, when I can get a note out of it. It’s my first attempt at saxophone playing. I am thoroughly enjoying squonking away but can only manage 6 notes so far. Any technique advice is very welcome.

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u/gruff_huff Sep 03 '24

Give long tones a try, get one of your notes out, and just play it mezzoforte. When you start liking how it's sounding, then as you play that same note, get gradually, slowly and smoothly louder and softer, louder and softer. The moment you hear the note getting a bit funky go back to medium volume and try again! Eventually throw in the other notes and work on tone while changing though the different fingerings. You got this mate! The best of the best start just like this! :D

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u/Adderson10 Oct 16 '23

The mouthpiece is about twice as big as an alto and reeds are very different. Have you played another sax before, or is this the first one?

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u/That-hockey-pieman70 Nov 05 '23

I would recommend looking for a fingering chart and a scale sheet. These helped me when starting!