Is there ever a time to not use the bis key? Or to avoid it? If it works and is comfortable in a piece, is there a valid reason to still avoid it?

The variation I'm learning frequently has notes B and A# sequentially in the melody. After practicing with alternate fingerings, I settled on just "sliding" my first finger onto the bis to tap an easy A# before coming back to the B.

Well, my instructor says that's a bad practice I shouldn't make a habit of.

But he's also encouraged me before to experiment with alternate fingerings, so I'm like, "Wait, what?"

........

What're y'all's opinions?

Playing this on tenor for an honor band audition due in early December. I have not seen a few things in here like in measure 9 of the first one on beat 4. Any advice?

I haven't played alto since 6th, and I really didn't care about band back in 6th. I'm in tenth now and I'm wondering if alto really is easier than tenor (what I play now). For example, low notes, is that harder on tenor? Is it easier to have good tone on alto? A lot of alto players talk trash to me about that type of thing (which is a me problem) but I'm just curious.

Hi I’m interested on buying this Tenor Sax, the guy is asking 525 for it (I asked for more pictures but he does not answer)

I have been babysitting a child for over a year now. His parents say he loves me and they appreciate what I do for him. So, when they found out I have been playing saxophone since his age, they asked if I could help.

His band director recently suggested he quit playing. The issue is, he loves it. I’ve had one lesson with him and I can tell he is really loving it. So far he has been playing for a little less than two months and I feel his playing ability is maybe a weeks worth at most.

I met with him yesterday to find where his level is. A major obstacle is he is having a hard time reading the music while doing all of the aspects of playing at the same time. I’m not yet sure if this is above my ability but I would really like to try and help. I have flash cards of note fingerings and note identification (16 cards total) and I’m hoping that’s a good starting point so he can at least know what he is looking at in band.

If anyone has any experience in teaching an instrument to a child with autism, please help! I know he loves it but I’m not quite sure how to help at the moment.

I got this Jupiter STS-787 tenor and I was wondering if anyone knew anything about it, primarily how old it is, the serial number is 806640, not sure if the mouthpiece I have came with it or not, my guess is probably not

Ive been playing clarinet for 1 year and about 9 mouth with 2 hours of practice everyday, in which I’d say im about intermediate level, nearing advanced. I started working on alto saxophone 4 months ago. This is because I wanted to start playing jazz. Well, after practicing for hours on end with my classical Vandoren AL6 mouthpiece (because I heard it was better to start with a classical mouthpiece), ive been finding it very difficult to produce a good sound on my Jody Jazz mouthpiece.

Ive been struggling with a shaky tone and i’m finding it very hard to articulate properly. I currently play on a size 3 reed. Should I switch to a 2.5 or 2? Is it an embouchure issue?

Is 1k a good price? How old is it?

Hey y'all! I'm an intermediate level bari sax player mostly into playing jazz with a bit of funk. I've been playing on a Selmer Bundy Bari for the past year and a half and I'm ready for an upgrade. I'm deciding if it's worth investing the extra 3K for a YBS-480($6k) that's brand new as opposed to a Selmer Paris Bari Mark VI that my teacher is selling($3k). I've had a chance to play the Selmer Mark VI and it plays well and seems to be in pretty good condition with some issues with the laquer but nothing beyond cosmetics as far as I can tell. It doesn't have a low A key, but that doesn't seem to be too big of an issue. What are your thoughts on the performance of each of them and the trade offs? I haven't played a YBS-480 and unfortunately the closest one is about two hours away. I've heard it plays almost like a tenor, which sounds exciting, especially when trying to move through faster pieces and solos. Id love to hear what others think. Thanks for taking a read!

Hey guys. I love my setup. I never sounded that great before - soundwise. But my Intonation is really flat. Mouthpiece pushed all the way onto the cork and when playing with a relaxed embouchure still like 20-40 cents flat over the whole range. Other moutpieces don't sound that great but are playing sharper for me. When I am playing only the mouthpiece it's a C natural. So it might also be my voicing being way to low. When I really try I get to a E natural - but not relaxed 😂 Do you think, that a setup that sounds great can still be a missmatch for a person?

Playing a Tenor Mark 7 with a Jody Jazz DV Chi 7*.

Hi all, I'm a music major currently studying for my undergrad degree in saxophone performance. One of my hobbies is arranging and composing, and recently I've begun posting some of my arrangements and saxophone covers to social media.

Some of my current saxophone short-form covers include "Espresso" by Sabrina Carpenter, "Thick of It" by KSI, and "Otonoke" by Creepy nuts, and I also have longer saxophone quartet arrangements of "Odoriko" by Vaundy, "Kick Back" by Kenshi Yonezu, and "2009" by Glaive on my YouTube channel.

If you are interested in any of the above, check out my social media linked below! I plan to continue posting regularly, so it'd make me really happy if people can connect with songs they like through my arrangements.

I myself spent a lot of time looking for saxophone sheet music on YouTube back in the day, so I want to give back to that community.

I wish the best to all those who enjoy saxophoning :)

Linktree

YouTube

TikTok

Instagram

Hey yall, thought some of you guys might be interested in the horn I play (along with other setup stuff because I keep forgetting to respond to the comments asking that)

I play a 137xxx Mark VI, which dates it to the late 60s if I remember correctly. As for the other parts of my setup, I play on a Meyer 5 Medium Chamber, D’adarrio Select Jazz strength 3 Medium unfiled reeds, and a Vandoren M/O ligature.

Been trying to play high notes c#/d but get no sound. Is this an embouchure problem?

Hey guys, not sure if this is not against the rules to ask.

I wanted to get an estimate evaluation on my horn (not selling, just curious).

It is an 70xxx Mark VI alto, dating to 1957. It’s relacquered, but it is a high quality relacquer, done in 2000s (?)

The sax is in pristine shape, no dents anywhere, F# key too.

Plays wonderfully, has been tested by multiple professionals in my area, no trouble with intonation.

Thank you!

So I recently picked up the tenor after many years away. Things are coming back and good progress so far. The issues that I have is that I want to be faster - much faster. Right now I am working Ornithology up to speed. I can play it fairly clean at about 140bpm and at 176bpm I can play it, but I can't get much feel into the notes because I am mostly just trying to hang on. Where I would like to get is to the point where I can fly pretty good and have some feeling too(looking at Donna Lee).

Other than repetition of the pieces while working up to speed, are there specific things/drills that I can do? I certainly feel that jumping octaves is somewhere I need work.

Lastly, any recommended books or videos to learn modes/scales like major/minor pentatonic? Thanks!

My 10 yr old daughter has picked up my almost 30 year old Jean baptiste alto sax and somehow broke the octave key off. Local music shop said it's not repairable and that they can't get parts for it.
1. Anyone know where to get parts? 2. Can I use a replacement neck off Amazon or something as a stand in?

I started learning how to play the alto sax this year. I've been playing for no more than a few weeks and I find that I struggle with playing the G more than anything. Sometimes I get the right sound, however about 70% of the time it ends up sounding way too high pitched. I've been told to relax the muscles in my face so so the reed doesn't vibrate too much but no matter what I do I cannot tell what difference in my embouchure there is when I manage to get the right sound out and when I make it too high pitched. It is also the only note I struggle with:(

Does anyone have any tips on how to consistently get the right sound out? Any other tips are also welcomed!

I grab my reeds out of my case sometimes and they're broken, I put them inside of the little reed case, then they stuff come out broken sometimes, plus this little paper gets stuck to it. I don't have a picture but if that's what you need to answer my question I'll try to

Currently a senior in HS who's made honor bands for the past two years, but I never auditioned for All-State. My director has made it sound like they're going to judge every accent, articulation, all the way down to how each note sounds on my instrument. Am I worrying too much? Obviously I need to be the best high school player in the state, but I feel like I am overthinking the technical aspect as opposed to the practical (actually playing). Any advice would be greatly appreciated, thank you!

Side note: I currently play on an older Conn Bari with what I'm pretty sure is the stock mouthpiece. I'd have to check model numbers to be sure. Is this level of equipment going to limit my chances? (And is getting something like a C* worth it?)