The Lower notes on my alto tend to have an issue coming out. They usually want to go an octave higher than i want them to be. this happens almost everytime i play below a G. Any advice?

(for reference i'm playing a Bundy II and using a Size 3 reed)

It could be leaks, have you got it checked recently? Or(im not sure how experienced you are, but) maybe your embouchure is too tight or youre not using enough air. Maybe youre reeds a dud. There are many things that can cause difficulties in the lower notes of any saxophone.

Try tightening your embouchure.

My music teacher also showed me this trick: stick something in the bell of your sax (like a tube of cork grease, just make sure what ever you put in can still come out) and play the low notes. I have no idea what this does; it didn't work for me, though. He said it works for some people, but not others.

Good luck!!

we tried to find the leak, have switched reeds many times, and tried the bell trick(we used my mouthpiece cap)
i swear i've already tried everything in the book.
blehh.
i'll prolly have to go get it examined...

Check you embature and check for looks.

also it could be your octive key, try putting a rubber band around the neck and octive key right before the bend of the neck

If your horn doesn't have any issues some already mentioned like leaks etc you may want to try opening up your throat. You will have to experiment with this concept to find what works.

By pre-hearing the notes, perhaps even practicing singing each note first before you play it, maybe even matching the tones on the piano and getting that sound in your ear and feeling the tone will give your entire sound production mechanism (embouchure, air supply, aural sense) something to aim for.

Some players open their throats up to varying degrees from a simple ........ yawwwhh feel to the wide open "swallow this apple" approach to help to sound out the notes in all registers low and high.

Long tones with even slurrs are always good practice for sound production on the saxophone too.

hope this helps!

regards,

Don

==================================================
Looking to buy Saxophones or Saxophone Accessories?
Check out http://www.buy-saxophones-online.com and
find saxophone vendors on the net!

I would try the octave key, that gave me a lot of problems. make sure that it's not bent and is covering the hole entirely. Also try opening your jaw a bit wider when you play.

Think Low!

Think Low!

Think Low!

I had that happen to me before, it was my octave key that was bent, but it was bent so slightly that I couldn’t tell just by looking at it. Also maybe see if the pad on the octave key is hitting right, sometimes it can get bumped or misshapen and it will change your pitch.

You have to tighten your embuchere (however you spell it) and open your throat wide, thats how i get mine out, i also find it easier to use a 2 and a half for low notes, but that is on bari!

Based on your description the first thing I think of is the octave key. The only way to tell if it is correct and if there are any leaks is to have professional look at it for you.

The concept of putting something in the bell comes from a problem with Selmer saxes. The lower notes will gurgle, bounce, etc. The reason is the tone wave is hitting a pocket of un moving air in the lower end of the sax. We used to put a champagne cork in the bell, it is big enough to eliminate the pocket of unmoving air and the gurgles go away.

You want something about 1 1/2 inches around. A tennis ball is too big, I think cork grease is too small. Valentines is coming up; if you are not old enough ask your parents, neighbors, or music teacher for a champagne cork. (Teachers have gobs and gobs of these things laying around)