Eliminating Mistakes, Sound Corrections & Wrist Pain | BetterSax Studio Episode 2

[@paoloalbano4690]

Jay, thank you for repeating so simple but so important things: learn slowly without mistakes, stay relaxed, let the air do the work. Great lesson. Thanks a lot !

[@sidneiramalho]

It seems relaxing is the name of the game for a lot of things, golf, motorcycle, sax, piano, shooting, why do we have a hard time to relax I wonder...great video Jay.

[@patricerogers296]

Just discovered these videos with critiques. So awesome! So helpful!!

[@jamesmatheka1361]

Thank you for sharing. You are so clear in explaining.

[@gdoggcasey]

I rented a sax from a nearby store and just jumped into it, mostly with your videos. I'm on the two beginner courses from your site, and almost definitely will be moving right into the Pentatonic Foundation soon after. I am going to take a lesson or two in person as well because I want someone to see me playing and help me fix some early issues like accidental overtones and things. You really have found your niche with teaching sax online and do a fantastic job. Thank you for offering so much of it for free as well...I am sure you could have hid pretty much all of it behind a pay wall but you didn't and that is very appreciative.

[@bettersax]

That's a good plan. Definitely should get some face to face lessons for the reasons you mentioned. Thanks for the comment.

[@HelloFromTheGreenRoom]

Hey man. I just started to play saxophone and just wanted to let u know your videos are helping me tremendously. Please keep up the great lessons. Thank you

[@bettersax]

Great to hear, thanks.

[@DrRocketTurner]

Incredibly great teacher; I highly recommend all his courses!!! Genius course structure! Dr Rocket 🚀

[@bettersax]

Thanks again.

[@yahrong]

Great lesson, opening my eyes to see myself.

[@earthelenagarrett6003]

teacher of the year award!

[@michaelrowe1907]

Thanks Jay l love watching your videos and view them many times, theres always something l can pick-up from them that l missed last time

[@bettersax]

Thanks 👍

[@tonypolizzi713]

Your videos are extremely helpful. Keep it going. Thank you.

[@bettersax]

Thanks, will do!

[@robdownes5159]

Definitely agree on the playing more slowly when practicing, also isolating small sections of notes so that you can identify the transitions between notes that are more of a struggle is a huge help.

[@ekaufman4800]

Jay, when I picked up my sax after 42 years, I watched your videos. It was crazy frustrating, but after focusing on long tones and good sound, two years in I'm pretty happy with the way I sound. I'm going to try to get faster and make some inroads into improv, but I need the say, " THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!!!"

[@bettersax]

My pleasure

[@rk702]

Great tips and suggestion.

[@prpldude1]

This is Marc from the Video. I want to thank you so much for the advice. Breathing always trips me up during a song. I am going out and getting a mirror today!! *relax* *Relax* *RELAX*!! I have enjoyed watching a lot of your videos over the last 3 months of learning to play. You are a great teacher and sax player. Again Thank You Jay!!

[@kat7836]

Relax!

[@I_M_Nonno]

One more suggestion - Keep your fingers on the keys instead of lifting them up in the air as you are doing in the video. It's a hard habit to break and will ultimately hold you back. Good Luck!

[@rameshrao3792]

Relax, don't do it When you want to go to it...... ;)

[@wrgann]

No butterflies!

[@googlyeyedfrog]

Best teacher ever. Much respect

[@miketorredeoro1383]

Very helpful advice. Many thanks Jay.

[@jacquesdeghorain3162]

très clair , très réfléchi , très bien expliqué . vous êtes the wright man in the wright place , Jay ! Aucun doute là-dessus !

[@10morrissette]

Relax and slow down to play faster. AMEN! Sax instructor or life coach? Good advice either way.

[@bettersax]

Most of this stuff can also be applied to other disciplines... life.

[@2th31]

Great tips. Very helpful. Thank you for all you do for the sax learning community.

[@MegaMitchM]

I'm watching your videos as I wait for my alto sax delivery. I also play guitar. While watching many of your videos I have paused and picked up one of my guitars to try your recommendations, (I can't get the right embouchure on my Telecaster!) Your Better Sax channel has made me a better guitarist! Looking forward to receiving my sax and officially starting on your courses.

[@doaLeon]

These feedbacks are worth gold!

[@AlexisHernandez-ys9yn]

This channel has a lot of worth! ... Thousand of thanks for your recommendations!

[@T.H.W.O.T.H]

Great advice, as always. 👍 What I love about this Jay is that you're so keen to emphasise the positive. My teachers always seemed more concerned with pointing out everything you got wrong and rarely acknowledged anything you might be getting right. 🎷

[@bettersax]

Yeah, I've had teachers like that too. It's no secret that showing students what they are doing right along with what they are doing wrong gets much better results.

[@KadrianThomas]

Great video Jay. I’ve purchased from you before and my music improves tremendously. Thank you.

[@bettersax]

Great to hear.

[@proudmusiciansofnabua1103]

Thanks for your great teaching master.

[@elnauta9525]

Thank you, man. I will start performing my lessons as you said, so for no to much progress but now I have a goal!!!

[@WoodenClockwerk]

That last tip is really useful to keep in mind for all wind instruments (including the other tips). I play bassoon, but keep in mind these tips too

[@sas-lt4qv]

Great stuff! - thanks Jay

[@sas-lt4qv]

Hi Jay - do you critique clarinet performances and are your courses applicable to jazz clarinettists (your videos certainly are!) Thanks again for the great KZbin videos Susan

[@barnabas5106]

Im a trumpet player. Just wanna say you are very watchable . Good player and good teacher . God bless you

[@noelbeltran2651]

Great advice!! I needed to see this video therefore I can relax my body posture!!! I appreciate you for all the knowledge you have shared with us.

[@mhyulparisi2152]

Once again what Mr. Jay said was very useful. I have joined the basic material bettersax course and for me personally is very helpful for me. With all due respect, thank you for sharing your knowledge.

[@nhr27]

Thanks for the critique!

[@bettersax]

thanks for submitting your video Nate.

[@HeathWatts]

Very good video!

[@raseshgandhi6702]

Thank you so much

[@ryanbarrows8255]

Had the same problem with pain in my left hand when playing on my mark 7 alto. I also had the same cause which is the downward bent left hand which puts strain onto the muscles on the bottom side of the hand and can eventually lead to carpel tunnel. I fixed it by curving my fingers more to play with more of my fingertips instead of the pad of my fingers and by slightly rolling the bottom of my hand up to be more in line with my arm. Also having palm key risers to accommodate bigger hands help tremendously and are a must if you fit in that category. Love the videos, keep it up

[@bettersax]

Thanks for the input. With these things since we are all built differently there is no one size fits all. The important thing is for each individual to find a way to play with no pain or tension, as you have, to avoid injury and problems down the road.

[@brucehussar2600]

Another good lesson Jay. Covering good basic material everyone should keep practicing. Good to see you in the last piece with your headphones off one of your ears. I started doing this so I can better hear what I’m playing while following music. Looking forward to your next course coming out.

[@elliotlytesax1477]

Jay you are the coolest, knowledgeable,thorough cat teaching on the ‘Tube!

[@gosneygosney]

Great stuff Jay.

[@bettersax]

Thanks

[@debzfiedler6100]

"...playing solos that sound more like what you hear in your head, and less like you're just searching for the right notes to play..." Oh, golly! That's exactly it!

[@bernardussamuel8445]

Thank you for the Advice! Finally I can fix my body posture and apply new relaxed position for my sax plays

[@Butterking99]

I’m a huge James Taylor fan haha always loved that solo!!!!!!

[@Alexo1954]

I couldn't agree more with the idea of practising slowly. One teacher on youtube somewhere (so long ago, I don't recall the name) said that if you make a mistake, you should play the phrase slower, and repeat it ten times. If you still make a mistake, play it even more slowly, and again repeat it ten times. Keep doing this until you are at a speed without errors, and only then should you play it faster. Keep using this technique until you are able to play the phrase at the speed you first wanted. It works, as if by magic.

[@alanhirayama4592]

Whenever I see videos of Phil Woods, he has a very relaxed posture that works for him, and his technique is so efficient, I see very little extra movement from his fingers. I think he reflects very well your comments about removing tension from your playing. Thank you very much!

[@bettersax]

All the best players on any instrument are unbelievably relaxed. Very important for avoiding pain down the road as well.

[@shankarmanbajracharya2700]

Thank U sir U r a great guroo . Namaste from Nepal.🇳🇵

[@bettersax]

Namaste.

[@landismaitland-whitelaw5040]

great video... you never get to see yourself play so having another set of eyes is awesome.

[@windsofmarchjourneyperrytr2823]

Should be recording very frequently. :) cell phone.

[@nobodyofconsequence9930]

Good stuff Jay. Hopefully I have a helpful comment on the saxholder strap. When I first tried it, it seemed very cumbersome. By the second session I wasn't aware of it even being there. I play with the horn by my side and at first the saxholder seemed like it was fighting that position, but by the second session I just moved the verticle bar a little off center to the side I held the sax. It did put a little more pressure on the left shoulder but felt completely natural and comfortable. It really does eliminate my neck pain. Hope this helps someone

[@robstevens9590]

Thanks Jay! Good tips: relax the shoulders, breathing properly …

[@Gnomes_]

I use a holder when playing tenor, and I've found that one I got it fitting really nicely I could still play to the side with no trouble.

[@1967stp]

This guy is good. Really good. Big new fan!

[@rezzab]

Just for the sake of interest I have been playing clarinet since I was 18, I’m now 78, seriously since 1980, jazz of course, in the last month I bought a tenor sax, never played sax before, loving it and I’m getting positive comments from musicians and audience, ligatures, I went through the ligature minefield and bought several expensive ones, I have a box with them all in it, I don’t use any of them, a couple of years ago I tried an old traditional metal one I had, it sounded OK and it looks good, all my clarinet heroes never used modern ligatures and they have a great sound and tone.

[@ImproveDaily187]

I just love this man. From Ghana🇬🇭

[@oliwitts]

Sup dude! I am 11 and play sax and you really help me with it, more than me teacher. Cheers!

[@bettersax]

Sup.

[@jjy135]

@@bettersax Sup.

[@joelpierson2628]

The "practicing mistakes" idea is so true.

[@bettersax]

we've all done it.

[@MexSax]

Great tips ! Really helpful and you spot the main improvement options instantly, great stuff !

[@gpedals1]

Great tips, Jay. One practice approach that has helped me is to focus on keeping my fingertips on the pearls or at least close to the pearls when I lift up my fingers. It can be hard to do and still be relaxed, but with practice over time, it becomes second nature. It's a good way to improve your overall technique.

[@bobnicholls]

I am loving your instructional videos. They are easy to follow and are confidence boosting. Can you clarify, is articulation when you use the tongue to touch the reed and seperate the notes, but I shouldn't be doing that during pentatonic scales etc, is that right?

[@bettersax]

Yes articulation is done with the tongue. You can practice with or without it depending. I usually have students practice without at first though.

[@nocopyrightaudiomusiclibra7802]

nice, this is great keep sharing great video good job Tq

[@petritaanila3476]

These practising tips are awesome and very important. Thank you for those! Also a little hint from me for everyone from my early guitar scale practising time 20 years ago: As you play scales, continue upwards and listen. Then break the scale into parts that sound good. You dont have to play the whole scale note by note in an order. You can stop at some point and play three or four notes and play different rhytms and melodies with them. And use metronome so you eill figure out when you loss track of tempo. Then try again correctly. Go up and down and stay put for a while. Then leap somewhere and enjoy there for a moment. Play a long tone and then continue with a soft melody. You see where I am going. Because also when improvising on a piece of music or creating melodies at home, you dont want to end up to sound like running up and down a particular scale.

[@keithcampbell6806]

Good evening Jay l am from Guyana South America l would like to know which you think would be better as a backup alto the Zen Cooper pro horn or the Wilmington

[@animationatione]

Thank you for making this possible

[@rafaelreina6364]

I need to buy a Sax. after listening to you I need to see if I can play a Sax. Thanks...

[@jjy135]

Do you have any recommendations for my first soprano sax?

[@georgemonroe9683]

I also have a tendency to be tense when I play and I also think I am squeezing down on the reed. I find that the more familiar I am with the tune the more relaxed I play.

[@bettersax]

Preparation is key to being able to relax.

[@jacquesdeghorain3162]

la tension , consciemment ou non , vient de la peur de faire la moindre erreur alors qu'on n'a pas cette crainte en jouant une mélodie qu'on connait depuis longtemps et donc , que ton instrument connait aussi........Mais n'oublions pas que c'est cette angoisse-là qui pousse à faire ces erreurs !!!

[@saxman7131]

Where is the submission link? Thank you

[@coffinman5007]

I remember in college a very professional player arguing with me because I complained my Mk6 had a huge height difference from the pressed low Db to the Bb making that move impossible, he said there was no reason to ever do that move (the B key was a bit lower so it was ok). Nowdays I know that Brecker built up his low Bb key to combat that, and you find that move in "In the presence and absence of each other pt. 1".

[@johnkim_sax]

Great videos Jay. I've watched dozen of your videos now and I'm liking all the tips you have for people. Thank you. I bought my student Yamaha sax just about a year ago and have been playing ever since. I don't know how to read notes and haven't taken any lessons yet. I just bought a Yamaha intermediate tenor sax to start playing less than a month ago. I want to know how I can send you a video for you to critique on my playing style? Thank you.

[@310majeed]

Nice Vid's I have a question just started playing sax and the first song I want to learn is My Lady By the Crusaders,,,,,is there a finger chart for this song? A lot of Pro Sax players I write for always say when I sing my phrasing is crazy,so I said let me learn how to transpose that to Saxby learning.I get up on my studio and watch your vid's like your my private teacher.

[@GerryLSmith]

For the guy with wrist pain: You have a sharp angle at the wrist, bending the hand down relative to the forearm. This is likely to be inflaming the ulnar nerve which runs through the pinky side of the wrist (similar to carpal tunnel but different nerve), especially if you get any tingling or numbness in your 4th and 5th fingers. You need to get the wrist straighter but as Jay says it must also be relaxed. Doing stretches and wrist curls with a dumb bell before and after playing will help a lot too. If you are ok for 20 mins then it sounds like you are catching this early, but you definitely need to jump on it quickly before you get serious RSI (repetitive strain injury). Also check out Matt Otto's videos and webpage about RSI. If it gets worse / you get tingling / it doesn't go away, get professional help - eg a good osteopath with experience of musicians and who works on hands (some don't). I battled with RSI like this for 6 months, but it's ok now. I still do stretching and exercises before I play to get my hands and wrists warmed up, and I'm careful about my wrist positions.

[@SeanImboden]

Gerry Smith good advice!

[@bettersax]

Thanks for adding this. I've been lucky not getting pain from playing long sessions. The key has always been identifying tension in my body and eliminating it early on.I know many musicians who have struggled with pain issues, and the horror stories have perhaps scared me into being very careful about my posture and staying relaxed.

[@GerryLSmith]

I know people who ignored the early signs and ended up needing surgery, so I always tell people to sort it out right away and start doing stretches and exercises. After all we wouldn't think twice about doing that before a run so why not before expecting our hands to do scales and arpeggios and reach for Bb.. I feel lucky I didn't have nearly as much trouble as some people. I think if you have longs arms like me it's more of a problem to avoid bending the wrists too much.

[@mikejarmoluk3523]

Like your videos ,lots of good info .I have a question for you though ,while practicing in the higher register my left thumb gets sore using octave key ,am I pressing too hard or ?suggestions please Mike J edmonton ab

[@abuzman123]

Actually I use a SaxHolder when I play my Bari and it hangs to the right side. However you cannot adjust the bendable shoulder pieces (called handles in the instructions) symmetrically. I have a little more hook in the left shoulder piece. Otherwise the sax will pull the left shoulder piece into my neck and the right too far out on my right shoulder. It works great but some experimentation is needed.

[@karenholzhauer-petterson1587]

Really great tips! I am a professional vocalist, but i started out on the saxophone at the age of 8. During my education as a vocalist i've had to stop playing at some point because the breathing technique I learned on the sax contradicted my vocal breathing technique (breath was too high). After a few years, i could pick up playing the sax again. I have always played alto and tenor, but recently decided to pick up playing soprano sax. I have found this change much more challenging than i would have thought. Picking up the tenor was a breeze. Do you have any tips on switching between the different saxes? Or could you do a video on it? I'd be much obliged.

[@marselmusic]

yep. my teacher told me to play really slow, even if its really slow, so you don't practice making mistakes!

[@justindenney701]

Do a video on saxophone cases

[@Andrew-ul5yw]

YES YES YES!

[@oliwitts]

JUSTIN DENNEY I agree

[@bettersax]

Okay, I'm working on it.

[@justindenney701]

@@bettersax thanks for responding your favorite saxophone player and teacher

[@dextermorrisjr]

Hello jay, great informative vid. Could you do a vid on correct technique for jazz tonging ( doodle) (parker) also ghost note techniques. Thanks for all you do.

[@MrBobbybrown7]

I play alto. I can reach all the notes from low B flat to altissimo B flat pretty consistently. (I can actually get to low A-- just play the low B flat and put the opening of the bell into your knee; not practical but you can win a few bets that way, thank you Mr. Eby!) I have a difficult time with playing consecutive low B flat notes and bouncing between low B flat and middle C without splitting the low B flat. Not sure what I'm doing wrong.

[@DynamixWarePro]

Relaxing and slowing down and relaxing is great advice. You can't play fast until you know how to play well slowly and then start to try playing a little faster. I have a Yamaha YAS-280 alto saxophone and I have have a little trouble with some octave key notes (second octave), especially when trying to play the octave key+A as I sometimes get a kind of slight gurgly wet sound, and my only guess is that it sounds like there is moisture in the body octave vent hole and can't seem to play octave key+A without the slight gurgle sound. Could you make a video on how to play octave key notes, smoothly?

[@i_am_the_phenomenal1]

Thank you for this video sir. Sir please I want to ask, what could be the problem if the low keys of your sax are giving off weird sounds or no sounds at all

[@bettersax]

Leaks. See a technician

[@ginomauro8204]

Question : Can you use the furry sticks but also swabbing your sax I got a furry stick then saw your videos but then lost my original plug

[@rn5193]

Hi Jay, If I use the tuner, I see that I have to compensate the frequenz to have the good value for each note. Of course I tried to compensate with the air column, with the mouth, the posture but I have often a deviation of more than 20%. The pads of my tenor sax are OK. I tried with a lamp inside it and no light is visible outside when the pads are closed, then no leakage. How do you compensate if the tuner say a significant negative deviation? And for a significant positive deviation? Perhaps a video showing you and the tuner during compensation. Probably you compensate now without playing attention, but at the beginning by playing sax, how do you proceed? Thank a lot Robert

[@bettersax]

Push the mouthpiece in when you ar flat and pull it out if you are sharp. Find the right placement.

[@rn5193]

@@bettersax When I'm playing, I cannot permently push and pull the mouthpiece during a piece of music.

[@windsofmarchjourneyperrytr2823]

Curious: is technique for sax breathing similar to voice? I figure if i can sing it, i should be able to play it. Most of my interest is in the 8 bar solos in rock and classic rock, namely 80's stuff. And the occasional blues, as they're similar.

[@P.Saxophonist]

Hello Jay! How do you increase your mastery to a faster rhythm for the same piece? Say I can do a piece at 120 bpm, how do I eventually improve it to 170bpm?

[@ChrisDragotta]

It could also be (left pinky, low Bb), that there is fatigue and pain because the spring tension is too strong. Relax the spring tension. This will involve several springs, including the G#.

[@HonestSaxSound-unEdited-]

Gteat video as usual!!

[@MrBoybergs]

Excellent tutorial. However, I do think that the gentleman who was second player would benefit greatly by having the mouthpiece further in his mouth. I have a hunch that he may also be studying, or has previously studied clarinet as his embouchure is pretty spot on for a clarinet.

[@bettersax]

Yes absolutely. I actually said originally that but it got edited out.

[@prpldude1]

@@bettersax @Boy Bergs This is first time playing any instrument and at the time had only been playing just over a month. I could play better (get more sound out) with the mouthpiece in that position. I will get a softer reed and take both the not biting and mouthpiece further in my mouth. Thanks!!

[@gpedals1]

Agree with the other comments. I think the second player could benefit alot from your embouchure video and working on long tones to improve the tone.

[@stlmusic]

Minor thing for the third guy. Looks like he is lifting his left thumb and moving it up to the octave key, back and forth instead of rocking the thumb in place. Just something that should be mentioned that will help down the line. Great video.

[@matthewalvarez3799]

My instructor literally gave me the same message at my last lesson because I tend to rush lol. Guess it must work lol.

[@perioax6506]

I definitely get wrist pain after an hour on my bari but when I play alto my wrist doesn’t hurt much

[@РифхатТуктаров]

Не lol, pal How can I understand that the reed is outdated, and time to throw it out?

[@lohndavis3794]

I missed something there because of the ad cut in !!!

[@manikantakt7580]

How to buy yamaha alto saxaphone made in japan I am from India Please help me out to get the best instrument

[@stangetz534]

Hi ! thanks for the videos. I really enjoy them. I've been studying a lot on my own for 3 1/2 years. I find myself wondering why I haven't heard you speak much about having a good reed and finding a mouthpiece and reed that work well together. But especially just finding a good reed. That was huge realization to me that all reeds are not the same. I know it sounds dumb but as a beginner I had no idea. A pro friend made a funny video going through a box of new reeds and showing how bad they all played except for maybe one reed. That might be the exception but I know there must be other beginers out there like I was and didn't know how important a good reed is. I was thinking today what is more important a good reed or overtones. LOL. Just kidding but do you get it?

[@stangetz534]

And as I write this I see you have a "bad reed" video in my next up.. . my bad.

[@bettersax]

I've got some more reed videos planned...

[@davidcox8961]

I think it was James Moody who said the only thing better than practicing slow is to practice slower.

[@bettersax]

That is golden.

[@harveymushman2219]

For those new to this like me here is James Moody I like the way he has fun with it all... only thing that could be better for me is if it was in a small dimly lit pub somewhere off the main road and I was there with a rum drink in hand...www.pbs.org/video/james-moody-xkinmg/

[@marselmusic]

paul gonsalves

[@larry.k]

Also, Mark, LONG TONES, LONG TONES, LONG TONES.

[@prpldude1]

Thank's for the advice Larry. After 3 months of playing I'm just now practicing long tones. Makes a huge difference both for finger placement and tone.

[@guglnalog473]

I play saxophone,i am 13,i like you

[@perhaps5095]

No homo tho right?

[@guglnalog473]

@@perhaps5095 I don't understand

[@carolbuxton2160]

There are no wrong notes.....only non chordal passing tones ! ( ha, ha )

[@akmar1984]

Just telling someone to relax will not make him relaxed. The whole tension in the 2nd player comes from him not breathing from diaphragm. Same for biting. All his problems come from incorrect breathing. Now player no 1 pain in the pin key finger comes from tensing his fingers. He basically presses too hard the keys. Again if there is not enough support from the diaphragm then the fingers will always be tensed. Im a fun of this channel but the advice in this video is a little bit misleading and just vague.

[@TheDominationNetwork]

Dude I feel like a Dick for saying this but I am OCD your shirt is covered in white flecks and other things. Yeah I suck but a lint brush works great

[@alexandergrandbell3111]

I'm better-er sax