How do I improve my sax sound? Use this weird tip.

If it's good enough for Sonny Rollins then it's good enough for me.
Gear (but does it really matter?):
Reeds - amzn.to/2byJByQ
Ligature - amzn.to/2b1uYll
Mouthpiece - bit.ly/2acqB6Z
Saxophone - Selmer Mark VI SN: 111XXX - bit.ly/29W1Srz
EWI - amzn.to/2b1EKXj
Midi Controller - amzn.to/2bdjNtd
Hair (the most important gear of all): Bb Texture by Bumble and Bumble - amzn.to/2byJROm
To book Skype lessons, please email me at [e-mail].
Instagram: @JeffSchneiderMusic
Snapchat/Facebook/Twiiter: @JSchneidsMusic
www.JeffSchneiderMusic.com

[@benedictnothing]

Nice! I'll try this when it's not 3 o'clock in the morning.

[@JeffSchneiderMusic]

+Benedict Nothing haha for real!

[@Oz521]

I swear it's 3:37am where I live and I've never been so shook. Hope your Sax playing has gotten better as I've just started. Lol

[@windsofmarchjourneyperrytr2823]

I'm a drummer. We dgaf, lol jk

[@coolboyclick7486]

It’s so ironic I’m watching this video at 3:48 am lol 🙏🏿😂😂😂

[@TheMasterpieceArtist]

@@windsofmarchjourneyperrytr2823 dude how the fuck does anyone practice drums and saxophones that shit is way too loud to play for a long a time. when i started playing guitar i couldnt even play acoustic so i had to buy an electric

[@christopherpreciado7578]

"Mine has happy faces on it. It's not necessary. But, it never hurts."

[@JeffSchneiderMusic]

+Christopher Preciado #truth

[@lottietheunicornflautist959]

😂

[@naytefors1047]

That line pissed me off. I dont like time wasting when trying to learn

[@user-ty8me4hm1w]

Music teachers hate him! Find out how to improve your sound with this one simple trick!

[@JeffSchneiderMusic]

hahahaa

[@patrickflores5722]

everything in a nutshell haha

[@bernabedominguez7255]

Jeff Schneider everytime I play certain notes I sound spitty and also when I play soft

[@shouldawent2elliot]

Some porn add stuff😂

[@ishaanbuddharaju7436]

Nova dreadful this means there is salvia In your mouth or, more likely, there is saliva built up in your instrument

[@davidolahmusic]

You really changed my saxophone life with this exercise :) First i started to practise it with the pen - kind of rumbling your system, ha? O:) :D But later I started to use the octave key. I saw this exercise on youtube sometime ago but there was not that pencil. They just said to play the lower octave note with the octave key pressed so I wanted to play it but I just can not. So therefore I am so thankful to you of that pencil trick. It is really psychological and muscle memory thing - when we hold the octave key we are prehearing that high note so it is hard to play it without the octave key at first time. This is so benefical for embouchure, breathing and overall sound. I just love it the most. I think this and mouthpiece buzzying are the best sound exercises for saxophone. These two things really open the sound so well. I can not stresse enough how you helped me with it and how great it is. I also recommend to pracitse it daily for 5 minutes and you will hear a huge sound progress :)

[@JeffSchneiderMusic]

Thanks for your comment, David. I'm so glad to hear this exercise was helpful to you! Best of luck with your music!

[@Jorvaskrr]

I think this exercise really helps you find the answer to how much mouthpiece you should take in.After doing this for about a week,I had to push my mouthpiece in more because I was too flat.Now,there's only about 5-10% visible of the cork on the neck.I feel like it gave me a big sound and helped me control everything a little bit better.

[@BryanAsael]

name one of your videos "How to improve your sax life"

[@marselmusic]

_"If you feel you are going to pass out, then_ *s i t d o w n*_"_

[@SamChaneyProductions]

This is so cool, I've practiced getting high notes with the octave key closed but never getting low notes with it open, seems like it will greatly improve my breath support and tone!

[@andrejbingas9103]

I recommend holding the octave key as well, because when you get to lower tones different hole opens for the 2nd octave after G and it is harder to get the lower tone with octave key than with just a pencil. Awesome tip anyways in 2019 still works :D.

[@EliasB528]

This trick works. I can hear it actively changing my sound when I practice. If you want to try this trick in expert mode, try doing a 3rds or 4ths scale pattern with the pencil.

[@JeffSchneiderMusic]

Abnel, it's a real exercise. According to Ralph Lalama, Sonny Rollins did indeed practice this.

[@serseriherif9530]

Jeff Schneider i've been practising this for a couple of months (i've gotten down to the low d!) and I'm getting increasingly cleaner notes with the pencil and afterwards all of the practised notes are super easy to play + sound fantastic. This excercice has been a game changer for me so thanks alot :)

[@FriaGram]

Interesting, is this more effective than practicing overtones?

[@ianthebubbian6182]

Thought you said "Ralph the Llama"

[@marselmusic]

Lol 😂😆👍🏾👍🏽👍🏾👍🏽👍🏾

[@justinward3687]

Thanks Jeff, that's a practical, useful and simply understood tip that really helps. Well done.

[@JeffSchneiderMusic]

+Justin Ward Thanks, Justin. Glad you like!

[@Waldvogel45]

I haven't tried it ..but could you say what this does for the sound , i.e it opens the player's resonant cavity , or it reduces pressure on the reed , or allows more reed to vibrate , frees up the sub tones etc etc. I've been a would- be saxophonist for 5 decades and thanks to guys like you it's beginning to make sense. That's makes me a "late life crisis" fan of yours.

[@hansbrackhaus8017]

It's for Throat/Larynx voicing training. The low notes and the high notes are the hardest on the sax, mostly because of the throat, which cannot be easily moved 'consciously' so many teachers don't even want you thinking about your throat, but your tongue instead, but the throat is the first step in the sound making process on the sax. This exercise 'forces' you to work as hard as possible to get those low notes, it's probably the hardest exercise you can do for low tones, especially if you also keep the octave key pushed down. If you do that, then it will be unlikely that you reliably go down past G. But that's not the point anyway, the point is to play the saxophone normally, without such 'challenge modes', and even if you cannot go past some note on this exercise, it's usually still enough to hit the low notes normally after doing this exercise regularily.

[@cerimccoy]

An oldie but a Goldie!

[@StreangestdreaM]

You have a great sense of humor and your videos are amazingly simple and useful. Thanks a lot!!!

[@JeffSchneiderMusic]

+StreangestdreaM Thanks so much. I really appreciate it!

[@onesyphorus]

i remember watching this video when i was 13 and just starting, and it still cracks me up - it helped me so much haha

[@robertdevries1049]

This technique helps a lot when my tone gets too closed. Can't believe I didn't hear about this method earlier...thx

[@JeffSchneiderMusic]

+Robert DeVries Glad it's working for you, Robert!

[@HenrySaxVeras]

This exercise is helping me day by day thanks a lot

[@JeffSchneiderMusic]

So glad to hear that, Henry. Thanks for watching!

[@alexej737]

Thank you Jeff. Amazing !!!! It changed my sound at the first time. One step above ! Keep posting. Clear and understandable, even for frenchmen

[@JeffSchneiderMusic]

+Alexej Glad it's working for you! Thanks!

[@madyak]

Spectacular exercise! It made a significant change in my beginnings of playing. Big thanks! I would recommend it to my mother if she would play sax.

[@JeffSchneiderMusic]

Glad to hear this helped!

[@benjijosh2018]

Thank you sir for this, tried it yesterday and the effect is showing already 🙏🙏.. came back here to thank you 🙌🏼🙌🏼🙏

[@JeffSchneiderMusic]

Glad to hear it!

[@jlstudios7385]

At first glance I thought he was Brendon Urie also this video took my tone from suck to actually half decent so the improvement is massive

[@GRDwashere]

"The one secret trick to improving your sound that professional teachers don't want you to know. Quick! watch and share before they have this video taken down!"

[@annabelle6964]

This tip works, and on top of that you're hilarious. 😂👏🏼

[@JeffSchneiderMusic]

hahah glad to hear it, and thanks!

[@anikaribanani]

...Then sit down..

[@Mund_aey]

Real

[@gabrielnekrutman7680]

Great tip. Yeah my teacher Jeff Lange was gonna get me to get lessons from Ralph because he plays with both Lalama's, Dave and Ralph. But since I'm going to college now, I'll have to wait to take lessons from the great Llama!

[@kosejumpscare]

amazing

[@sam3730]

Thanks so much! Notice the difference already

[@JeffSchneiderMusic]

+Samuel Rechner So happy to hear that, Samuel. Thanks for watching!

[@Kaoov]

dude, that actually works! thanks!

[@WillHsuMusic]

Interesting. I’ll try this out! I’m trying to develop sax skills but primarily am a contrabass flutist so hopefully that’s developed enough lung capacity to not pass out! 😂

[@streetgeezer]

Thank you so much for all your videos! You're great!

[@JeffSchneiderMusic]

+Carl Waerner Thank you so much, Carl.

[@truthfullytiggy5860]

You make it look so easy

[@jeromejagroop5516]

Thank you for this! It helped me with some low notes!

[@CarlyWaarly]

Thanks for sharing Jeff!

[@JeffSchneiderMusic]

+CSMedia My pleasure. Thanks for watching!

[@samhoward1632]

I like your vibe, nice vid!

[@zubeirshaikhsaxophoneplaye3383]

Vary helpful.... And fantastic exercise...... Thanks sir

[@jayq196]

holy crap it worked so fast i sound great

[@JeffSchneiderMusic]

+jaylon davis Happy to hear it!

[@joeldowell5059]

That is a cool trick.

[@JeffSchneiderMusic]

+Dowell Boys Glad it's workin for ya!

[@davidheim2897]

Hey Jeff, looks like a pretty fun and innovative way to work on your sound, question: does this work for tenor as well? Any experience on that?

[@JeffSchneiderMusic]

It definitely works for tenor! Thanks for the comment, David.

[@JorgeOstos]

hhehhehe one of your first! You're the best mate

[@comprendoo]

Thank you❤️🎷

[@eatyourvegetables5930]

I cant do this with the pencil method but i play low notes perfectly when i manually hold the octave key

[@TheUSvTrump]

I'm really not sure that this will work without the smiley faces on the pencil.

[@bllonc]

1:17 to the end at 0.2 speed of the video is the most funny and terrifying thing I have ever watched while high

[@tsukishimakeisglasses4334]

OOF

[@marselmusic]

if you guys are wondering, _'Hey!? Can't I just play the same thing with my left thumb pressing the octave key?'_ bu its a smoother transition even after the g when u use a pencil because the other octave key opens up

[@claragary]

Thanks man!!!

[@Hello-et5mg]

Hey thanks alot! this really helped 👍

[@JeffSchneiderMusic]

Happy to hear that!

[@PabloVestory]

The easiest trick is that one one never thinks by himself, like this pencil, thank you very much for the insight!

[@isaiahd9947]

Lol when I first got my cheap alto the octave pin had a layer of rubber/plastic that made the octave key go up like in this video so I was so confused like I thought I was just that bad at alto. Took about a month to figure out.

[@renzosax]

also it is good the other way, playing the low A and trying to sound the high A

[@JeffSchneiderMusic]

+renzo pividori Hi Renzo, yes, that is a useful exercise, as well. It is similar to practicing overtones. See if you play all the way up the horn without using the octave key.

[@alireza.habibi]

very useful Thank you

[@JeffSchneiderMusic]

+Alireza Habibi Glad it's helpful, Alireza. Thanks for the comment!

[@Craig2760]

Play long tones, master the overtones from low Bb to F then listen to Sonny Rollins, Dexter Gordon and Stanley Turrentine on tenor. Cannonball Adderley and Phil Woods on alto.

[@phong123456ful]

thanks a lot for your tip!!! it's great....

[@JeffSchneiderMusic]

+Pham Phong Happy to help!

[@desertmoon610]

WUT WUT WUTTTTTTT OMG THIS works like magic!!!!! Like omg this improved my sound a lot!!!!!!!!!! 😱😱😱😱😱😄 tysm!!!!!!

[@Keegalz]

Lol I’ve been doing this without realizing it was something to actually practice XD

[@leviweeks2452]

playing bari for a year helped the same way

[@Logan-qi4nx]

this is great. Really helps me remember where my teeth SHOULD be as my teacher tells me

[@bridgeensemble2024]

Than you a lot

[@kevindeibert3369]

Wow ! That was a pretty cool opening lick ! What was that ?

[@archungus]

I've tried this glich and I thought it was pached with the 1.14 update but fortunately the problem was I wasn't using the happy face pencil if your going to use this glich use a happy face pencil and quickly save and quit and load back again!

[@vasilijeglusica7472]

lol

[@michelleholt8769]

babe. sorry. I'm here to learn about saxophones

[@JeffSchneiderMusic]

+Michelle Holt ;)

[@00DirectorsCut00]

I will take around 20 yrs to do the few seconds videos intro of this guy 😞

[@coldstub]

But how does this improve your sound?

[@isaiahd9947]

I think it teaches you to open your throat more

[@RikardPeterson]

It's about getting control of what you're doing. A similar exercise is to do the opposite: Play the upper octave without using your thumb.

[@teretere9038]

@@isaiahd9947 speak in a low voice five times a day

[@survivnisha4874]

nice mark 6

[@jasperjames8803]

Pretty cool way of going about it but this exercise is just overtone stuff. If you want to get a better and more powerful sound find out about overtones and practice them

[@FranciscoAnes]

i tried it and it works... What i dont understand is exactly how does it translate to everyday playing.

[@eugeniaavilava584]

Is this trick equivalent to mouthpiece exercise?

[@dwayneroccufort6871]

Its interesting..would lyk to try hehe

[@TheMichguff]

Saying " low A " is a misnomer. An alto will only play as low as Bb. There is nothing wrong with a good exercise though.

[@pepijnbresters460]

Is it good to do it the other way around aswell?

[@mcaprisun]

Anyone help? I play tenor sax and I have been playing since last year, I was never able to play below E but then whenever I moved up a reed size last year I still can’t go below Middle G, unless I slur but it still squeaks a little. Is the problem me or the instrument, How do I fix this?

[@dudedudingson338]

what mouthpeice do you have on your sax?

[@mcaprisun]

Dude Dudingson i’m not sure. My saxophone is a Mendini Cecilio Tenor Sax and it came with the mouthpiece :’)

[@dudedudingson338]

the mouthpeice that came with the ceceilios are really inconsistent. what size reed do you play on?

[@mcaprisun]

Dude Dudingson i play on size 3 vandoren reeds- i got my saxophone checked by a mechanic and he said it’s one of the cheapest worst ones you can get 😅😅

[@dudedudingson338]

yeah its not the best horn but you can still get a good sound on it. I suggest getting a good mouthpeice based on what you play sax for. are you in a middle or high school ensemble?

[@Eli-gn3km]

Bizarre, but intriguing

[@JeffSchneiderMusic]

The best exercises often are.

[@lil_snug8032]

cool tjx

[@chicofun4779]

nice!!

[@Johnwilkinsonofficial]

happy faces are key 😁🔑

[@Simpawknits]

With respect, you are very attractive. Okay. Back to being serious about sax.

[@herrvorragend8135]

he's so saxy

[@zackyb0i150]

lol puns

[@lottietheunicornflautist959]

Herr Vorragend 😂

[@thatmf5181]

This is hard af lol

[@mikester99]

I play a one peice soprano, hmm I'm afraid this might brerak something on it ! :O or?

[@CtpSirak]

The octave mechanism on a one piece soprano should be able to extend enough for this exercise. AFAIK there shouldn't be any issues or reasons for something to break. 1* AKAIF- as far as I know

[@JeffSchneiderMusic]

It doesn't have to be a pencil. Look forward a skinnier object if you feel like you're forcing that thing up too much. Good luck and be safe!

[@hellqvisten]

When I do this on my tenor, it's really easy to make that A sound "good". Could that be an indication to get a harder reed?

[@JeffSchneiderMusic]

Not necessarily. If you like the way you sound and the amount of resistance allowed by your current setup, I say stick with what's working. Thanks for you comment, Erik!

[@etsu]

I use 2 1/2 hardness reeds

[@hansbrackhaus8017]

No, it's an indication that you're doing things right, not that you're at some sort of limit.

[@mcaprisun]

also what does this exercise do?

[@zachattack4982]

Teaches you good form on lower notes so when you actually play them legit it will sound better.

[@EddieHaskelll]

...so kinda like "undertones" rather than overtones. It really does help. I am curious.. are we trying to get the notes in tune, or just get them to play and to heck with intonation?

[@JeffSchneiderMusic]

+Eddy Haskel Don't worry about intonation on this one. It's more about opening up your throat, mouth space, and sound.

[@EddieHaskelll]

***** Thanks, Jeff. Works better with my YAS 23 alto than on my old PanAm/Conn 64M for some reason. Even easier on the tenor. Great exercise... however, my wife requests that I never again try this when she is home.... heh.

[@4dasorthebeast398]

Nice

[@Laurenz_Heinrich]

why does it improve the sound?

[@MacedonianAlwaysGreek]

Nice, I like your sound too. What reed and mouthpiece do you use?

[@JeffSchneiderMusic]

+Macedonian Always Greek Thanks! I play on a Pillinger mouthpiece and Hemke reeds.

[@MacedonianAlwaysGreek]

***** Thank you, that's a good combination, really nice sound.

[@mcaprisun]

I tried this and it squeaks every note below middle A. What’s wrong with my sax or me?

[@ianthebubbian6182]

loosen your embouchure and use even more air

[@vasilijeglusica7472]

bite more of the mouthpiece

[@cristophernavarro1819]

Can someone explain to me in what way this exercise helps? Just so I can use it better.

[@teretere9038]

oh my playing saxophone needs to be fun >>>

[@malika2nice865]

MY SAX IS NOW BROKEN.....THX

[@samonsax1588]

Malika Pipkin 😂😂😂

[@Savinfaith]

cool trick

[@JeffSchneiderMusic]

+Savinfaith Yeah!

[@ericblachman232]

Kudos for the Ralph Lalama mention, this concept still begs elaboration.

[@lovelymusicnow4404]

What’s the fingering for a low A? I’m a concert pianist and a beginner sax player. I know the finger down to a low B

[@lyndseyb.5305]

Saxophone only goes down to a low Bb

[@lovelymusicnow4404]

Im on a alto sax@@lyndseyb.5305

[@gonzo2739]

How do I do this with a bari sax?

[@SwirlMedia]

I thought the same thing.

[@Your_Local_Pacifist]

Its not working, whenever i try the note I play is always a high A, what am I doing wrong? Why can't i play it?

[@lefuzz251]

you have to expand your throat cavity imagine you are trying to blow warm air into your saxophone as if you are trying to fog up a mirror

[@comhghallgeraghty3541]

Nice tone excercise but why cant I just hold the octive key down?

[@cascade2356]

i literally cannot do it

[@KarlBonner1982]

THE PENCIL EXERCISE (saxophone edition)!

[@aurematic]

You can tell how loud sax is when you cannot control the volume from voice to sax XD

[@JacobFreeb]

if i dont regularly clean my alto saxophone does that affect the sound

[@thelowlybard]

Yes

[@JeffSchneiderMusic]

You bet!

[@windsofmarchjourneyperrytr2823]

ew lol

[@johnnymcjohnnysteinstein4375]

my corks are so worn out this is how i always have to play lol

[@rddsknk89]

I understand what I'm supposed to do, but what does this do to my sound?

[@JazzFan76]

Doesn't work. The octive key is up so it doesn't work for me.

[@JeffSchneiderMusic]

Exactly. The octave key is supposed to be up. That’s why it’s hard. I recommend blowing more air than you think you’d need.