What strength of reed should YOU play?

How do you know what strength of reed to play? What does it change? The answer is different for everyone, but here are some tips to help you find the reed strength that will work best for you!

[@licriss]

For me its environment too, like if I'm practicing at home I want a soft one so I can stay quiet easily but a medium to really project

[@bobgreen1236]

Cracked me up when your eyes bugged out a bit with the hard reed.....you sound killer BTW!

[@schmittmusicsaxophoneshop4451]

Haha, yeah, that was no joke. :) Also, thanks a lot!

[@PaulThomas2]

Nice explanation. Lots of common sense - thanks Dave.

[@schmittmusicsaxophoneshop4451]

Thanks Paul!

[@Abby-zi4xi]

Glad I saw your video to confirm what I've been feeling. With few in person teachers, it's tough to know exactly what to do on your own. I'm a typical adult new player of tenor with a Yamaha 4C. Started with 2.0 strength and have really liked it. After about 10 months I'm thinking I should be able to use 2.5 but every time I tried it felt too hard and I got tired quickly. I finally decided to force myself to "get used to it" and it only took about 2 or 3 days and it was feeling much better and my sound is a bit better. You described it really well about the soft reed limiting your ability to blow very hard and being too thin or bright. Thank you. I'm about to switch the mpc to maybe a HR C* or maybe a 5* so I might be going back to the 2.0 for a while. We'll see.

[@neiloliver5317]

Have you tried a plastic coated 3in? I use to play one of those years ago on my alto but haven’t played in years

[@bradfordpalmer2298]

Really helped me, thx

[@schmittmusicsaxophoneshop4451]

Thank you, glad it helped!

[@bobblues1158]

Well explained Dave!

[@schmittmusicsaxophoneshop4451]

Thanks Bob!

[@Oi-mj6dv]

2 is waaaaaaay too soft for me, 2.5 starts to feel soft too. Maybe 3?

[@windsurfer3329]

You know this is a great video, but it is still the tip of the iceberg. What would be interesting to see is to try three different mouthpieces from the same company with large, medium and small chambers (like Rico) at 5 or 7 opening, and three different thicknesses from the same brand (like Rigotti) at 2, 2.5 and 3 in medium strength. Try all combos to see which mouthpiece matches with with which reed. Because all it comes down to is experimentation and preference.

[@schmittmusicsaxophoneshop4451]

Absolutely! This is pretty base level, but you could definitely go deep down a rabbit hole of experimentation with all the factors you mention. I have, to a degree, just not on video. :)

[@johnnypocketcheese5569]

Missed you man keep it up, and maybe post on your main channel :).

[@schmittmusicsaxophoneshop4451]

Thanks Johnny! If I ever get the time, I really should. :)

[@simplekaty]

the video is de-synced from the audio making it hard to watch, but thank you for the info!

[@OahuReviews]

probably your wifi or something 😅 mine is fine

[@ExoPhaz]

I started on a 3.0

[@mrbarlowce]

Does not being able to push your mouthpiece in far enough affect your sound and how does using a clarinet reed on a soprano sax work. I can't get that sound I am searching for on my soprano yet.

[@josenothing]

I think the further in the higher pitch idk about the second question

[@mrbarlowce]

@@josenothing Thank you for your response. I have put my soprano away and have been thinking of not picking it up again.

[@Sephirothmmd]

I'm an ex Turkish clarinet player and I just started to play the saxophone. I'm used to reeds which are even softer than 1 and I can produce a stuffy sound with it. I bought a legere 2.25 reed and even that feels too strong for me. I'm gonna try the vandoren zz 1.5 now. Any suggestions?

[@ChrisF_1982]

Vandoren is a bit harder than other reeds in my experience. I've had some from Vandoren that were way too hard for my tip opening, as well as too soft. So, maybe something that is made from Rigotti cane or single origin cane could give you better consistency, and a better idea of where you actually are on reed strength.

[@danandyvonneandreasen804]

how about the synthetics ?

[@markandoyo2204]

Questions; Is the Hard reeds can make the key allocated with higher notes at ease?

[@elrincondeindi]

What neck strap do you use?

[@schmittmusicsaxophoneshop4451]

This is a Lake City neck strap, our house brand. They're comfortable, and pretty inexpensive. shop.schmittmusic.com/lake-city-saxophone-neck-strap/

[@inflatedear7131]

Good advice and a nice sound. What mouthpiece are you playing on? Thanks!

[@jacksonlucas8077]

Does this apply to oboe reeds aswell?

[@turnpikefoolio3302]

Black people use a 3