Why is my saxophone only playing low notes?

Low Notes are All About Your Air First off, your sax needs to be in good working order. This means that all the pads need to be sealing well. So assuming that your instrument is in good shape, the key to getting low notes out is all about how you use your air.

Why does my saxophone sound airy?

An airy sound is usually caused by a reed which is either too hard or unbalanced. Less often, an improper placement of the reed or ligature on the mouthpiece, a poor embouchure, a low-quality mouthpiece, or a broken octave mechanism may cause airiness.

How does the octave key work on a saxophone?

On a saxophone, the octave key is positioned next to the left-hand thumb rest. Pressing the octave key opens the top tone hole in the neck of the saxophone. Alternatively, whenever the G key is fingered, the top tone hole closes and a small tone hole is opened near the top of the body.

Why is my saxophone squeaking?

An extreme mouthpiece will result in many problems, including squeaking. Keys accidentally opening can also cause squeaks. On the saxophone, the various side keys are often the culprit. A final problem that could produce squeaking is incorrect embouchure placement on the mouthpiece.

What are the octave keys on a saxophone?

The first octave key, found lower down the body of the saxophone, is open on notes from 4th line D to top space G#. The neck octave key, or the octave pad that is closest to the mouthpiece, opens from A above the staff and up. Notes most often afflicted with this hiss and resistance are those on the outer edge of a pips ‘range’.

Why can’t I play the low notes on my Saxophone?

The octave key will cause problems with your higher notes on the sax. Got problems playing the low notes on your sax or the low notes won’t work on your saxophone – check out this article. Octave key issues are most commonly caused by the way the saxophone neck is handled when assembling the instrument.

How do you fix an octave lifter on a saxophone?

Pressing your octave key should open your neck octave mechanism. The second function works if you press your G key as well as your octave key. Now the lifter should return back in towards the body of the sax allowing the neck octave mechanism to lower and close the pad. “If your lifter isn’t working, it’s a relatively easy fix”.

How do you use the G sharp on a saxophone?

The G sharp key lets the problem pad/cup for low notes go up and down. The F key is the one that pushes it down. So if you press the F key down and push the G sharp, you should see the G sharp movement forward only slightly—it’s probably easier to see this movement from the left of your saxophone. Just a little bit of movement there.