I hear on a lot of recordings that players will bend a note almost an entire half step down, but when I try I can only bend notes slightly. Is there something I`m missing?

Welcome to a technique called Voicing The bending technique can be produced 2 ways, one is by dropping your jaw, I do not reccomend doing it this way unless it is a stylistic choice. When using your jaw to bend down, the saxophone`s intonation will be poor and you will not be able to bend very far. Voicing is the best technique, you will be able to bend, really far, with lots of practice. Try this, finger front F, if your not sure place your right index finger on the key just above your b key (you know the one we never use ) and finger c with your octave key. It may be difficult at first if you have never done it before, but keep it up. While playing this tone try saying your vowels, a e i o u, but keep your embouchure firm. What this does is open and close your throat, and move your tounge you will hear your tone get lower and higher, this will give you an idea what you have to do to lower your tone. I have to recommend a book that deals with this and altissimo, it`s called "Voicing" by Denice Dabney and Donald Sintas.

Good Luck

thanks cjbass, I was working with that and that`s a whole different world...but I can`t find that book when I search...do you know where I can find it?

i havn`t treid the voicing myself, but i oughta. But i can bend pretty well by dropping my jaw. part of it might be your physical body though, i mean my jaws might suit dropping it better than some1 else.

Here is where I bought the "Voicing" book it was really hard to find and it was required material by my professor.

Keep Playing

lol i forgot the link http://www.hickeys.com/

I finally found that book, It`s on it`s way here...thanks for the tip!

No Problem, enjoy the book.