Hi
Two of us are teaching ourselves the alto sax, there is no teacher on the island where we live. I've got this frustrating problem with D – I've looked at other posts and am pleased to read that this can just be a beginner’s problem and it will come with time. But I am actually getting a harmonic A (2nd octave) rather than a squeak when I try bottom or octave D. I can get the note from time to time, I can play D# and E – but hold E then switch to D and I get the harmonic again…

Any ideas? Is it just practice and embouchure, everything seems ok with the instrument as I can get the Ds, just not consistently. I wondered if there were any tips for, perhaps, trying different reeds (on 1 and a half at the moment), breathing or anything? The Pink Panther is sounding very blue with this problem!

Maybe there is a regulation or pad seating problem - even if the D pad is OK there might be a slight leak elsewhere. It could be that you are using more finger pressure when it works fine - do some experiments with varying pressure on the keys one at a time. If things suddenly come right you've found the problem in which case a trip to a technician is called for. If you cannot find anything specific go anyway - there might be a leak somewhere.

Thanks, I'll try that. The nearest music shop is 24 miles away by boat, but it's do-able.
J

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Hi James, its funny I am having the same frustrating problem. I can go for weeks and D is consistently correct then it will flare up again. Sometimes it will spread to low C. I'm playing and old Buescher Aristocrat (a basic student model) I'm ready to try another sax but I haven't yet. Pretty frustrating, it never has happened when my instructor is present so I haven't been able to get his advice either. Please post if you come up with a solution. I'm beginning to think it has to do with temp and humidity. Could be I just plain suck. Anyway I'll stay posted to see your solution.

Still no solution but it’s getting less frequent. The thought of temperature had occurred to me as I live in a place that’s hot and it’s summer now. But I also think practice will iron it out as it’s fine when I concentrate harder on it. I mentioned it to my brother who is a saxophonist and told him about the harmonics, as the ‘squeak’ is always a high A, and he thought embouchure – but would have to watch, and he’s on the other side of the world… If and when I get a solution I’ll post it.

I still think you are likely to have a slight leak there a bit higher up the instrument probably in the A region. Maybe when you are concentrating you might use more finger pressure which cures the problem. Sometimes when a player not thinking about a dodgy note or is getting tired less finger pressure is used thus causing any bad adjustment to show.