Hello, i have been playing the alto sax for about 2 days now, and im having a bit of difficulty getting it to tune correctly.

You see, when i play the open note (Eb), my tuner reads Eb. However, when i play an F, my tuner reads it as a really sharp E, or a really flat F. It seems to follow this pattern for the rest of the notes. They are all really flat. I cannot push the mouthpiece on far enough to make the sax play on key. By adjusting the way i play, i can make it go slightly more on tune, but it is still really flat. Is there another tuning slide somewhere that i am missing? Or is there something else i must do to get it to play in tune?

thanks!
Billy

It might be the condition of your cork or mouthpiece. In addition, it may be the reed placement.

it depends on the speed of the flow of your air stream, the reed, the tightness of your mouthpeice and the reed. And... it`s easier to tune with G

when you say you cannot push the mouthpiece on far enough, is it because there is still space on the cork but it is too thick or there isn`t any cork left for you to push onto? if it is the former, keep on pushing! sand the cork down a little if you must, but keep on pushing.

if it is the latter, could it be that your cork is a little loose? if it is, build it up with some cigarette paper and try shoving the mouthpiece on again.

are you supporting the airflow with your diaphragm?

your reed could be too soft.

you could be taking in too much mouthpiece.

your embouchure could be too relaxed/lazy.

I think everybody who replied doesn`t understand what is truly wrong. A saxophone is a transposing instrument, what you play is not what you get. The open note (I assume you mean without any fingers down) is called C#, but it is a concert E (go up by a minor third, or three half steps). If the tuner said Eb when you played a C#, that means you are really flat. You have to pull your mouthpiece out. And, you should never tune to C#. That is one of those notes that are hard to get in tune. You should tune to your G (fingers 1-2-3 of the left hand). That note is concert Bb. You can also tune to your F# (left hand 1-2-3 and right hand 2), which is concert A. In conclusion, just pull out until your tuner says you are in tune.

I have been playing the saxophone for a couple of weeks. I`ve been reading up on as much as I can, but (and I`m ashamed to say) I don`t understand what a concert b flat is ... how does this relate to the piano. I don`t have a tuner. I found that my notes in my lessons sounded good until I got to G, then it (G) was so flat I thought there was something wrong with the sax. Thank you for any advice.

first off, bsaically, anynote you play on your alto, ie: say you play your G, the tuner should read Bb. Or if you play an F#, the tuner will read an A. Basically, any note you play on your alto, will be 3 semitones higher in concert pitch, or what you`d see on a Piano

Alto C= Concert Eb
Hence an Alto Saxophone is an Eb Instrument.

If your problem is not that, and is tuning, saxophones are extremely not in tune by nature. Chances are, if you tune to your G or F#, every note within a tone or 2 will sound find, after that you`ll hafta lip up or down. The higher you play, the sharper your note will become from what it was supposed to be, and vice versa. If you`re playing a High G, and its reading as a flat B then you`re waaay outta tune, gotta lip that down. Takes a while to get good tuning on any saxophone

I Have the same problem but after I red this I think I might be able to fix my problem.

I understand!! Thank you very much. I realize that I have to do a lot more work to get to sounding good on my sax, but the Eb instrument ... makes sense. Again, thanks for your time.

actually, i did take into account the different tunings. The notes i played were concert pitches. I think it just needs recorked.

Anyone know how much recorking would cost?

You should tune on d seeing that u r a beginner d`s are the easiest and really firm up when u play

Some times its not were your mouth piece is but how your mouth is set on the mouth piece.Sometimes you need to ajust your mouth position instead of moving your mouth piece.Believe me I know I`ve been playing for almost four years now

I hope I`m not breaking any rules of the forum but, I`m another beginner on the alto sax. and when I tried tuning on a tuner, it said I was flat.

I pushed in my mouthpiece as far as it can go; covering all the cork. I`m using a size 3 reed and using a smaller sized reed is a bit uncomfortable to play. I`m not sure if i`m tightening up my embochure properly either.

Any advice on how to play in tune in my case would be great.

Honestly, this is just me, but I really wouldn`t suggest a 3 for a beginner.

No, whether it is comfortable or not, a beginniner should not be using a 3, I just started using a 3 this year and I am on my 6th year of playing my alto. Sure, it sounds a lot better, but it comes with practice and simply moving up because I need it. Start on a 1.5 or 2, then move up, but right now, even if you start on a 2, you shouldn`t theoretically be comfortable using a 3 for atleast a year, possibly two, Beginners don`thave everything down, whether they think so or not, but tuning depends on everything; air, embachoure(sp), how much mouthpiece you take in, and even the mouthpiece in general. All beginners have usually the same problems, and it always revolves around tuning.

As stated before, when first warming up, tune to G(Bb concert major). Then just work up the scale, but you willnever get every note perfectly in tune. Being in the highest band in high school, I always practice all 12 major scales and tune every note almost daily, and especially concert day. Never tune on B, Bb, C, or C# to actually tune, a B is near impossible to get precisely in tune, and have everything else near in tune, it just doesnt happen, even with a great horn and mouthpiece, just part of life.