I have heard many strange suggestions on this web site recently. From what I see there are alot of younger students that really depend on some advise from the older players. One that really bothered me is when I heard it was wrong to bite your bottom lip. For anyone out there playing, try playing with, then without bitting your bottom lip and see what happens to your tone, you will soon realize you have to bite (put pressure on your bottom lip with your teeth) and yes sometimes it will get painful, especially after long periods of playing. The key is you should not have to bite too hard, you don`t want to push the reed to the top of the mouthpiece. I have seen many players use guards with no negative effect on their tone, talk to your teacher if you are interested in this, and if they would recommend it for you.

Secondly there is some notion that spit in the saxophone is when you are blowing incorrectly, on the contrary, it is very normal to get spit in the mouthpiece. Any saxophone major can agree that your best tone comes when you use warm air, unfortunately warm air causes alot of condensation in the mouthpiece and saxophone. There was alot of good ideas to remedy this on this website, but my point is that it is quite normal to get a spitty sound, you just have to learn how to minimalize it, ie... sucking it out making sure reed pores are closed...etc.

Remember there is no substitute for a good private teacher.

Later

I agree. To get the spit out of the mouthpiece I simply suck it out. Sounds nasty, but get used to it. It`s the best and quickest way to get the spit/water out of the mouthpiece

You shouldn`t literally "bite" your bottom lip, and it shouldn`t hurt except for fatigue, unless you are playing for a drastic amount of time. If you bite to hard, you can damage muscles that are vital to playing any instrument.

A lot of sax players do develop callouses on their bottom lip. This comes from many years of playing, and a lot of pain endured. I had to get by without a mouth guard at camp a few years ago, and man, was that painful! I actually tasted blood during a rehearsal! Ever since then, I have always used a mouth guard, no matter how long I play for. It doesn`t affect my tone, vibrato, or responsiveness of the reed in any noticeable way, so it`s a win-win situation!

I have to admit bite is a bad word, and you souldn`t actually bite into your lip but in order to have a proper tone your teeth must rest, or put pressure on the bottom side of your lip.

Later

I agree. Everytime I make a response to a question I make sure I know what I`m talking about. It`s usually from experience and learning from other people, including my fellow saxophonists and teacher. People who really don`t know what their talking about (eg. bottom lip biting, which is completly normal....i have a sore lip right now just from playing for an hour and a half!!!) shouldn`t give impressionable beginners advice if it is wrong.

so what am i to conclude from this for i have been thinking of getting a mouth gaurd are they bad or good? and isn`t there a spectial type of gaurd for instruments?

You can try one if you would like, I use one if I play for long periods and I don`t for shorter periods or performances. I don`t take it out because it affects my sound but I do it because it is feels a little weird for me, it may feel ok to others. This, to me is a personal choice.

Later
CJ