One of the things I wish someone had told me a long time ago is how important my posture while playing would be to both the quality of my performance and my long-term health. Well, it’s not like no one told me but I guess I should have recognized the impact that not paying attention to it would have. Over the last few years I have been scratching and clawing my way to a better posture and it’s been a tough problem although not an insurmountable one.
Mar 28, 2019 Adjust the neck strap as needed. Hold the assembled saxophone in front of you and loosen your grip on it so that the neck strap bears most of the weight of the instrument. If the mouthpiece is suddenly lower than you mouth, adjust the neck strap up. If it’s higher than your mouth, adjust the neck strap down. Mar 25, 2009 I accidentally left a plastic baggy of Tacos at Midnight flavored Doritos in my saxophone case.for four days. My case and neck strap now smell like tacos, and the scent burns the nostrils. I couldn't stand the taco smell in my neck strap anymore, so I brought it home to spray Febreze on it. It ended up smelling like apple butt tacos. It's not a pleasant odor. So, for lack of a better option. 12) Yinama Saxophone Neck Strap Soft Sax Leather Padded for Alto Tenor Baritone Soprano This neck strap from Yinama provides a comfy fit and you would love its simple design. It offers an adjustable length range of 17-21 inches which gives higher flexibility as compared to most of the other straps and makes it a perfect pick one to meet your needs.
Larry Teal literally wrote the book on saxophone playing but this guy doesn’t look cool at all!
I think we’ve all seen those pictures in the beginning of the method books where some dull looking dude in a suit demonstrates the proper posture for playing both sitting and standing but it just looks so boring and I want to be a hip jazz dude or a wailing rock guy; I don’t need to worry about posture I just want to look cool. The real truth of the matter is that bad posture actually worsens your performance, keeping you from breathing correctly and constricting air flow. Also, there are tons of examples of hip and cool players that have excellent posture…look at guys like Eric Alexander, Paul Booth, or Bob Reynolds. Even the coolest guy ever, Clarence Clemons, stands very straight and tall while he plays.
There are several things that contributed to my bad posture including a lifetime of being at least somewhat overweight (and being self-conscious about it) or spending a lot of time in front of a computer without knowing how to set up my work area but playing the saxophone has been a major contributor. One reason was my ignorance or misunderstanding of how to best position the saxophone and neck strap. The other is the simple fact that hanging anywhere from 5 to 12 pounds (alto to bari on average) on a strap around your neck for prolonged periods of time is probably a bad idea.
Here’s a great article on how to check your posture in various ways and some exercises you can do to fix it if its bad. One simple test that is missing from the article is checking your hands when you are standing straight with them at your side. If they are naturally facing inward toward your hips, then your shoulders are lined up correctly. If, on the other hand, they face backwards then your shoulders are slumped and you should do some of those shoulder strengthening and repositioning exercises. I’ve learned a lot about my own posture over the years and for my part I’ve done many of those exercises as assigned by a physical therapist as well as a lot of pushups but I’ve gotten much better results and understanding by studying both Yoga and Tai Chi for the last few years.
Of course, none of that is any good if I didn’t take steps to fix my posture with the saxophone in my hands. There are many things you can check but here are some tips:
- Stand tall with your weight equally distributed between your feat (side to side and front to back). Try to feel weight in all four corners of your feet.
- When sitting, keep your back straight and keep both feet flat on the floor.
- Adjust the neck strap so that you don’t have to crane your neck in any way especially forward. This usually means raising it higher than you might think you should. It will probably be uncomfortable at first but it’s a great adjustment to make.
- Try to keep your shoulders lined up over your hips rather than twisting to one side or the other. Check out mountain pose in Yoga or preparation posture in Tai Chi to get a feel for this.
- Try to be aware of your neck and shoulders and take steps to relax and straighten if you feel tension.
- Let your arms hang naturally from your shoulders and bend at the elbow to find the keys. Try to keep your wrists flowing naturally from the end of your arms rather than bending or arcing them.
This is the Tai Chi method for standing straight. It’s not that far away from a great start at saxophone posture. Pinnacle hdtv 801e driver for mac.
These guidelines are just that, guidelines, and you should still have fun and express yourself when the time is right. You can do the opposite of all of those things for short periods of time if the mood hits you but for most of your playing take my advice and pay attention to your posture for your long term health and for the betterment of your playing. Eliminating twists, relaxing your body, and standing straight will allow you to fill your lungs more fully and maximize your airflow. Plus, your back and neck will thank you in the long run. I am still a long way from a perfect posture but it gets better all the time. In fact, every time someone posts a picture of me on Facebook I’m usually way more worried about whether my shoulders look rounded or if my neck is bent forward rather than how cool I look…I mean of course I look cool right?…right? Never mind. ?
One thing I am planning on buying to try over the next month or so is one of these straps. I’m hoping that actually taking the weight from my neck and constantly pulling me forward will help but that’s for a future review.
In my book Easy Easy Bebop, I refer to the lesson below as “the magic of the neck strap”.
The short tip from the book has helped so many players that I decided to give further information on finding the “sweet spot” in the adjustment of one’s saxophone neck strap. As you know neck straps are made adjustable so so as to raise or lower the horn to a comfortable position. Finding the correct position can help the embouchure and tone production.
Setting the length of the strap sub-optimally can cause back and neck pain from slouching and bending while playing. The optimal jaw position, the ability to effectively articulate, and the openness of the airflow require good mouthpiece placement inside of the embouchure.
Lowering the jaw too much to play low notes hinders moving back up the horn smoothly. If a player standing straight and looking forward lowers the horn by lengthening the strap, he can feel the reed and mouthpiece making more contact with the lower lip/teeth. As the player raises the strap they can feel the reed/mouthpiece raise up off the the lower teeth/lips. The higher the strap, the more open and brighter the sound gets.
Look at the Charlie Parker pic above, and notice the slight upward tilt of the head from the high neck strap. A very high neck strap just needs a slight upward head adjustment which for most players is much better that a lowering of the head possibly affecting the airflow.
To illustrate the principle, as a more extreme example (which may or may not be considered proper posture, and would definitely take some getting used to in any event), check out the high position of David Sanborn’s horn in the image above. It is likely that part of his signature ultra-bright sound up and down the horn comes from that position on the strap.
Knowing You’ve Arrived at the “Sweet Spot”
Setting the neck strap at a few different lengths, try the following:
- Hit a low Bb, and while maintaining air flow play high Bb up two octaves.
- Do the reverse, and play from high Bb and drop two octaves to low Bb.
How To Fix A Saxophone Neck Strap For Sale
Playing those octaves legato or staccato will be easier with the correct setting of the neck strap’s length, and the resulting position of the horn.
![Saxophone Saxophone](https://www.learnsaxophoneonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/How-to-choose-the-right-saxophone-neck-strap-834x1111.jpg)
This approach is a good place to start. Once that height is set, octave jumps are much smoother. The “sweet spot” is where there is the least amount of jaw and embouchure movement.
There will always be a feeling of slight adjustment as the horn is played, but fewer movements in the embouchure make for smoother and easier playing. With the right neck strap length, overtones and altissimo notes are much more easily achieved, and your overall tone production is smooth and even from top to bottom, provided you’re playing in a good position with proper air support.
![Fix Fix](https://rettigmusic.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/Neotech-Sax-Neck-Strap.jpg)
In addition, finding this “sweet spot” this will take some of the horn’s weight off of the right thumb, and avoid the extreme thumb callus which is results from compensating for and overly-long neck strap setting.
Conclusion
Usb 2.0 serial driver windows 10 64 bit. To wrap it all up, some saxophonists like the feeling of blowing down into the saxophone, and others like the feeling of blowing up and out of the saxophone. Experiment and find that “sweet spot” neck strap length – you’ll likely be quite surprised by the results.
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