sax embouchoure

8/6/2019 Sax Embouchoure

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http://tamingthesaxophone.com/saxophone-

embouchure.html

"CORRECT"

EMBOUCHURES

Embouchuremeans what you do with your mouth.

There is more than one correctsaxophoneembouchure. The pictures on the right are from a

very good book by Ben Davis (published by HenriSelmer no less) which is now sadly out of print.

The picture shows three types of embouchure: o Fig. 5 - a saxophone embouchure in which the lower

lip does not cover over the lower teetho Fig. 6 - the bottom lip forms a cushion between the

lower teeth and the reedo Fig. 7 - the top lip also forms a cushion between the

top teeth and the top of the mouthpiece

I disagree with the author in that I don'tthink any of these are wrong. They each suit

different saxophone players and styles.

I originally used the embouchure in Fig. 6, but waslater taught to use the lower lip without any support

from the teeth. This takes a while to get used to as you need to build up the lip muscles, but I findit more flexible than the other two. It¶s pointless to go into too much more detail without beingphysically present with a student. Below are some extracts from his book, which must have beenquite controversial at the time as the no-lip over teeth saxophone embouchure was quiterevolutionary.

From The Saxophone by Ben Davis:

There are three types of embouchure, two of which, in my opinion, are wrong. I will explain whatthey are and why I think they are wrong as we go along.

First, the right embouchure, which I call, for the sake of differentiation, the "new" embouchure.Open the mouth in the shape of a small o; keep the lips close to, but not drawn in over the teeth.Then insert the mouthpiece. Rest the lower lip against the lower teeth; then lower the reed ontothe rim of the lip, so that the inside of the lip forms a cushion between the teeth and the lip. Do

not dr aw the lip i n over the teeth. It must just rest against them so that only the thinnest part of the fleshy inside lip isis pushed over the teeth when the mouthpiece is in playing position. The restof the lower lip will then form a sort of support for that part of the reed which is immediately

outside the mouth.

Next, lower the upper teeth on to the mouthpiece with the lightest of pressure. The upper lip must

not come bet w een the teeth and the mouthpiece i n any way . Finally close the lips round the sidesof the mouthpiece so that no air can escape from the sides of the mouth. Don¶t, however, exert somuch pressure that the corners of the mouth are tensed. Neither pout the lips.

You have now the "new" saxophone embouchure. It is illustrated, slightly exaggerated in order tomake it clearer, in Fig. 5



http://www.kjos.com/band/band_news/band_news_emb3.html

Spring 2001 Volume 3

Teaching the Saxophone Embouchure

by Bruce Pearson

No doubt you have heard those old saxophone jokes, like ² ³What¶s the difference

between the sound of a saxophone and a lawn mower engine? Answer: You cantune the lawn mower.´ Pretty bad, eh!

There must be a reason, however, for all those jokes about the poor tone qualityand poor intonation of saxophone playing. In the Spring 2000 issue of Kjos Band News, I wrote an article entitled ³A + E = T.´ In other words, A (Air) + E (Embouchure)

= T (Tone). But why have saxophones, in particular, taken the brunt of all those jokesregarding poor tone quality and poor intonation? I believe it is because manysaxophone players are not playing withsaxophone embouchures. Specifically, Ibelieve that many saxophone players are playing with clarinet embouchures. This

can be easily determined by discovering which pitch they are playing with their mouthpiece only. The pitch that is played on the mouthpiece of single reedinstruments will determine the tone quality.

Assist students in forming and developing their embouchure by having each beresponsible for providing a small mirror that can be placed on the music stand. Thiswill allow students to see that their embouchure is being formed properly.

Ensure a good formation of the saxophone embouchure by having eachsaxophone student do the following:

1. Slip a piece of paper between the reed and the mouthpiece and slide the paper down,away from the tip, until it stops.

2. With a pencil, draw a light line on the reed connecting the two sides of the paper. Thisline will indicate where the lower lip should be placed. Remove the paper.



3. Hold the mouthpiece with one hand and place the tip of the thum b just under the linethat was drawn on the reed.

4. Shape the mouth as if saying ³whee -too.´ Hold the mouth in the ³whee´ position whilesaying ³too.´

5. Cover the bottom teeth with a small amount of the lower lip.

6. Place the mouthpiece in the mouth so that the lower lip touches the thumb that wasplaced just below the line that was drawn on the reed. The thumb should serve as a³stop´ allowing just the right amount of mouthpiece in the mouth. Too muchmouthpiece in the mouth will cause a harsh, raucous tone. Too little mouthpiece in



the mouth will cause a constricted or strident tone.

7. Rest the top teeth directly on the mouthpiece. Close the mouth in a drawstring

fashion with equal support on all sides of the reed. The chin should be flat andpointed. Using the mirror, check to see that the embouchure is formed properly.

8. Take a deep breath of air (filling the back of the throat) and play a long, steady tone.

If the embouchure is formed properly, the following concert pitches should sound: Alto Saxophone

Tenor Saxophone

Baritone Saxophone

Many young saxophonists play with a higher pitch resulting in a strident tone. Tolower the pitch, have the student relax the embouchure as if saying ³O.´ To raise thepitch have the student pull the corners of their mouth as if saying ³oo.´

To ensure a well-established saxophone embouchure, have the student play longtones daily.

By following these simple steps, students will learn to form a good saxophoneembouchure that will be important to the deve lopment of a beautiful saxophone tone.It may even put an end to those terrible saxophone jokes.

sax embouchoure

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