Step 1. Have a tuner that is calibrated to A = 440. Blow into the saxophone trying to match the A440 tone. Step 2. Push the mouthpiece inward if the tone is too flat. Step 3. Pull the mouthpiece outward if the tone is too sharp. Don’t tune the saxophone based on how much neck cork is exposed. Neck corks can be long or short in length; they simply function to hold the mouthpiece in place without leaking. It's the placement of the mouthpiece on the neck and the overall saxophone length (from the tip of its mouthpiece to the end of its bell) that are the important criteria for successfully tuning the saxophone. In order to really understand the tuning process it helps to know the physics behind the sound that you produce while playing. When we are talking about physics and the saxophone we are dealing with sound waves. When you add or subtract fingers on the saxophone you are changing the overall length of the tube, creating shorter or longer sound waves in the process. Many things can affect this resultant wave. A key that is not adjusted properly can partially close over an open hole causing all notes above that key to be slightly flat. Likewise a key that is left open when it should be closed can make other notes out of tune or at the very least sound less focused. |
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