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Yeah, I don't know how Lester Young, Stan Getz, Sonny Stitt and a host of others got along on those basic two screw cheap ligatures they used? Just think how great they would have sounded on one of these $200 ligatures! The primary job of a ligature is to clamp the reed securely on the mouthpiece, that's it! If you think it effects your sound then it does, but, only you can hear it, no one else can. If you've got money to burn then have at it!

Yes blues progression would be great. Reguards Ian👍

ty u

Thanks Thomas, your videos are very helpful and excellently produced.

Der Suppenvergleich ist sehr lustig 😂

Nicely explained. Thanks

These tip openings and reed strengths are not really "standard" big top opening/softer reed I've played a 7 mouthpiece with a 2 reed for years on Alto & Tenor and it works well for me. 😎

😱 Just practice and many of these things will take care of themselves.

Superb work! Thanks for taking the time to do it and share it! I would only add the notes that you play at the end when finally improvising. Many thanks again!

Do girls and ladies also use this neck streps?

Thanks Thomas, this is a really helpful and well produced video. I've been struggling with the 2nd D overtones for several weeks now; it's not consistent, sometimes I manage it but other times it takes several attempts. Interesting that you consider it difficult. Great video, thanks again.

I have a bad intonation. Only in the middle notes i have a good one.

Hi, what is teh openning nº of you Soloist MP?

To my opinion you can’t learn how to improvise. Charlie Parker, Sonny Rollins, Paul Desmond have a special talent. The rest of us have to copy licks or play around the chords.

Thank you so much. ❤

Thank you very much for your video on ligatures. I never really understood the importance of them, other than to hold your reed. I liked the last two, but I think the Borgani might be troublesome to use at first.

Ich nutze den BG Yen regulären Saxophongurt mit meinem Tenorsaxophon seit ich wieder vor 1,5 Jahren angefangen habe und bin super zufrieden damit.

Thank you

im enjoying your advise

helpful

enlightening

It’s not the difference in sound. It’s the response that you the player feels. Your sound is in you head. You will gravitate to that sound no matter the equipment. Thus, play what feels good and responsive.

Mark turner& ben wendel..thats it

Neverending story. Yes, ligature matters. The only one purpose of the ligature is hold the reed on the proper place. Broken or bad designed ligature cannot, so this is the only difference. Does not matter, if it is standard, special, for 10 euro or for 300e. Look at the old saxophone masters. Literally every one used the cheapest standard ligature! There is really no technical reason to buy anything more expensive, if Coltrane, Rollins, Getz, Brecker... could use the standard one. But there is lot of people believing in snake oil.

How does the hooki feel when stood or seated with a tenor sax to the side? I currently use a Saxholder Pro, but I have tennis elbow issues, and have been suggested by a physiotherapist to try playing to the side, which is a bit more uncomfortable with the Saxholder.

The Francois Lois mouthpiece cap with the felt that you showed is actually my favorite because that felt keeps the reed wet. This is important to me because I am always doubling on gigs and I need my reed to stay wet if I put the instrument down for 10 or 20 minutes. I use that mouthpiece cap on all of my reed instruments. My favorite ligatures are the Jewel Eddie Daniels Expressions ligatures and the Brancher wire ligatures and a $15 plastic ring ligature made by JScustomsaxophone that is the best ligature I have found for my bari sax... I have the expensive ligatures also for my bari sax, but this cheap plastic ring ligature works the best on my bari. Some reed players have no idea of the importance of the ligature. This is because the difference between many ligatures is nonexistent. You will actually not feel or hear any difference between many ligatures, like Thomas explained (and one of those ligatures might be perfect for your mouthpiece). My eye-opening experience to the difference in some ligatures is when I tried the Marc Jean ligature with the grenadila wood contact. This was the most free reed vibrating ligature I ever tried. Then I realized ring ligatures also let the reed vibrate freely, but it's difficult to fit ring ligatures correctly. The two-channel design ligatures are very free blowing... I like them more than the plate design. The cheapest well-made two-channel design ligature I have found is the Rovner Versa. If you are super picky about your sound, you will even use different ligatures for different mouthpieces and different reeds and different acoustics. I like to use darker sounding ligatures for brighter sounding mouthpieces and/or brighter sounding reeds. I like to use my brighter sounding ligatures with darker sounding mouthpieces and/or darker sounding reeds. The darkest sounding ligatures are the fabric type ligatures that wrap the mouthpiece and reed with fabric or some kind of soft material. My favorite slightly dark sounding ligature that I use on my bright sounding mouthpieces is the Jewel Eddie Daniels Expressions ligature with the carbon fiber contact... this ligature is very free blowing, but also slightly darkens the sound. On my warmer sounding mouthpieces, I love the Eddie Daniels Expressions ligature with the gold contact and I love the Brancher wire ligature and the Rovner Versa is another great choice for dark sounding mouthpieces.

When you expect a difference, you get a difference.

Good choices, but my personal fave ligatures that I have been using for years are the Marc Jean ligatures. Theses are on the high end of the price spectrum but well worth it as Marc is always making improvements

What are your thoughts on the Vandoren Optimum?

If the selmer ligature comes loose, you can do as I did, unscrew the screw and file in between to make the opening a little bigger. Good luck, and keep up the good work. 🙏

Rampone & Cazzani "Chubby" which is made from olive wood is very open sounding - for a darker sound I like a Silverstein - a good all-rounder is the 24 carat gold BG

Amazing! I am also a big fan of Joe Henderson... try bringing some content from him.

You sound great on that Selmer Soloist!

Thank you.

Look into the Joe Allard videos. Air leaks from the sides as an exercise comes from him. This is good information!

I've been frustrated with mouthpiece numbers not being consistent across brands. Why do we use arbitrary numbers to represent tip openings rather than an actual measurement in inches or mm? For example, an Otto Link 7 is not the same tip opening as an Otto link Florida 7. In my opinion, I think it is best to know your actual tip opening, my most comfortable being 0.100 inches (or 2.54mm). I find reed hardness is also not consistent across brands of reeds. A #3 can vary widely between Rico, Vandoren, LaVoz, and every other manufacturer of reeds.

So wise! Continue making that type of content!

Hi Thomas, what you think about playing only with the mouthpiece as an embouchure exercise? In this case we have to put a tremendous amount of pressure to come with a sound - a terrible one if i can say so - some say we should be able to play like that in order to sound good on the saxophone!

Thanks for another gem video, Thomas! I think it helps also for amateurs to do some really long playing session from time to time, like 4 hours straight. I found that I could directly see my improvements after such sessions in terms of relaxed embouchure and bigger sound, which I don't get after like 1 hour.

What is the best saxophone reed brand

Tolles Video Thomas danke für die hilfreichen Tipps! Btw. ist das ein Selmer Soloist Mouthpiece?😅

Great exercise!

Hey Thomas, I see you've got yourself a different mouthpiece. What might it be? Thanks and have a good one.

I tend to think of it differently. Air is what makes the sound by vibrating the reed on the mouthpiece. The Air causes the attack to create the notes and the sound. Our Embouchure is the entirety of our ability to control the Air starting with our Diaphragm and the lips are just the valve which will help control the reed to shape the sound we’re listening for. The goal is to practice until what we expect to hear is produced.

I recommend thinking about pushing the mouth corners inwards towards the ‘Centre’. . . Thomas is quite correct in describing the shape. I’ve found that I got better results in teaching the ‘traditional’ embouchure firstly, and I am a rampant Bebopper. Lip out with beginners is tricky.

Thank you for a very clear explanation! 👌👌👌😁👍

Thomas Buen día!!! Muchas gracias por tu valioso tiempo y ayudarnos a mejorar nuestro sonido!!! Un Fuerte Abrazo!!!

I am glad to hear this because sometimes I wonder if other players also release air from the corners of their mouth while playing as I sometimes do, and if that’s OK

I was tought that you need to have firm corners. Through this, I have found that I am able to be flexible in my jaw. How does this excercise help that? The excercise seems to be puttting the pressure in the jaw, which I have found leads to decreased flexability.

Thomas Buen día!!! Por Favor, podrías mejorar este tutorial ta que sale error cuando solicito traducción. Muchas Gracias!!!!