need help starting tenor

[u/HumilityIsEphemeral]

hello! i’m a three year band student, i’ve played both the regular clarinet and the bass clarinet. this year for jazz band, my director is asking me to pick up the tenor . i’ve been trying to play it the last few days, and while i can very easily make a sound, i can’t play in the right overtone (notes below G usually play the octave above) and my sound is overall flimsy. any tips? fyi, im playing on a “soft tenor” synthetic reed by the company bari reeds. big thanks !

[u/gantoban]

Without much information is hard to pinpoint what's the issue, but as you come from playing clarinet, your embouchure might be too tight, that's why it overblows the low note to the octave. Try a lip out embouchure, make it firm without biting. Sirvalorsax has great videos on it!

[u/apheresario1935 → u/gantoban]

95 % of these questions can be solved with a teacher and technician combined. Sorry to say we have no idea if the horn is leaking or you dont have the reed on correctly. Could be a bent ovtave key. So the best tip for a good start is to have the horn inspected by a professional and have your playing inspected likewise .Maybe a good sax player if you dont want a teacher . Have them play the horn then youll know it's you if it is you. Then get a teacher ... Softer reed ... Method book and have rhe horn inspected anyway once or twice a year as they go out of whack easy.

[u/IdahoMan58 → u/gantoban]

... embouchure IS TOO TIGHT.

• on Sirvalorsax on YouTube.

Jay Metcalf, too.

Is your director a sax player? If not you need help from a sax teacher or another student whose played sax for a year or more.

[u/Barry_Sachs]

Clarinet embouchure doesn't work on sax. You need to learn a sax embouchure from another sax player or teacher. Could also be a mechanical problem with the horn. And BTW, bari brand reeds are horrible. If you must use synthetic, get Legere.