TUNING THE SAXOPHONE James Barrera - Professor of Saxophone Bob Cole Conservatory of Music California State University, Long Beach
“Alas! All music jars when the soul’s out of tune” - Miguel de Cervantes
It could be said that playing the saxophone in tuen is what separates the amateur from the professional, or the novice from the artist. The mechanics of altering the pitch on the Saxophone are closely tied to those of tone, and through striving for exactitude in pitch the sound will improve greatly. Before going into the pedagogy of tuning it worth discussing what it means to be “in-tune”.
Pitch is perception
What we perceive as sound is a creation of our brain. Oscillating pressure waves of air strike out eardrum, and the resulting vibrations are interpreted by our mind. Sometimes these pressure waves are misinterpreted; to a person with synesthesia audio is combined with the visual resulting in different colors when sound is heard. We hear “out of tuneness”, or dissonance, as beats or waves within two tones. The faster the beats are the more out of tune we are, and as we close in on pitch, the beats slow. The speed of the beats is simply determined by the mathematical difference between the tow pitches. Two people playing an “A”, one at 440 hz and one at 443 hz would produce 3 beats per second.
“It was my understanding that there would be no math...” -Chevy Chase as Gerald Ford
Equal Temperment Conceived of in the late 16th century, equal temperament divides the octave into 12 equal parts. This is how keyboard instruments are tuned, and how a standard tuner works. Each ½ step is divided into 100 parts called “cents”, with a total of 1200 cents in an octave. The result is that fixed pitch instruments like the piano can play in any key without a great deal of dissonance. While this is a great advantage, it comes with a compromise in that all intervals are slightly out of tune.
Just Intonation When using just intonation the distance between two notes can be calculated using simple ratios. The interval of a perfect fifth can be represented by the ratio 3:2 in just intonation, but uses the ratio 27/12 : 1 in equal temperament. In just intonation the pitch of every interval must be compared to the root. The resulting sound when using just intonation is, transparent or hollow, compared to the haze that seems to surround equal temperament. This tuning is used in a Capella vocal groups, such as barbershop quartets, and give them their unique tone quality. The disadvantage of just intonation is that no two notes are ever the same. A G# in one key will not be the same note another. It also requires significant ear training on the part of the player. The following table will help you make the necessary adjustments from ET to JI.
Interval
Ratio
Unison
Cents - JI
Cents - ET
Differnece
1:1
0
0
0
Minor 2nd
16:15
111.73
100
+11.73
Major 2nd
9:8
203.91
200
+3.91
Minor 3rd
6:5
315.64
300
+15.64
Major 3rd
5:4
386.31
400
-13.69
Perfect 4th
4:3
498.04
500
-1.96
45:32
590.22
600
-9.78
Perfect 5th
3:2
701.95
700
+1.95
Minor 6th
8:5
813.69
800
+13.69
Major 6th
5:3
884.36
900
-15.64
Minor 7th
9:5
1017.60
1000
+17.60
Major 7th
15:8
1088.27
1100
-11.73
2:1
1200
1200
0
Tritone
Octave
“...my horn came tuned from the factory…” - Anonymous
Pitch Tendancies Like any instrument, the saxophone is built upon a series of compromises. These lead to some notes being more out of tune than others. While it is out goal to learn to play the saxophone in tune, sometimes an extra key or alternate fingering can get us out of a jam. Note
Bb-1
Tendancy
Fix
Sharp 10-15 cents
Mute
D-1
Flat
Vent low C# key
G-1
Flat
Vent forked F# (Tf)
Bb-2
Flat-Bis
Use Side Bb or Vent Ta
C#-2
Flat 10 cents+
Use “Covered C#” (3+octave key) Doesn’t work on Selmer Series III Vent Tc
Sharp 10 cents+
Add low B key. Use C2 in pp volumes.
C#-3
Sharp
Add first finger of right hand
F-3 / F#-3
Sharp
Take away C1 and C2
D-2
“Harpists spend 90 percent of their lives tuning their harps and 10 percent playing out of tune.” -Igor Stravinsky Mechanical issues Before you play too many long tones with your tuner, it is wise to make sure your saxophone is adjusted properly. Most saxophonists are unaware of the huge impact pad height has on their intonaition. In a nutshell the lower the pad height the flatter the tone and vica versa. As saxophones age the felt and cork bumpers compress leading to the pad height increasing, and ptich with it. Keep your horn in good regulation, ask your repair tech to keep your instrument at the factory spec key height. You can then go above and below that standard as you customize your instruments setup.
Temperature Extremes in air temperture can make tuning impossible. As the temperature drops so will your pitch; the metal in the tube contracts and interior volume increases dropping the overall pitch. While the players breath will warm the instrument to a certain extent, in larger instruments the majority of the tube will remain at the ambient temperature. This could create a situation where short tube notes are sharp, and long tube notes flat.
Air v. Face The source of most tuning issues is a lack of air. We must strive to play with the fastest air stream possible. This is what will support the tone, and decrease the need for manipulation from the jaw and facial muscles. Most begginers on the instruemnt will use the musicle of the face to close the distance between the reed and mouthpiece. This will allow them to produce a sound with the least amount of air possible. The muscle used most commonly to do this is the mentalis. This muscle is also known as the “pouting muscle” and pushes upward on the lower lip. This muscle must remain relaxed, and instead its next door neighbor, the depressor labii inferioris should be used to pull the lower lip downward.
Flexibility As discussed earlier, we must be able to play every note on the saxophone at a variety of pitch levels. This requires a great deal of flexibility on the part of the player. A good starting point to develop this is to play on the mouthpiece. As a starting point the following pitches should be used: Mouthpiece Pitch (Concert) Alto Sax - A Tenor Sax - G Baritone Sax - D Soprano Sax - B Once this pitch is strong and consistent, begin to move it up and down. On the Alto Saxophone Mouthpiece a one octave C scale can be played. It is only when you have achieved this control that tuning will become easier.
Oral Cavity and Voicing A contempoary apporach ot the saxophone relies heavily on how we shape the interior of our mouths. The oral cavity is the space between your teeth. Simply stated, the larger this space is the lower the pitch will be. The two factors in the oral cavity size are the jaw, and tongue. Most players hold their teeth too far apart. I believe this results from their music teachers telling them to “drop their jaw” in order to not be so sharp. The correct distance the teeth need to be apart will be determined by the size of the mouthpiece. The lower teeth should gently touch the lower lip without compressing it. This distance will only be about 1/8 to 1/4 of an an inch away from the reed. The role the tongue plays in pitch can be explored by playing with a variety of vowel syllables. Hold your tongue in the positions of A-E-I-O-U (Eight-Heat-Hype-Hope-Boo) and play an upper register note to see what effect each has. (This plays a key role in mouthpiece flexibility) A little lower than the oral cavity, is the pharyngeal cavity. The pharynx is the part of the throat that lies between the mouth and the larynx or voice box. This is used in the technique known as “Voicing”, defined by Donald Sinta in his book Voicing: An approach to the saxophone’s third register. While initially intended as a technique to improve the altisimmo register, voicing can be used in tuning as well. The advantage of voicing is that the pitch can be changed, without any alternation in the oral cavity, or facial mask. This is especially useful at the extremes of volume, and is key to playing the upper register of the instrument in tune. Easy to learn, hard to master Learning to play the saxophone in tune is no simple matter. It is much more involved than “drop your jaw”, or “you need to pull out”. An in tune sound, is a beautiful sound, and by striving for the latter we will learn where to place our notes.
