Baritone Saxophone

DISCLAIMER: The quality of equipment (instrument, reed, mouthpiece, ligature) has a very big impact on intonation. If the equipment is not in working order, the information and techniques on this webpage will not be as effective.

Embouchure Check!

Your embouchure formation can either help or hurt your pitch accuracy. Here is a brief reminder about how you should form your embouchure:

Make an exaggerated, facial 'A' sound. This causes the lower lip and tissue covering the chin to become very flat. Another way to achieve this is to imagine that you are applying Chapstick to your lower lip.
Set the mouthpiece (with reed) onto the lower lip at the point where the mouthpiece facing and the bottom of the reed touch.
Place your top teeth directly on the mouthpiece.
While maintaining this 'A' formation, add a facial 'Q' on top of it. This will bring the top lip and corners in and around the mouthpiece with even pressure.
Make sure that the weight of instrument is not resting on your bottom lip. Press upward towards your top teeth. This is called anchoring up.

Correct Baritone Saxophone Embouchure

Mouthpiece and Neck Alone

A great way to check for embouchure correctness (and, in-turn, intonation) is to play with the mouthpiece only OR the mouthpiece and neck only.
When you play with mouthpiece alone, you should hear a 'concert E' or 'F.' When you play with mouthpiece and neck together, you should hear a 'concert D.'

How To Tune the Baritone Saxophone

Once you have reviewed and practiced your embouchure formation, tune your baritone saxophone using the procedure listed below:

1) Play your baritone saxophone for a few minutes to warm up your embouchure muscles and the instrument.

2) Play up to the 2nd line 'G' diatonically several times. This note is very close to the centered pitch. Adjust the mouthpiece if this note is out of tune.

3) Play up to 'G' on top of the staff several time diatonically. This note should be slightly sharp.

4) Play 1st space 'F#' and 5th line 'F#.' These are the most stable pitches on the instrument. Use this note to tune alone. To tune with the band, you can use your 2nd line 'G.'

How To Adjust Pitch While Playing the Baritone Saxophone

Even after tuning our instrument, there will still be notes that are naturally out-of-tune for various reasons. This makes it necessary for us to adjust, or manipulate, the pitch while playing. Here are some simple ways to adjust pitch:

Embouchure Tension
("Lipping" the note up or down)

Increase embouchure tension and use the vowel 'EE' to sharpen the pitch.
Decrease embouchure tension and use the vowel "OH" to flatten the pitch.

Alternate/Resonance Fingerings

For notes that are naturally out-of-tune, alternate fingerings and resonance fingerings are often available to adjust the pitch.
Different brands of baritone saxophones will require different alternate fingering usage.
Alternate fingerings can also help you navigate difficult technical passages.

Other Factors Effecting Pitch

Breath Support and Posture

When playing, sit as if you are standing from the waist up.
Poor breath support will lead to an unsupported, out-of-tune sound.

Dynamics

When you increase volume on the saxophone, the pitch tends to go flat.
When you decrease volume on the saxophone, the pitch tends to go sharp.

Reeds

If your reed is too soft, pitch will be flat.
If your reed is too hard, pitch will be sharp.
Do not play on old reeds. Reeds only last about 2 1/2 weeks.

Pads and Keys

When pads and keys become displaced and move closer to the instrument, the pitch of those notes will flatten.
When pads and keys become displaced and move away from the instrument, the pitch of those notes will sharpen.
Leaky pads and keys will create weak and unstable notes.
Have your saxophone adjusted by a professional at least once per year.

Temperature

When the temperature is hot, the pitch will go sharp.
When the temperature is cold, the pitch will go flat.
Playing the baritone saxophone at room temperature will give you the best chance of being in tune.

Pitch Tendencies

Every instrument has notes that are naturally out of tune. Here is a list of common naturally out-of-tune notes for the baritone saxophone. These notes are the written notes for the instrument, not the sounding concert pitches:

VERY SHARP

MODERATELY SHARP

SLIGHTLY SHARP

MODERATELY FLAT

SLIGHTLY FLAT

Alternate Fingerings

Listed below are alternate fingerings for many of the naturally out-of-tune notes on the baritone saxophone. This is not a complete list, however, these fingerings will be helpful. You will find that many of the alternate fingerings will work for all of the saxophones (soprano, alto, tenor, baritone).

Note

Primary Fingering

Alternate Fingering

Comments

This note is moderately flat. Pressing the pinky C# key will raise the pitch slightly. Pressing this key will also raise D#/Eb.

C# tends to be a flat note. Using this fingering will raise the pitch slightly.

Pressing the left hand pinky B key will also lower the notes D#/Eb and 4th space E.

Pressing the low C key will also lower the pitch of G#.

'A' above the staff is a naturally sharp note. Adding the middle finger of the right hand will lower the pitch.

With this note, you can add more fingers of the right hand to bring the pitch down. Experiment until you find what works for you and your instrument.

High notes on the saxophone tend to be sharp. For this note, you can either depress the 'D' palm key OR add the middle finger of the right hand. Experiment to find which one works for you.