As a beginner player, why is the alto sax mouthpiece the best upgrade?
Your sax mouthpiece is the most important and cheapest upgrade you can do as a beginner sax player.
In this blog, I’m going to tell you why the Yamaha 4C mouthpiece is the best alto sax mouthpiece choice for you as a beginner, both on tenor and on alto sax.
The Right Sax Mouthpiece
We talk about how to choose the right mouthpiece a lot in Sax School, where we have thousands of students learning saxophone online. Whether you’re starting out with a brand new Chinese saxophone or a second-hand, used sax, you should think about upgrading your alto sax mouthpiece or jazz mouthpiece to give yourself the best start.
If you want some tips on choosing a saxophone, and get my free buyers guide, click here.
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Why Upgrade Your Saxophone Mouthpiece?
If you’re using a second-hand saxophone, it might not have even come with a mouthpiece. Or, the mouthpiece that you bought with the saxophone might not be suitable for you as a beginner. If you’ve bought a new saxophone, the mouthpiece provided may be unbranded.
Playing on the wrong mouthpiece can make it so much more difficult to get started. Your mouthpiece is the first part of your sax that you blow into, so it has the biggest impact on how easy it is to play jazz, and on the sound quality that comes out.
Why the Yamaha 4C
Firstly, these alto saxophone mouthpieces are really affordable at around £40 or $40 US if you buy them in the US. The price for alto and tenor is about the same.
This is really cheap for a saxophone mouthpiece. My pro mouthpiece from Theo Wanne would cost around ten times more – but it would also be much more difficult for a beginner to play. The Yamaha 4C is a much better choice for a beginner.
This is all to do with the shape and opening of the mouthpiece. The Yamaha 4C is designed to make it really easy to play, even if your embouchure (the muscles around your mouth) are not very developed yet. You can still get a nice controlled smooth and warm sound with this quality mouthpiece. With a soft reed, it will be much easier to play the full range of notes on your sax.
This mouthpiece doesn’t come with a ligature so you’ll need to buy one separately. As a beginner player, the type of ligature doesn’t make much difference, so there’s no need to spend a lot of money on your first ligature. The most important thing is that it holds the reed in place.
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How does the Yamaha alto sax mouthpiece sound?
Listen to the Yamaha 4C on both alto and tenor. I’m playing “Pocket Rock-It” from Duets for Sax inside the Sax School Members’ Area.
I think the mouthpiece sounds great. It’s a smooth, round sound, so I wouldn’t use it for a pop gig or a full-on funk gig, but it’s perfect for when you’re starting out. It’s easy to control and keep in tune.
Plus, I can get the full range from this mouthpiece that I could get on my pro mouthpiece – so I can get right up into the altissimo. It’s great on both alto and tenor.
I’m using Légère reeds today – I’m a Légère artist and I use them on all my saxophones. As a beginner, you could try a Légère synthetic reed but you might want to try a cane reed too. Cane reeds can be a good choice for a beginner because you can try more reeds, more quickly, till you find the size that suits you.
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Check out the Yamaha 4c saxophone mouthpiece on Amazon here:
Yamaha 4c Alto Sax Mouthpiece | Yamaha 4c Tenor Sax Mouthpiece
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