How to Hold a Tenor Saxophone

When most people think of jazz music, they associate the sound with a tenor sax. The tenor sax puts out a lower range of sound than the alto sax, but higher than the baritone sax. In order to play the tenor sax well, you must first learn to hold the instrument correctly.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

1. Decide if you want to hold the tenor sax in front of or to the right side of your body. Most people hold the tenor sax to the right side.

2. Get a neck strap to help support the tenor sax's weight. Some people prefer a neck harness that distributes the weight across the shoulders rather than at the base of the neck.

3. Hook the neck strap onto the clip on the tenor sax. Once you have the tenor sax secured to the neck strap, let go of the tenor sax with your hands.

4. Look at where the mouthpiece hits your body. You want the mouthpiece to be level with your mouth when the tenor sax hangs from the neck strap. If it doesn't, adjust the neck strap until it does.

5. Place the thumb of your right hand under the hook toward the bottom of the tenor sax. Your right index, middle and ring fingers should rest, not press, on the 3 bottom keys.

6. Put your left thumb on the black spot toward the top of the tenor sax. Wrap your left hand fingers around the tenor sax and rest them on the 3 main keys.

7. Make you keep your body straight. If you sit down to play, scoot to the edge of the chair and don't rest your back against the chair's back.

Tips & Warnings

• You may need to tilt or adjust the neck or mouthpiece of the tenor sax to fit your mouth comfortably.