The Backbone of Your Sound, Part Two: Instrument Posture

By Nicholas Bissen

Date Posted: July 15, 2024

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Now that we have built our body posture in a way that’s structurally secure and open to mobility, let’s dig deep into saxophone instrument posture. The following is a series of procedures I use with students from beginner to advanced. Just like in building body posture, we want to position our skeleton and our instrument in a way that our muscles can operate the instrument with efficiency. The less effort we spend on moving our muscles, the more we can use them to make music.

Step 4 – Aligning the Neck Strap


Similarly to stacking up our skeleton, the goal of good neck strap alignment is to take effort away from your muscles and put more responsibility on your skeleton. It’s very important to fit the instrument to your own posture. You should not move your head or neck to the instrument. For younger students, finding this happy medium can be elusive, so I have my students follow this procedure.

With only your left hand bring your saxophone up to a playing position, and adjust your neck strap until your top teeth touch the mouthpiece without your neck leaning forward or back. This position will be different standing vs. sitting. When your neck strap is in the proper position, you should be able to control the entire instrument from four points of contact: top teeth, left thumb, right thumb, neck strap.

aligning saxophone strap for better instrument posture

Step 5 – Positioning the Instrument


Now that the neck strap is holding the weight of the instrument and is supported by your flawless posture, we can position the instrument for a healthy hand posture! Ultimately, you should be in a position that allows your wrists to move. If your wrists are tense or cramped before you are playing scales, you’ll find that you are unable to reach certain keys and crack certain notes. In general, I play with my alto, tenor, and baritone with the bell angled slightly to the left. This brings the right-hand thumb hook slightly to the right and allows both my hands to have a similar wrist angle. If I have by bell pointed directly in front of me, then I have a bit of an issue with my right-hand wrist. When playing different instruments sitting and standing, you have several points of adjustment before you need to compromise your posture: mouthpiece angle, neck angle, neck strap height, and saxophone position. Be sure to consider the mouthpiece angle, the angle of your wrists, and your body posture. Below, I’ll briefly describe each instrument in a sitting and standing position.

Soprano

Sitting and standing require the same saxophone positioning. Support the instrument upwards until the mouthpiece angle is the same as your alto playing. This will place the weight of the instrument on your thumbs. Be sure to keep your wrists open to allow proper blood flow through the hand and good finger dexterity.

soprano posture facing front
proper soprano saxophone position sitting
soprano saxophone standing posture front
soprano saxophone standing posture side

Alto

Sitting – Smaller saxophonists should play to the side. When they’re tall enough to play with the instrument in front without resting their right hand on their leg, they should play in the front. The instrument does not need to be perpendicular to the floor, angle the instrument to accommodate for open wrists. When playing to the side, support the instrument between neck strap, right leg, and right hand.

proper posture alto saxophone sitting front view
proper posture alto saxophone sitting side view

Standing – Play with the saxophone in front. Rest the saxophone on the right leg/hip to get the right angle, then bring the saxophone to you by adjusting the mouthpiece, neck, and neck strap. Push the saxophone slightly away from you with the right hand to keep the low E-flat away from your body.

proper alto saxophone posture while standing front view
proper alto saxophone posture while standing side view

Tenor

Sitting – Position the saxophone to the side or to the front, whichever is most comfortable. Taller people may find it more comfortable playing with the saxophone to the front. The decision should be made based on your body and hand posture. Open ribcage and open wrists are a priority. When playing to the side, support the instrument between neck strap, right leg, and right hand.

proper sitting position for tenor saxophone front view
proper sitting position for tenor saxophone side view
proper sitting position for jazz tenor saxophone front view
proper sitting position for jazz tenor saxophone side view

Standing – Same as the alto, rest the saxophone on your right hip/leg, adjust the mouthpiece and neck, then push the saxophone forward with the right hand for low E-flat intonation. Depending on your height, it may fit better for you to play to the side. Pay attention to the mouthpiece angle, body posture, and wrist position.

proper posture tenor saxophone standing front view
proper posture tenor saxophone standing side view

Baritone

Sitting – Position the saxophone so it is controlled by the neck strap, right hand, and right leg. If your left hand is supporting the instrument’s weight, you apply unnecessary tension in your hand, causing missed notes, uneven technique, and eventually injury. This concept applies to all side playing saxophonists, but is more noticeable on baritone.

proper posture front bari saxophone angle
proper saxophone position baritone sax side view

Standing – The bottom of the saxophone will be to the side. Pay attention to the bottom bow of the instrument. It’s longer than you think, and its nemesis is a doorframe. Support the instrument forward with your right hand, and distribute the weight between the neck strap, the side of your leg/hip, and your right thumb. Pay attention to body posture and mouthpiece angle. Baritone saxophonists tend to twist their torso to the instrument, and allow the weight of the saxophone to pull the mouthpiece angle to an incorrect position.

front stand baritone saxophone front view

Step 6 – Positioning your hands

Now you’re ready to push buttons!


Home row

positioning your hands on a saxophone


These are the concave pearls for the C scale. The shape of your fingers should allow your finger tips to rest nicely into these concave pearls. Use the space between your finger nail and the dimple on the pad of your finger to contact the pearls. If your fingernails touch the pearls, your fingers are too curved. If the dimple on the pad of your finger is touching the pearls, your fingers are too flat. The flat position is strong, and we do not need strong fingers to play the saxophone. The curve you achieve when only using the tips of your fingers to rest on the pearls does not give you as much access to muscle strength and allows you to play faster.

Pinkies

pinky position on a saxophone


pinky position left hand on saxophone

Extend your pinkies slightly to allow the pads to contact the brass and rollers of the low notes. When pushing these keys, use a combination of your pinky and your wrist. Rotate your wrist slightly to give your pinky a little more strength – this is similar to piano technique. These pinky keys have more spring tension, especially on the bigger instruments, and will need help from larger muscles so you can play with speed and flexibility. This position does not really get exposed until students are playing full range scales, and is really exposed when playing in F-sharp or B major in the low register. To refine that sliding motion between the pinky table keys, it helps to add some natural oil from the surface of your nose to the pad of your pinky. This helps students notice that they don’t need to use so much hand pressure to press the keys and slide between the rollers.

Right Hand Side Keys

When pressing the keys not related to home row, we need to develop a bit of hand geography. To do this, I talk about “contact points” with my students and work with them to contact these keys with the same part of their hand every time. Similarly to building body posture, these hand posture ideas help students feel their way to the right answer rather than only seeing the right answer. A brief description of these positions for each key:

TA or RSK 1 or side B-flat – contact the big knuckle of your first finger with a slight twisting motion from the wrist.

side b-flat how to use proper hand position on saxophone

TC or RSK 2 or side C – contact the space between the big knuckle and the middle knuckle of your first finger with a slight twisting motion. This is similar to how you twist a door knob.

how to play side c using proper hand position on saxophone

C3 or RSK 3 or palm E – contact the middle knuckle of the first finger with a twisting motion, similar to twisting a door knob.

how to play palm E on saxophone using proper hand position

TF or side F-sharp – contact the tip of your ring finger by pulling the finger off of home row, similar to pressing the period key on a keyboard.

how to play side F sharp on saxophone using proper hand position

C5 or high F-sharp – contact the tip of your middle OR your ring finger by pulling the finger off of home row. This key is typically a long bar, which allows you to use either your middle or your ring finger to press this key. I prefer to use my middle finger to differentiate from side F-sharp. You should make the best decision for your own hand position.

how to play high f sharp on saxophone using proper hand position

Left Hand Palm Keys

All palm key motions require the fingers to maintain the “home row curve.” You do not need to maintain contact with the pearls while touching the palm keys, but you must avoid straightening the fingers, as this creates more distance between the fingertips and the pearls and will slow down your technique.

C1 or LSK 1 or Palm D – contact the big knuckle of your first finger with a slight twisting motion

how to play palm d on saxophone using proper hand position

C2 or LSK 2 or Palm E-flat – contact the middle knuckle of your first finger with a tapping motion as if you were tapping your finger on the table, or clicking a mouse. When hitting both C1 and C2 and the same time, aim the space in the middle of these contact points to the space between these keys with a slight twisting motion.

how to play palm e flat on saxophone using proper hand position

C4 or LSK 3 or Palm F – contact the middle knuckle of your middle finger with a tapping motion as if you were tapping your finger on a table or clicking a mouse. This particular key is often too low for most people, requiring you to straighten the finger to make contact – this is not ideal. Palm key risers are a great way to fix this problem. Often, people only need one palm key riser, and it’s for the C4 key.

how to play palm f on saxophone using proper hand position

Octave key

The pad of your thumb should stay on the thumb pad. To depress the octave key, make contact with the tip of your thumb while keeping the pad of your thumb on the thumb pad. When the thumb leaves the thumb pad, either to hit the octave key or to leave the pad entirely, you increase the pressure of the reed on your lip and destabilize your hand position. Keep the motion simple, and contained for more efficient technique.

how to properly press the octave key on your saxophone

Low A

Ideally, you hit the thumb low A the same way you contact the octave key, but most of us don’t have thumbs that long to make this easy. When playing a passage with low A, slide your thumb across the thumb pad so you can contact the low A and the thumb pad at the same time. Sure, you could pick up your thumb to hit the low A, and it’ll sound great, but when you have to let go the instrument will move and you’ll miss the notes after the low A. Always maintain contact with the thumb pad.

how to properly press your thumb low a key on saxophone

X or Front or Tab

Contact this key with Clarinet technique. Any time you press the X key, you should also be hitting the 1 or B key. Use the side of your finger or cuticle to make this work.

how to properly hit your X key on saxophone

P or Bis B-flat

Contact this key with a mirror image of clarinet technique. Shift the finger downward to hit the Bis and the B key at the same time.

how to properly play your bis b-flat key on saxophone

Equipment Considerations

Neck Straps

It’s helpful to try on a neck strap before purchasing. They often come in sizes that are labelled as T-shirt sizes, but may not correspond with your own T-shirt size. Neck straps that have a bar holding the string/strap apart to keep it off of your neck is also very helpful for good posture.

Shoes

Comfortable and supportive shoes make a big difference when building good body posture. You don’t need to spend an arm and a leg on specialized athletic shoes, but you can be picky when shoe shopping and consider your posture.

Big Rubber Bands

Teaching hand position can be tricky, but with a mirror and a big rubber band, you can put yourself and students in “finger jail.” When the rubber band is in contact with the left-hand fingers, students will notice how much they’re flying away from the instrument from the increasing rubber band tension. Start this process with a mirror so students can see what they’re doing. When they can self-correct with the mirror, they can move away from it and try to just feel what their hands are doing.

using a rubber band to correct proper finger placement on saxophone

Training your body to move in a specific way requires patience and persistence. Pay attention to how your body feels when you do something new, and check in frequently when your good posture is new. It creeps away faster than you think! Treat these new positions like learning a new note. Playing a wrong note is jarring and very noticeable, see if you can treat deviations from good posture and hand position with the same level of urgency as missing a note and notice how you feel at the end of it! Remember, your posture is connected to everything you do. With a consistent routine of feeling your way through today’s procedure, I’m confident that you’ll build a strong backbone to your sound. Happy practicing!

Nicholas Bissen image

About Nicholas Bissen

Nicholas Bissen is a strong advocate for student opportunity and success. He is the owner and operator of the Rose Street Saxophone Room, where his students perform in competitive recitals, place in All-State ensembles, and win concerto competitions, providing a variety of need for high-achieving students. Nicholas has held faculty positions at Lone Star North Harris, the New England Music Camp, and Stephen F. Austin State University as an adjunct professor. Nicholas has been featured as a chamber musician, recitalist, and concerto soloist. He has taught, performed, and commissioned new works as a former DACAMERA Young Artist. Nicholas currently teaches masterclasses and lessons at the Kinder High School for Performing and Visual Arts, and chamber music and masterclasses at the American Festival of the Arts. His private studio is based at the Rose Street Saxophone Room in Houston Texas, and at the Sienna cluster in Fort Bend ISD.

Nicholas’s teaching values lead him to frequently conduct and arrange for saxophone. His arrangement of Delibes’s “Flower Duet” is featured on the trio album by James Bunte, Nathan Nabb, and Hyun Ji Oh, “Jamnaji,” and is available through Murphy Music Press LLC. His edition of Fernande Decruck’s Sonata in C# was performed by James Bunte at the opening concerto concert for the 2018 NASA Biennial conference in Cincinnati. Nicholas’s arrangements of Poulenc’s Sonata for Flute and Piano, and Decruck’s Sonata in C# have been performed by James Bunte at the inaugural Single Reed Summit in 2018, and at several recitals across Ohio, Texas and Missouri. Nicholas’s newest adaptation is Khachaturian’s Violin Concerto in D Minor for Alto Saxophone. He has several arrangements for soloists and large saxophone choir available for purchase. Nicholas uses his arranging skills to frequently create teaching resources. His self-published Saxophone Handbook is available through this website.

Nicholas received his BME from the University of Central Missouri, his MM from the University of Cincinnati, his Performance Certificate from Stephen F. Austin State University, and has received four years of additional instruction from the Frederick L. Hemke Saxophone Institute. These teachers respectively are, James Gai, James Bunte, Nathan Nabb, Frederick Hemke, John Sampen, and Gail Levinsky.

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