Saxophone Overtones 

Hey! That's fantastic, congrats Marty! Super glad I could help!

Hey, wait until you figure out your squeaks were just altissimo! Good luck, and hit me up with questions, Pepperam!

Niiiiiice!!!!

Thanks Kenneth! Happy holidays and happy practicing my friend!

yay! Glad it helped!

Glad it was helpful!

Much appreciated Ted! The older I get, the more time I spend on low Bb!

So glad you're finding success, James! No coffee necessary, just go annoy your neighbors!

Congratulations on being on of 3 people who got the joke, and likely the ONLY person who laughed! (and thanks). Happy practicing!

Excellent! join our free fundamentals course - it's loaded with fun stuff, and free!

You are absolutely welcome, hit me up with questions!

Many thanks!

Excellent! Keep at it Corphs! Let me know if you have questions!

👍

Appreciate it!

I love overtones. My wife...not so much...

Jardov, I actually read this out loud to my wife. After she finished laughing, she said....."yup." She feels your family's pain.

Hey Chris! When you DON’T get the overtone - what comes out? Lob Bb or a higher overtone?

I get the Low Bb

Ah! Try raising the back of your tongue - as if you were raising the pitch while whistling. Also, increase air velocity!

@@drwallysax Hi Wally - ok, that is a little more consistent - but often now when I blow middle Bb, then finger Low Bb, I get the F above middle Bb.

Good! Now, hold the f2 and see if you can slur it down (as an overtime) to Bb2! Experiment with slightly lower tongue position.

You bet!

yay!

Yay!!!! Let's shoot for a Huzzahh now!

Hey, happy accidents are still happy!

My doctoral minor was Dad jokes. I graduated with honors.

@@drwallysax you are great !!!

Excellent, keep at it!

Excellent question - and good observation. Experiment on your horn - but in general - overtones on D1 are horribly unstable and out of tune (which is why I don't use it past A2). So for A2, on most horns, it raises the intonation to acceptable levels. Make sense?

Hey Sequoyah, I'm working on a video, hopefully in the next few weeks that will address this. Hope you're doing well and Happy Practicing!

Heck yah, Tobi!!!!!

Hey Tommy, That's a long discussion - I'd recommend Rascher's "Top Tones" or at least google "overtone series." If you have specific questions after that - I'd be happy to help!

Yes!!!!!!! Congrats Rafael!

It's the entry level Rega. RP1 I think?

Better intonation, that overtone is quite flat on most horns. Come to think of it, it does help with response as well. Great Question!

@@drwallysax Ok, master! The next step would be another octave: C3 with low C, D3 with low Bb, Eb3 with low B natural(?), F3 with low Bb, G3 with low C, A3 with low B natural (or low D ?, the 7th overtone is very flat...) and Bb3 with low Bb. That's right? Thanks!

Hey, congrats Joshua! Keep it up my friend!

HECK YES DAVID!!!! Congrats my friend!!!

YES, get it James!!!!!

Yes!!! Keep it up Stephen!

Great question, keep the octave off!

Hi Kent, unfortunately, I just can't be sure without hearing you play!

@@drwallysax SOLVED! It was all about voicing - which I never understood before I saw your instructions regarding exercise zero and overtone study. Thankyou, Dr. Wallace!

Great question! When you’re first starting out, just let it sound naturally (depending on horn, it can be wildly out of tune, that’s normal). Later, it’s a useful exercise to “voice” it in tune. We’ll cover that in a later video.

@@drwallysax Okey thank you very much! I Love that its possible to talk with you so fast!

ptkul123 Voi Happy to help. Please send some Scandinavian weather this way, we’re roasting down here!

Well done Daniel! Now take a break and have a snack!

Saxophone Academy Done!

Try a "kee" or "kha" syllable - tongue high. Are you able to overshoot the Bb and slur down to it? For instance - hit the D or F above and then go down?

@@drwallysax Yes, sometimes I hit a super high overtone. Deliberately not buying though

@@jeromeking6001 Excellent (I assume "biting" was autocorrected to buying in your comment?). If you overshoot - slur down - relax your embouchure and move your tongue down until you get the next partial down. Then hold - and remember the tongue position. Playing the note on a piano/keyboard can help for reference. Great question - good luck and keep me updated!

Bruce, Walrus numbers are dropping annually. It's your duty to help in the mating ritual. Let's keep the wildlife numbers strong! (or, try relaxing the embouchure - and opening the oral cavity a bit).

@@drwallysax OK, but does that advice pertain to overtones, or walruses? :-0

It’s an 875EX with the lacquer removed. Neck is an older M1, gold plated.

Hey Nicky, should be fine!

@@drwallysax Ok, thanks. That's good to know. I guess I will get acquainted with it...

Hey there! Afraid I can't help much with that over the internet - but please don't over do it and strain your finger!

@@drwallysax Thanks so much Dr. I'll do my best

I had the same problem with my small hands. What I did was to add some felt and cork to the underside of the B flat and B keys and levers to remove all the slack in the key movement so that almost as soon as I touched the B flat key, the pad began to close. Less travel in the mechanism made the for less work to close the pads. I no longer had to throw my left shoulder out of joint to get the mechanism to function properly. Also check to ensure that the pads are closing uniformly on the tone hole. This should remove the "gorilla grip" some of us face. Your welcome.

Raccoon died next to my driveway. Couple minutes with a hot glue gun and bingo: my hairdo.

Hi Jack - couple of questions - can you get higher, but not that overtone specifically? And we are talking the 3rd overtone of low Bb, right? Can you overshoot it?

Yes, the third overtone of low Bb.I can overshoot it and get altissimo notes when I move my tongue to an ew position but when I try to play Bb3 I get an F.

@@jacktilley9849 Ah! Well, first, you're doing very well! Try slurring down from any note above. Many times my students can hit the partial above and slur down. Then hold it, pause, and re-attack with a gentle breath articulation. Also, experiment with different vowel shapes. For that overtone, try your tongue in the position when you say "air." Afraid I dont have a great shortcut, but experiment and be patient!

@@drwallysax I will try this thank you for the help!

I tried to grow a ponytail in college, just turned into a huge blond fro.

Whoooo! Keep up the good work Zach!

I dress for the occasion, but I'm a saxophone teacher for the people!

Overtone powers goooooooooooo!!!!!!

that's a rather long discussion. I teach the exercises, but don't really have the patience for long explanation of the science kind of videos. Short answer - they are a tool to learn voicing, or how we shape our oral cavity.

@Selmer Reference54 I am with you. I have no idea either. Tried to google what we are supposed to learn but that confused me even more. Methinks the problem is no music theory in my history. You and I will go sit in the corner until the next video. :-D

@@theomarais8920 the physics of sound waves can be very complex... but an octave (Bb2 up to the Bb3) is like splitting a note into two (like a guitar harmonic at the 12th fret...both are Es (yet one is 12 semitones above) ie one is vibrating at twice the rate...yet they ring together etc).. well... overtones are fractions of tones..split a sound wave .. 1/3 1/5 etc.. ..ringing against a fundamental tone.. if you blow a harmonica (all those tones (reeds ) wavering at once) some of these tones are less heard (some are heard more ) above and below any note... simplified as.....fundamental tone...sub-tone..over-tone etc..maybe like all the colours of the rainbow (in one note) yet one is mostly hearing the blue... its a wave spectrum thing... like a hall of mirrors... but of vibrations...its fascinating... its not really just theory..... its how things vibrate ( as waves) .. at what rate... in relation to their neigbors rates....those waves are all vibrating.. at different rates... top to bottom of horn.. I hope that gets you started ?

@@bluegoose555 Starting to look for the exit. . .:-D I get what you are saying, yes. Thanks

who do?

First step of being a legend is being bad. Keep at it ;)

I put the "FUN" in No ReFUNds

Wooooo! Belated contrats - keep it up Johnny!

Congrats KennyD!

Thank you 😁