Want to play altissomo on tenor sax looking for a new mouthpiece and advice?

im looking to invest in a new tenor sax mouthpiece that will allow me to play altissomo without sacrificing too much low/midrange note quality. does metal/rubber make that much of a difference? i have my eye on a vandoren v16 t7 or t8 rubber mouthpiece, but didnt want to go for it without seeking advice first.





i also realize that it is not just the mouthpiece that makes the difference, but i want somewhere to start.





thanks for your help


(oh, i play a yamaha yts-62 horn, if it makes a difference)Want to play altissomo on tenor sax looking for a new mouthpiece and advice?
Hey there. Altissimo is much more the player than the mouthpiece. It is ridiculous to say a mouthpiece will allow you to produce altissimo. You develop the ability through practice. The equipment just aids you in the production, but if you can't hit any altissimo you've either got a lot of practice to do, very very bad equipment, or a combonation. I've got three ways to get better altissimo.





1.) First and usually ignored is the reed. The strength as well as type of reed has a lot to do with getting the higher frequencies. The horn isn't fully responsible for the pitch mostly because the highest fingering is F or F#. That means the Reed has to vibrate differently to accomplish the task. Now what reed works for you is up to you, but i find that the harder the reed the easier the altissimo. I also think ZZ's are good for it.





2.) The mouthpiece may not be the main role, but it certainly does play a part. I'd suggest you go to wwbw.com for trying out mouthpieces. You can try up to 4 different ones and try them for a few weeks. If you don't like them send them back.





3.) The player. Possibly the biggest part of Altissimo. When you play in the upper register, try very hard not to bite down, or else tone as well as intonation will go out the window. The secret is really in the throat. Try saying ';He'; into the sax. Also if you don't already, practice a bunch of over tones. They are another huge tool to get altissimo. That is when you finger low Bb and, using the throat, you play through the harmonic series as high as you can go. Not only that, but many players including myself find over tones to help overall tone quality as well. A great book for learning over tones is Top Tones by Sigurd M. Rascher. Also Hearing the note before you play it is very helpful for altissimo.





Another Point would be the fingerings your using for altissimo.





http://www.wfg.woodwind.org/sax/sax_alt_鈥?/a>





This Site has a bunch of fingerings that other players post. There are a bunch of options. Which fingering you do use depends. Are you aiming for inntonation. Are you going through a fast altissimo lick. So on.





Anyway, I hope i helped, and Good Luck on you search.Want to play altissomo on tenor sax looking for a new mouthpiece and advice?
Garrett has great advice. THe other part of learning it is studying and achieving the overtone series. Go buy books like Top Tones for Saxophone by Sigurd Rascher, Ted Nash's Study in High Harmonics, and others. These have exercises that will help you in learning to control your techniques for achieving overtone series and altissimo. A private lesson teacher is even better as they can make sure you are NOT adjusting your embouchure when working on these exercises as your embouchure is solid throughout. THe changes are in your throat, tongue position, etc.
I play a Peter Ponzol ML 100 i can crank out the altissomo notes like all get out as well as the low notes. I have another mouthpiece a Ernie Northway student mouthpiece and i can crank out the altissomo notes like all get out as well as the low notes.