(This article originally appeared in Saxophone Today, September/October 2015.)
After a recent, all-soprano saxophone performance in Europe, a musician friend said to me, “I don’t normally like soprano sax, but I really enjoyed your playing.” I’ve heard that more than once, and while it is flattering, it also makes me wonder why people don’t like the soprano. It’s a marvelous instrument with an array of colors, brilliance, and agility. Then again, I’ll hear someone trying to play it without seriously approaching the distinctiveness of the little horn, and I totally understand the somewhat popular aversion to the instrument. In this issue, I offer some practical advice for mastering the soprano saxophone.
Double, Don’t Dabble
As my old friend Chris Vadala would say, you can double, or you can dabble. Soprano is not something that you can just pick up and play without sufficient practice to negotiate its unique problems. First of all, when compared to the larger horns, the soprano is very small, so tiny adjustments have a big impact on what comes out of the bell. To the player, the horn can seem fussy and the pitch can be wild, to say the least. Playing the soprano with a good tone, even response, and excellent intonation requires patient and thorough practice.
Before we get too detailed, let’s make the assumption that we are talking about the straight version of the soprano. Unlike its serpentine counterparts of various sizes, the straight soprano is almost completely conical. Straight sopranos with interchangeable necks introduce a short length of cylinder at the socket, but the effect is somewhat negligible. (It is worth noting that the early versions of the Selmer Series III suffered from this design problem and later versions added an internally threaded section to the neck socket.) The relatively uninterrupted conical bore of the soprano results in a few interesting changes from what we normally expect on altos and tenors.
Altos tend to play sharp on low Bb, but flat on low B, C, and sometimes C#. This flatness results from the curvature of the bow creating turbulence and under-venting of those notes. Sopranos, however, tend to be sharp throughout the lowest tones. We also come to expect the middle C# to be quite flat, but sopranos are usually a bit sharp on the open note! The octaves also can be wide on the shorter fingerings, resulting in a very sharp extreme upper register. Instruments that use the Mark VI style “doughnut key” attempt to resolve this issue by automatically deploying a small ring over the C-key to lower the pitch of the upper register, starting at high C#.
At any rate, the intonation anomalies of the soprano can make it difficult for the novice to correctly place the mouthpiece on the cork. Compensating for the sharp notes by pulling out on the cork leaves the instrument grossly out of tune with itself. For this reason, I have my students start by pushing the mouthpiece in fairly far on the cork. From there, they slowly test all three octaves of C and the two octaves of G. When they have pulled out a bit, we go on to test middle C# and high C#. If the C#s are very high, we might need to pull out a little more. This takes some practice, but it is worth the time. I also have the student mark the cork with a marker or a piece of tape, so that they will have a ballpark reminder for the future. This spot will change as the player develops, but it is helpful to have a benchmark for comparison.
Mouthpieces and Reeds
There are more mouthpiece choices today than ever before, but I am very dubious of using exotic designs and extreme tip openings for soprano. Some of the best players that I have ever heard play moderately sized rubber Selmer mouthpieces. I use a Selmer C** for classical settings, an E for situations that require a bit more volume, and a Selmer Super Session H for jazz. I’ve had a few other mouthpieces from popular makers, but the Selmers give me the most flexibility and ease of response through the registers. Easy is good, and I don’t want to be thinking about mouthpieces when I am performing! I use French-filed #3 reeds on all of my soprano mouthpieces, again avoiding anything fancy or unusual. When choosing reeds, I make sure that they are soft enough to play quietly in the low register (more on that in a moment), but that they have enough stiffness in the tip to play clearly in the extreme high register. Ideally, I am looking for reeds that will easily speak on low Bb while offering altissimo up to high C. This requires a break-in period for new reeds and the patience to identify the few in a box that will actually work. For perspective, I recently prepared for a soprano concert and started out by breaking in twenty reeds. I ended up with around five that met my basic criteria, and it came down to two reeds that I was willing to use on the concert. It’s a lot of work to get the best reeds, but it is well worth it to have a setup that you know will be reliable on the gig. In other words, do your reed homework.
Tips for the Low Register
Soprano plays with relative ease in the middle register, but the lowest notes can be very challenging. As you approach the full length of the cone, these bottom notes have very high resonance and low resistance. This means that you don’t get much back pressure and when the note speaks, it does so with force. If one is not careful, those low notes can really squawk and honk. I have my students start by practicing the low notes with a double-lip embouchure, by which I mean that the top teeth are temporarily not touching the mouthpiece (in every other way, the embouchure should be totally normal). This prevents biting and lets the reed vibrate fully. By getting the feeling of full vibration, one can learn to find the appropriate amount of openness with the jaw, and firmness with the lips. If this is very difficult for you, start on a low D and then work your way down. Strive for the best sound, and play with the softest dynamic possible with a full sound.
Subtone is also very useful on soprano, especially when trying to darken the tone of the low notes. (See my last article and YouTube video for tips on embouchure and subtone.) By rolling the lip outward (drawing the chin inward will help), the upper harmonics will be dampened and the notes will be smoother and rounder. I practice transitioning back and forth between subtone and full tone, working downward from G in the staff. The ability to mix subtone into the low register in varying amounts allows for a wide variety of colors and dynamics, and it especially helps to play with a softer, prettier tone.
Approaching the Palm Keys
Many beginners will find the palm key register very challenging. In contrast to the lowest notes, this part of the horn has low resonance and very high resistance. For this reason, firm support (without biting, of course) must be combined with accurate voicing. I have my students begin by practicing overtones at the second octave. For example, finger a low C while sounding a high C, two octaves above the fingering. Once this is possible without too much effort, try sounding a high D while fingering a low Bb. The exercises in Sigurd Rascher’s “Top Tones” will be especially useful when learning to voice for the difficult high notes on soprano. Practice with a drone and a tuner, to keep the intonation in check. Tuning intervals with the highest soprano notes against a drone will produce very loud difference tones. It is helpful to learn to hear these difference tones, as it will assist the player in placing the finicky palm keys with good pitch.
To Neckstrap, or Not
Finding the correct angle for the mouthpiece to enter the mouth requires some tinkering. Too straight and the horn will honk, and unnecessary strain will be placed on the right hand that must lift the horn up and out. Too angled and the reed will be choked off. To find a happy medium, many players will use a curved neck and use a neckstrap to take some of the weight off the right thumb. Unfortunately, a completely straight soprano is very difficult to use with a neckstrap, as it makes the angle of the mouthpiece too steep and it draws the player’s head downward, choking off at the throat.
The curved neck is a good compromise, although not everyone likes the potential issues caused by a removable neck and the possibility for reduced resonance by breaking the bore so close to the mouthpiece. There are several horns manufactured with one-piece bodies and seamless curved necks, including the Rousseau model Yamaha (a nod to the much revered original, tipped neck model 62). There is another option which I have been using for over ten years, with great success: the saxello-style, tipped bell soprano.
My particular soprano is a Rampone & Cazzani “half-curved” soprano. The neck curves back towards the player, while the bell gently curves up and outward. This results in a very comfortable center of gravity for using a neckstrap. This was the main reason that I pursued this option, as I was suffering with tendonitis in my right hand, making holding the weight of a traditional soprano unbearable. The design of this instrument allows me to completely support the horn with a neckstrap. This design was first used by King in the 1920s with their “saxello,” which is one of the coolest and most collectable horns out there. Unfortunately, they are clunky and do not play with good pitch. Roland Kirk famously played the saxello - check out his solo on “Wham, Bam, Thank You Ma’am” from Mingus, Oh Yeah!
The modern version of this design plays very well. The slight curvature of the bell section actually improves the pitch and resistance of the low C and B, making it behave slightly more like an alto. There are also a few options for a completely curved soprano, including some notable vintage horns (like Buescher, King, and Conn) and we must include the renowned Yanagisawa. Rampone & Cazzani might be the only manufacturer to offer a fully curved soprano with a non-detachable neck. I haven’t had the chance to play one of these, but the great Jan Garbarek (one of my favorite saxophonists of all time) has recently started playing the Rampone curved model.
Beware the Cheapo Soprano!
One last bit of advice - it is very difficult to manufacture a high quality soprano saxophone. The tone holes are very small and close together, and the tolerances are tight. There are a lot of off-brands and stenciled, assembly house sopranos out there. You usually get what you pay for and I have played some visually attractive sopranos that seemed like a great bargain, but the pitch was absolutely unmanageable, and the metal was frighteningly soft. Be prepared to spend some money on a serious instrument, or look for a high quality used horn. That $950 curved soprano on ebay is a bad idea. Please save your money and invest in something that will be playable and will retain some value, in case you ever need to sell it.
I hope that these pointers are helpful. Remember, soprano is a unique instrument that can become a very personal extension of your voice. Some of my favorite soprano players are Wayne Shorter, Dave Liebman, Claude Delangle, and Tim McAllister, and everyone should check out Christopher Creviston’s amazing recording of the Poulenc flute sonata, transcribed for soprano . . . WOW! These artists approach the soprano as a distinctive instrument with special qualities and capabilities. As with everything else, mastery takes a tremendous amount of work, but the payoff will be in direct proportion. Practice well!
Check out Stephen Page’s fascinating low A modification to his soprano here:
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