Embouchure Exercises

The first thing that I tell my beginning saxophone players is that they need to strenghthen their embouchures (muscles in their mouth). Here is an exercise that does this. First you make an "EE" formation (smile with the corners of your mouth going toward your ears). Then you make an "OO" formation (pucker big like a baby that is going to kiss someone). Go from the "EE" to the "OO" as hard and fast as you can in sets of 50. I would suggest doing 1 set of 50 every day for the first 2 weeks and then increase the sets to 3 per day. The muscles in the mouth will get tired and this is okay. Tiredness is the first signal that you need to rest soon. Burning in the muscles of the mouth is the next signal that you need to rest very soon. Sharp pains in the muscles of your mouth mean that you need to stop immediately and rest. It is better to practice a little bit per day everyday than to practice a very long time only one time per week. Practice does not make perfect. Only perfect practice makes perfect so practice smart. Take your time and have fun. The saxophone is one of the easiest instruments to play, but one of the hardest to play well. Give yourself time to improve. You will sound bad before you sound good. My next post will explain how to form your embouchure.