WIND INSTRUMENTS

Educator Series
Breathing and Embouchure:
Foundation Skills for the Developing
Saxophonist
By John Bleuel

The most important concept we should teach to our students is the development of a beautiful,
characteristic saxophone sound. While capable of spectacular technical feats and a wide dynamic
range, the saxophone is not a truly convincing voice if played with a poor sound. In this article I will
discuss breathing and embouchure, which together form the foundation of a beautiful saxophone
tone. If students learn to take full advantage of their breathing capabilities and to form the proper
John Bleuel embouchure, they will be able to perform consistently with a characteristic saxophone sound.

Breathing
John Bleuel is Assistant Professor of Saxophone at
the State University of West Georgia in Carrollton, In order to produce a beautiful saxophone sound, students need to have a basic understanding of
GA. As a member of the Bleuel Duo with pianist the physical characteristics of inhalation and exhalation. The chest cavity should be thought of as
Linda Li-Bleuel he has performed throughout the bellows, expanding with inhalation and contracting with exhalation. As we inhale, the rib cage
eastern United States as well as in Austria, expands outward, and the diaphragm – the muscle separating the chest cavity from the abdomen –
Canada, Ireland, Japan, and Spain. The Bleuel moves downward. As we exhale, the rib cage contracts and muscles in the rib cage, neck, and throat
Duo can be heard on Volumes 1 and 2 of Arizona work together to expel the air taken in during inhalation. It is also important for students to
University Recordings’ America’s Millennium understand that the kind of breathing we do automatically – passive breathing – is insufficient to
Tribute to Adolphe Sax and ACA Digital’s Vortex. produce the air stream required to play a wind instrument with success. To produce a beautiful tone,
His principal teachers were Kenneth Fischer, we need to go beyond passive breathing to active breathing in order to inhale and exhale a larger
University of Georgia (saxophone) and Thomas volume of air. Active breathing seeks to take in the maximum amount of air during inhalation and to
Dvorak, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee expel a consistent, intense air stream during exhalation. To introduce active breathing, ask your
(conducting). John Bleuel plays the Yamaha students to stand and take a series of five breaths. The first breath should be a normal passive breath,
YSS-875 soprano saxophone and YAS-875 alto and each succeeding breath should take in more air until the students have reached their maximum
saxophone. capacity with the fifth breath. Students should always inhale through the mouth during this exercise.
Ask the students to place their hands at the base of the rib cage and repeat the exercise, enabling
them to feel the expansion that takes place with active breathing. Encourage students to include this
exercise in their practice routine; active breathing will become an automatic response only with
repeated practice! During exhalation, students should think of blowing a steady, intense air stream
into the saxophone. Finally, active breathing requires consistently good posture in order to fill up
with the maximum amount of air. We are best able to fill up with air when standing; remind your
students to stand when practicing and “stand when they sit,” sitting straight up on the edge of their
chairs for maximum air intake.

Embouchure
Because the embouchure serves to focus the air stream into the saxophone, its correct formation is
just as important to a beautiful saxophone tone as active breathing. Students should be encouraged

JOHN BLEUEL 1
 John Bleuel

to take a comfortable and natural approach to forming the embouchure. The continually reinforce active breathing and proper embouchure formation.
neckstrap should be adjusted to a height that enables the saxophone to fall Finally, students should practice in front of a mirror regularly to check their
naturally into the student’s mouth, and the mouthpiece should be in a overall playing position.
position on the saxophone neck that allows the student to play with the
head, neck, and shoulders in a normal, relaxed position. The top front teeth Conclusion
should securely contact the mouthpiece approximately a half inch from the The most important feature that distinguishes great musicians from average
edge to ensure that the mouthpiece position does not change while playing. players is quality of sound. Breathing and embouchure formation make up the
These teeth should support the entire weight of the head, eliminating any foundation of a great saxophone tone. Regular, consistent practice in these
unnatural tension in the jaw and lower lip. The upper lip should not be rolled two areas will pay big dividends in developing a beautiful, characteristic
over the upper teeth, but rather should cover the top of the mouthpiece saxophone sound!
immediately in front of the teeth. Students should think of the lips as forming
a rubber band-like seal around the mouthpiece. The corners of the mouth
should be drawn in to form as round a shape as possible around the
mouthpiece, and lip firmness should be equal all around the embouchure.
The lower lip should be rolled over the bottom front teeth to form a cushion
for the reed. The position of the lower lip is crucial because it affects the way
in which the reed will vibrate. The player must find a balance between
pressing the lower lip against the reed with the bottom teeth, constricting the
reed’s ability to vibrate freely and thus to produce a good sound, and allowing
the lower lip to be too relaxed, resulting in a wild, uncontrollable sound. A
round embouchure focus will enable the facial muscles to hold the lower lip
in place without undue pressure from the bottom teeth and will eliminate
leaking air at the corners of the mouth. The tongue should lay flat in the
mouth, and the throat should have a relaxed, open feeling. The chin should
remain in its normal flat position, with the muscles firm but relaxed. The
cheeks should remain flat when playing. Beware of bunched chin muscles
and puffed cheeks; both will distort the air stream and detract from the
player’s ability to produce a beautiful sound.

Exercises For Practice

Students should practice the “five breath” exercise mentioned previously
before practicing the saxophone. This will enable them to focus exclusively
on active breathing before dealing with the instrument. One of the best ways
to check for correct breathing and embouchure is to listen to the pitch the
student produces on the mouthpiece alone. Students should play a concert
C on the soprano saxophone mouthpiece, A on alto, G on tenor, and D on
baritone. If the mouthpiece pitch is high the embouchure has too much
tension and the throat may be constricted, but if the pitch is low the
embouchure is too relaxed and unfocused. This test should always be
performed fortissimo, using the same volume of air as when actually playing
the saxophone. Encourage your students to check their mouthpiece pitch
regularly against a keyboard, tuner, or The Tuning CD (see
www.thetuningcd.com). Additionally, students should practice long tones
with a metronome regularly. Long tones provide the opportunity to

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3445 East Paris Ave., SE • P.O. Box 899 • Grand Rapids, MI 49518-0899
www.yamaha.com/band
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