Saxophone High Notes Not Working? Causes & Solutions
So, your high notes have stopped working. If you’re looking to figure out why this is and figure out how to fix it, you’re in the right place.
The most common reason that high notes don’t work is that the octave pip on the neck of the saxophone isn’t closing properly. This can be fixed by bending the metal piece on the neck ever so slightly so that it seals completely.
This is the most common reason, and it is the first one that you should check. There are actually several reasons why one’s high notes might stop working, though. Some of these reasons are mechanical problems in the saxophone and require minor repairs (all of which you can easily do yourself, fortunately!) while other reasons relate more to your embouchure and playing ability.
You can see the list of causes below, separated by mechanical issues (problems with the instrument) and non-mechanical issues (problems with the musician’s playing):
| Mechanical causes | |||
| Cause | Diagnosis | Solution | Commonality |
| Octave pip (on top of the neck) isn’t opening, or isn’t closing | The pad on the neck never opens, or never completely closes | Slightly bend the metal which closes the octave pip | The most common* |
| Octave pips aren’t switching properly | Fingering a G (with octave key) does not cause the neck octave pip to close, or the side octave pip does not open | Unstick the pads on the octave pips, or get the instrument repaired if it is broken | Very common |
| Non-mechanical causes | |||
| Cause | Diagnosis | Solution | Commonality |
| Rolling your lower lip too far over your teeth | Try playing with very little lower lip rolled over your teeth | Use less lower lip in general | Somewhat common |
| Low voicing/loose embouchure | Try playing with a higher tongue, or with slightly increased lip pressure on the reed | The same as the diagnosis | Somewhat common |
My goal for this article is to walk you through each of the causes so that you can figure out exactly why your high notes aren’t working and get the problem solved in no time.
Mechanical causes
If your high notes stopped working suddenly, it is far more likely that the problem is with your saxophone rather than with you as a player. I find that mechanical causes tend to be more common in general, so these are what you should check first.
Octave pip on top of the neck isn’t closing or isn’t opening
All saxophone necks have a tiny hole on them which is typically covered except for when the octave key is pressed. The idea is to create a tiny deliberate leak in the instrument which allows high notes to speak and sound good. If the part of the neck which normally opens and closes is bent, however, then this mechanism may in fact never open. This will lead to an inability to play high notes.
Diagnosis
When the neck is attached to the saxophone, pressing the octave key should open this pip by pressing on the hatch which normally keeps it closed.
When the hatch is bent, however, then the octave lifter may not be able to reach it, and thus will not be able to open it. Try pressing your octave key down a few times (without pressing any other keys). If you can see that the pip on the neck is not opening, then you’ve found your problem. This will indeed make it extremely difficult to play high notes.
Alternatively, the hatch might be bent so that it is always open. This will lead to you only being able to play high notes. This is probably not the issue you are having (seeing as how you are reading an article about why high notes don’t work) but it is worth mentioning.
Solution
Fortunately, this is a pretty easy do-it-yourself repair. You do have to bend the metal on the neck slightly, but you probably aren’t going to mess up your saxophone if you are careful about it.
Let’s start with the case that the octave pip never opens. In this case, you have to bend the round metal part toward the saxophone.
If the octave key never opens:
- Use your index finger to lift up the octave hatch on top of the neck.
- Use your thumb to push the round part of the hatch toward the saxophone. This should bend the metal to some extent.
If the problem is that the octave pip never closes, the solution is a little bit different. However, this will generally cause you to only be able to play high notes, rather than causing your high notes not to work. Use this if you go too far with the previous solution.
If the octave key is stuck open:
- Use your thumbs to hold the round part of the octave hatch toward the saxophone.
- Use your fingers to bend the top part of the hatch downward.
Overall, these issues are quite simple to solve.
Octave pips aren’t switching properly
The saxophone actually has two octave pips. One is on the neck (as mentioned previously) while the other is on the side of the saxophone just below the neck.
This might seem like a similar issue to the previous one, but it isn’t quite identical. The problem in the previous case was that the metal was bent. In this case, the problem is most likely that the pads which cover the octave pips are sticky. Alternatively, the machinery can be broken, but that is less common.
Diagnosis
If the octave pips are not switching properly, the first tell will be that your notes G (on top of the staff) and above will not work. There is, however, a more concrete way to check this.
First, press down the octave key. As mentioned previously, this should open the octave pip on the top of the neck.
Then press down the key which sits under the ring finger of the left hand. On a well-functioning saxophone, the octave pip on the neck should close, while the octave pip on the side of the saxophone should open.
If the lower octave pip is sticking, however, then the octave pip on top of the neck will not close and the lower octave pip will not open.
Solution
The solution is to unstick the pad on the lower octave pip as you would any other pad. This assumes that the cause is indeed a sticky pad (it is common for the lower octave pip to stick) and not broken machinery.
You will need pad cleaning paper and powder paper for this process.
First, place a sheet of the cleaning paper underneath the pad of the lower octave pip. Then, allow the lower octave pip to close. Gently pull the cleaning paper from underneath the pad after you close it.
This should get the gunk off of the pad. You may need to repeat this process several times.
After you unstick the pad, you can use powder paper to make sure that it does not stick in the future. Repeat the same process above, but use powder paper. This leaves the powder on the pad which makes it resistant to sticking.
If it turns out that there is a break in the machinery, take your saxophone to a trusted repair person.
Non-mechanical causes
While the causes discussed above are by far the more common causes of high notes not working, there is also a possibility that the problem is your playing.
I recommend only trying these solutions if you have eliminated the possible mechanical causes.
Rolling your lower lip too far over your teeth
It is generally considered best practice on the saxophone to let as little of your lower lip touch the reed as possible. The reason for this is that your lower lip tends to dampen the vibration of the reed thus squelching the sound.
This applies especially to high notes. If you are using an excessive amount of lower lip, you will find that your high notes tend to crack and have difficulty speaking.
You cannot put your teeth on the reed, of course, so the solution is to roll only a small portion of your lower lip over your teeth.
If you roll a large portion of your lower lip over your teeth and have been struggling with high notes, I recommend using less lower lip and seeing if that solves the problem.
Low tongue/loose embouchure
If the problem is not the amount of lower lip that you are using, the problem may be that your embouchure is too loose or that your tongue is too low.
The simplest way to diagnose this is to use more lower jaw pressure and raise the height of your tongue. See if this makes it easier to play high notes.
This is not a perfect solution, however, because the ideal embouchure is not the one that has the highest amount of job pressure and the highest tongue. I discuss this more in my guide to improving saxophone tone – but it is not a topic for this article. If adding additional jaw pressure seems to significantly improve your ability to play high notes, however, then you may have some work to do on your embouchure.
Conclusion
Fortunately, there are usually simple solutions when your high notes aren’t working. It only comes down to properly identifying the cause and knowing how to fix it.
In any case, I hope that this guide has served you well and helped you to get your upper register in working order.
