Hi everyone my name's Brae Grimes and I'm the product and repair specialist for
band and orchestral instruments at Yamaha Music Australia and today I'm going to
be talking to you about saxophones our student range has two saxophones the 26
and the 280 the 26 differs from the 280 as it has a nickel-plated keys and no
high F sharp key the 480 is our intermediate level saxophone the 62
is our entry-level professional saxophone from there on we have a
range of custom saxophones the 82zs and the 875exs the high F
sharp is the highest tone hole on the body of the saxophone some players
prefer not to use a high F sharp key as they believe that the extra resistance
placed on this tone hole restricts the instrument not having a high F sharp
key can provide a resonant and broader sound suitable for more commercial or
jazz styles of playing
saxophones look complicated and mishandling is one of
the most common damages done to an instrument Yamaha have subverted this by
providing a place for your hand to go into to pick up the saxophone correctly
by the bell I usually don't take the saxophone out of the case until I have a
neck strap on I put the neck strap on and take the body out of the case and
strap myself in straight away this way both of my hands are free to assemble
the neck and mouthpiece the order in which you should assemble your saxophone
is always mouthpiece on neck
the neck on saxophone this way you avoid damaging the neck
as with all woodwind instruments
it is important to clean your instrument after you play I personally
don't have a preference as to which way you clean your instrument as long as you
clean it some people go big end to small end so go through the bell and out
through the body and some people go small end to big end it's important to buy
a swab that fits through your neck as well like this Yamaha large microfiber
swab clear the neck first by placing the weighted string down the big end of
the neck and pull it through gently out through the small end this will be a
tight fit so don't rush it to clear the body of the instrument drop the weight
down either in it turn it upside down and you should see the weight poke out the
other end pull through gently and you're done
you may have to do this a couple of times to get a good clean
saxophones are known for having sticky G sharp and C sharp keys there's no great
way of preventing it but one of the best ways is by using cleaning paper in the G
sharp and C sharp keys every time after you play cut a triangle of cleaning paper
place it between the pad and the tone hole depress the pad release the pad
and pull out the cleaning paper for any lacquer and nickel-plated keys I use
Yamahas DX microfiber polishing cloth to remove the acid from my fingers that
transfers onto the key work when I play this ensures that the lacquer is kept in
a great condition for its playing life