Mouthpiece Pitch
Mouthpiece pitch is manipulated by a combination of embouchure and tongue placement. To a certain extent, simply loosening and tightening the embouchure’s hold on the mouthpiece will lower and raise the resulting pitch. However, loosening the embouchure alone will not allow the saxophonist to achieve the full octave of available pitches. Tongue placement becomes of great importance in the overall pitch manipulation. Raising and lowering the front quarter of the tongue, much in the same way as one does to change pitch while whistling, will change the mouthpiece pitch. By combining these two techniques, the full octave of pitches can be produced. As the embouchure is loosened and the tongue position is lowered, more air must be used to produce a steady tone. The lessening of pressure used to make the reed vibrate is in turn
made up for by an increase in air volume. This increase in air volume and decrease in mouthpiece pressure not only produces a lower pitch, but also one with an increase in buzz.