Whether you received a saxophone as a Christmas gift or you have recently been out to buy a saxophone yourself, there’s no doubt you’re going to be focused on playing it and producing a great sound. While your saxophone manufacturer and/or vendor will have provided you with a detailed guide to help you keep your saxophone clean and in good order, there are some tips that even some experienced pros don’t know.

Here are some additional tips that might not have come with your new instrument but that will definitely help you care for your sax.

Brush Your Teeth Before Playing

We’re not the type to play ‘Mum,’ but your saliva, especially if you’re partial to sugary foods and drinks, will quickly build up on your pads and make it easy to play bum notes. If you’re planning to carry your sax around a lot then a small bottle of mouthwash for your bag – or even the inside of your jacket pocket – is a great alternative.

Checking for Moisture

The curve at the bottom of your horn is usually where your saliva and any ‘breath water’ will end up as this is where your Eb pad is located. The trick here is to look at the pad itself. If the pad looks black with a greenish ring around it, you have too much moisture in your instrument.

How do you fix it? It’s all about the swabbing.

Swabbing Your Sax

Swab your sax from the bell to the top. The reasoning here is the bell is the driest part of your sax, so swabbing away from it avoids the unnecessary spreading of moisture through your instrument.

It is also important to only use your pad saver after swabbing. A lazy saxophone cleaner will use it as the swab but this will only serve to spread moisture throughout your instrument, which is the last thing you want.

Give Your Sax Some Air

We won’t go into detail about stagnant moisture, lack of air, bacteria and mould, but needless to say you need to leave your sax in the open air to ‘breathe’ before closing your case. If possible, try and lay it somewhere safe out the case altogether. If this isn’t possible, sit the sax in the case for as long as you can before closing it. This will help air get into your sax and help any remaining moisture leave your instrument.

If you’re jamming with friends or playing your sax away from your home, try to schedule your playing so you’ll have enough time to give your sax some air and aren’t just packing up immediately after your session.

Clean Your Tone Hole

While some of the major sax manufacturers won’t tell you too much about cleaning your tone hole, most of them do sell a specific tone hole cleaner. The tone hole can get clogged up easily and change the sound of your whole instrument, even if you’ve followed the other tips, so be sure to keep it clean.

Bag Up Your Mouthpiece

Keep your saxophone mouthpiece in a padded pouch designed specific for carrying your mouthpiece around. Having it loose in your accessory compartment of your regular sax case can be a recipe for disaster.

Looking After Your Sax

Follow these tips in conjunction with your instruction booklet from your manufacturer and/or vendor, and check out the video below that helped us put this post together for a great walkthrough of cleaning your sax.