SAXOPHONE players out there??

after i play sax, (alto), i get a swollen bottom lip. does any one know what causes this and/or how 2 get rid of it??

Your embouchure is just off. instead of providing pressure with your jaw, the pressure should be the muscles AROUND your lips. The analogy a lot of people like to use is a drawstring bag. Just try your best to loosen your bottom jaw! Also, try your best not to tighten up when you move into higher registers. It takes a lot to break the habit but your bottom lip and your tone will thank you!

That is gods way of telling you that you should have gone to the horn section. Saxophones are a passing fad, and besides, do you really want to be grouped with Kenny G? Really?

u just simply suck at sax yes i play it u suck

I agree with matt above....I've played for 20 years, and you just need alot more development of your technique and of your muscles in the lower lip area and it won't hurt anymore....and as for that yoyo above.....don't listen to him.....I'M NO KENNY G......and saxes will be around forever......you don't see many horn jerks up front doing the solo, do you?

I understand the answers given by others, but I have the same problem even after playing for 40 years. I rest the bottom of the mouthpiece on my lower lip and I press my bottom teeth into the lip for my embouchure. Eventually, the inside of the lip becomes calloused, but if I lay off for even a week, it softens again. I let the soreness go away (1 or 2 days) and I play more to build it up.

This is probably not good advice, but it works for me. I never understood the 'drawstring' principle and it never worked for me. I am a biter and chewer, like 'Chu' Berry!