Yamaha Alto Venova YVS-120 User manual

Let’s play Venova™ !
12
Contents
Introduction ................................................................13
Before You Play ............................................................14
Setting the Reed and Ligature ....................................................14
Let’s Try Playing ...........................................................15
Tips on Making Sound ...............................................................16
Close the Tone Holes and Play Some Notes...............................17
Getting a Balanced Sound ..........................................................18
Controlling Tone ...........................................................19
Inside of Your Mouth .................................................................19
Tonguing....................................................................................19
Troubleshooting............................................................20
Fingering Chart ............................................................92
Sample Songs ..............................................................94
When The Saints Go Marching In...............................................94
Amazing Grace ...........................................................................98
Supplement: Fingering Chart in Concert Pitch
(notes match a piano)................................................... 102
Let’s play Venova™ !
This guidebook provides important tips on how to hold and play Yamaha
Alto Venova™, as well as details on controlling the pitch and timbre. Master
the basics and enjoy playing!
* Refer to the “Owner’s Manual” (separate booklet) for information regarding
the care and handling of the instrument.
• The Venova™ is a branched pipe wind instrument manufactured and sold by the
Yamaha Corporation. Venova™ and are trademarks or registered
trademarks of the Yamaha Corporation.
• The illustrations as shown in this manual are for instructional purposes only, and
may appear somewhat different from those on your instrument.

Let’s play Venova™ ! 13
Introduction
The Alto Venova is a transposing instrument.
With a transposing instrument, the notes you play sound different than the
notes that are written in the score. Many wind instruments work this way,
including saxophones, clarinets and trumpets. This makes it very easy to
switch from one instrument to another in the same family, because even
though the sound is different, the fingerings are all the same.
The Alto Venova works the same way. If you already know the fingerings
for the Venova, you can use those same fingerings on the Alto Venova.
In this book, the fingering charts and sample songs have already been
transposed to Ffor the Alto Venova. However, remember that if you play
the Alto Venova with other instruments or with background music, it is a
transposing instrument in F, so the music you play also needs to be trans-
posed to F.
If you would prefer to learn the non-transposed fingerings for the way the
notes actually sound, we have provided a concert pitch fingering chart in
the supplement at the end of this manual.
Enjoy your new Alto Venova!
qqqqqqq
qq
q
qqqqqqqqqq
Instrument/scale
Alto Venova in F
Venova in C
Notes written in the score Actual pitch of the notes
C D E F G F G A
Bb C
C D E F G C D E F G

Let’s play Venova™ !
14
Before You Play
Setting the Reed and Ligature
Slide the mouthpiece onto the body’s neck, turning from side to side. After
attaching the mouthpiece, set the reed and ligature onto the mouthpiece.
Slide the ligature onto the mouthpiece from its tapered end.
Position the reed so that the edge of the mouthpiece is slightly visible
over the reed tip. Tighten the two screws on the ligature to secure the
reed in place.
* The reed tip is delicate so please take care not to damage it with the liga-
ture, etc.
* If you are using a reed made from cane rather than the resin reed sup-
plied with the instrument, moisten the end of the reed in your mouth (or
water) before playing.
* Position the ligature so that the tuning fork logo is centered in the lig-
ature’s open space.
* Tighten the ligature screws just enough to keep the reed from mov-
ing. Take care not to over-tighten.
Mouthpiece
Ligature Reed
1
2
Reed
Ligature
screws
Ligature Yamaha
logo

Let’s play Venova™ ! 15
Let’s Try Playing
Hold the instrument as shown in the illustration below, keeping your
back straight, shoulders loose, and chin pulled in.
Position the mouthpiece in your mouth with your upper front teeth rest-
ing about 1cm from the tip of the mouthpiece. Cover your lower teeth
with your lower lip to keep your teeth from coming into direct contact
with the reed.
Take a deep breath, and blow into the instrument.
1
First, hold the instru-
ment without covering
any of the holes.
2
Upper front teeth
Lower lipLower teeth
Tongue
3

Let’s Try Playing
Let’s play Venova™ !
16
Tips on Making Sound
Holding the Instrument
Holding the instrument the wrong way (wrong angle or poor posture) can
result in poor tone or difficult fingering. Always be aware of proper playing
form when playing the instrument.
Mouth Shape (Embouchure*)
With the reed resting on your lower lip, seal your mouth around the
mouthpiece to keep air from leaking out of the corners of your mouth
when blowing.
Blowing the Instrument
Compared to a recorder, the Venova requires more breath to play. Use a
lot of air and blow firmly into the instrument.
* Refer to the illustration on page 15 for proper instrument angle when
holding.
* The shape of your mouth when playing the instrument is called the
“embouchure.” The embouchure is very important when playing wind
instruments. Proper positioning of lips, tongue, teeth, etc., creates an
optimum embouchure, which lets you control the pitch and timbre of the
instrument.
1
1
2
• Do not bite hard on the reed or mouth-
piece.
• If you are experiencing difficulty get-
ting sound from the instrument, refer
to the chart on page 18 and check the
mouthpiece position.
3

Let’s play Venova™ ! 17
Let’s Try Playing
Close the Tone Holes and Play Some Notes
• Use the ball of your finger (not the tip) to cover the hole.
• Use your fingers in a relaxed, stress-free form.
Since lower pitches are hard to produce without good embouchure and suffi-
cient airflow, let’s try playing a “G”.
Close the tone holes properly to achieve beautiful and stable tone, and good
pitch.
Fingerings for other pitches are provided from page 92.
Finger Position
* The illustration below shows all tone holes being covered.
Octave Key
The octave key is used for playing
notes above a high “D”. It is not used
for playing any other notes so take
care not to press the octave key by
mistake.
Put your right thumb under the thumb
hook to hold the instrument securely.
Fingering a “G”

Let’s Try Playing
Let’s play Venova™ !
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Getting a Balanced Sound
If you are experiencing difficulty getting sound from your instrument, it
might be a good time to review your embouchure.
Mouth shape and teeth alignment vary widely among individuals so take
time finding an embouchure that works best for you. Refer to the chart
below and try varying the position of your teeth, the angle that you hold the
instrument, etc., to find a well-balanced tone.
Cause
Breath: Too much
Mouthpiece position: Shallow
+
Poor embouchure
(Biting the mouthpiece to hard)
Cause
Breath: Too much
Mouthpiece position: Deep
+
Poor embouchure
(Mouth is loose, open)
Cause
Breath: Too little
Mouthpiece position: Shallow
+
Poor embouchure
(Biting the mouthpiece too hard)
Cause
Breath: Too little
Mouthpiece position: Deep
+
Poor embouchure
(Mouth is loose, open)
No sound
comes out
or squeaks
Dark tone
No sound
comes out
or squeaks
Squeaks
Bright tone
No sound
comes out
Forte
(= loud sound)
Piano
(= soft sound)
Well-
balanced
tone
Amount of
breath
Amount of
breath
Mouthpiece
position
Mouthpiece
position
Shallow Deep
Too much air
(= loud sound)
Too little air
(= soft sound)

Let’s play Venova™ ! 19
Controlling Tone
Inside of Your Mouth
When blowing into the instrument, the inside of your mouth should be
shaped as if you were pronouncing “OH.”
Tonguing
Tonguing is a technique for dividing a tone by interrupting the air flow with
your tongue.
It is done by touching the end of the reed with the end of your tongue and
releasing.
Tips on creating tone
The Venova is compatible with alto saxophone mouthpieces and reeds, so
once you are able to produce individual notes smoothly using the supplied
mouthpiece (equivalent of Yamaha 4C alto sax mouthpiece) you might want
to experiment with different reed/mouthpiece* combinations to change the way
the instrument blows and produce different tones (brighter, mellower, clearer).
* The instrument comes with a soft reed making it easier to play for
beginners however, higher pitches may be more difficult to articu-
late.
Once you can blow sufficient amount of air into the instrument, you
might want to move to a stiffer reed to play higher pitches more
smoothly.
* Stiffer reeds tend to play slightly sharp in pitch. If so, refer to the
“About Tuning” section in the owner’s manual and adjust the mouth-
piece position.
* Some alto saxophone mouthpieces made by other manufacturers
may fit poorly or produce poor pitch making them unsuitable for use
with the alto Venova. Always consult with your Yamaha dealer
before purchasing.

Let’s play Venova™ !
20
Troubleshooting
Condition Cause Solution
No sound. The reed is not properly
positioned on the mouth-
piece.
Refer to page 14 and prop-
erly position the reed.
Not enough air to make the
reed vibrate.
Increase the amount of air you
blow into the instrument.
Biting too hard on the
mouthpiece (too much
lower lip pressure on the
reed).
Reduce the amount of pressure
your lower lip is applying to the
reed.
Mouth is too loose (lower lip
is not sufficiently support-
ing the reed).
Close your mouth tighter around
the reed (not to the extent that
the sound squeaks) to firmly sup-
port the reed with your lower lip.
Low-pitch
sounds are
hard to make.
The upper front teeth are
not resting firmly on the
mouthpiece.
Use your left thumb to firmly sup-
port the instrument so that the
mouthpiece is in firm contact with
the upper teeth.
Low-pitch
sounds shake
and waver.
Lower lip is covering too
much of your lower teeth.
Reduce the amount of lip cover-
ing your teeth.
Makes a
squeaking
sound.
Mouthpiece is positioned
too deep in the mouth.
Refer to the “Getting a Balanced
Sound” section on page 18 and
review your embouchure.
Biting too hard on the
mouthpiece.
Refer to the “Getting a Balanced
Sound” section on page 18 and
review your embouchure.
Holding the instrument at
the wrong angle.
Refer to the “Tips on Making
Sound” section on page 16 and
review the angle you hold the
instrument.
Not adequately covering
the tone holes.
Refer to the “Close the Tone
Holes and Play Some Notes”
section on page 17 and firmly
cover the tone holes.
2