As a sufferer of lower back pain I strongly believe in the importance of good posture when playing the saxophone and any other instrument.
Take playing the saxophone as an example, it is an extremely unnatural thing for a person to do, our bodies are not designed to hang heavy pieces of metal around our necks! It puts the body under a large amount of strain, so it's important for us to counteract this in the best way we can.
One of the most important accessories for playing the saxophone is the strap. Many players (of all ages and abilities) often choose straps which are quite damaging to their posture. These are straps which have too much flexibility, or "bounce", because they seem the most comfortable choice. I, myself played on a strap like this for many years without realising the damage it was doing do my back. These bouncy straps encourage players to stoop and play with the saxophone away from the body making it hard to keep it still when the strap itself is moving. This in turn makes the technical aspects of playing more of a challenge as well as adding extra strain to the body.
When playing the saxophone it is important that the instrument should come to you and you should not stoop down to it, so the strap needs to be firm (without give) and reasonably high. A good test to see if the strap is at the correct height is to bend forward, dangling the saxophone on its strap (please be careful to make sure you don't drop it!!!). If the mouthpiece dangles where your mouth is then you have the right height on your strap.
Once you have the strap to the right height then the saxophone should rest comfortably against the lower part of the stomach or the top of the right thigh. There should be no weight taken on the right hand thumb, we just use it to steady the instrument. Many people watch their favourite players (especially jazz musicians) and see them holding the saxophone out away from their body and moving it about. Although this may look cool, it is extremely bad for the body over prolonged periods of time.
Not only will playing with correct posture make life less painful but it also helps other aspects of playing any wind instrument. As I mentioned earlier, better posture helps to make the technical aspects easier and it also improves breathing considerably. By playing with an upright posture we can allow more air into the lungs making it easier to reach the end of those tricky long phrases.
It is also important to retain good posture when sat down in bands and orchestras, difficult when faced with poor chairs, as we often are. What is important to remember, is to sit forward and not to lean against the back of the chair. This may seem like hard work but it will improve your breathing no end. If you're playing the alto sax the best position to have it, is between the knees, to prevent from having to twist sideways. If you are playing tenor or anything larger then this is unavoidable and it will have to be held to the side.
Finally, the straps I would recommend would be those made by the company BG. These straps are firm and without give, but have comfy and cushioned neck padding. The clasp that changes the strap's length also doesn't slip like it does in some other makes. These straps admittedly, are more expensive than some of the others that you can purchase, but in my opinion it is more than worth it.
