Unless you are incredibly lucky, mouthpieces that are supplied as standard with instruments are not up to much and (even for an experienced player) can render the instrument all but unplayable! Whatever your budget, don't blow it all on buying the instrument but keep some back for the purchase of a mouthpiece. Likewise: If you've recently invested in an instrument & can't get a note out of it all is not lost & I hope this will help.

Which mouthpiece do I buy? How much do I spend? Now, this is where it gets tricky. Mouthpieces have variations (shown in the picture below) that result in thousands of different combinations.

eBay can be a fantastic place for lots of things but unless you really know what you need it's going to be a lot easier to visit a reputable shop with your instrument and listen to their advice. I can't say that a beginner needs "X" "Y" or "Z" as all the measurements are different depending on whether it's Clarinet, Soprano, Alto, Tenor or Baritone Sax. There are some "facing charts" for each instrument at hxxp://www.jodyjazz.com/facings.html  showing rough advice. (NB: eBay doesn't allow links to external pages so you'll need to replace "hxxp" with "http" - the same goes for the ones further down.)

A word about reeds. Just like the mouthpiece, there are many different brands and strengths. When buying a new mouthpiece even an experienced player will probably hunt through several brands & strengths before finding a reed that suits him or her - it's not as simple as clamping on any old bit of wood! You also have to consider what is used to clamp your reed to your mouthpiece - called a "ligature." These range from standard metal hoops with screws to woven or leather ones. Many mouthpieces will come with one that's suitable.

It is possible to spend hundreds of pounds on a mouthpiece & ligature but as someone starting out you can get yourself everything you need for nowhere near that.

Now you've got your decent mouthpiece and reed put your instrument DOWN!! This might sound a bit mad but let me explain. Practice getting the right single note out of your mouthpiece without the instrument attached to it. This is essential! The reed vibrates against the mouthpiece to produce a single frequency. Practice & practice with the mouthpiece alone to produce that one correct pitch because it's that "magic" note that makes the rest of your instrument produce all of its sound. The "magic" pitch you're after is different for Clarinet and each of the family of Saxophones. The "magic" notes needed for each instrument can be heard here:

Bb Clarinet: hxxp://www.saxontheweb.net/Coats/ClarinetMpcePitch.mid

Soprano Sax: hxxp://www.saxontheweb.net/Coats/SopSaxMpcePitch.mid

Alto Sax: hxxp://www.saxontheweb.net/Coats/AltoSaxMpcePitch.mid

Tenor Sax: hxxp://www.saxontheweb.net/Coats/TenorSaxMpcePitch.mid

Baritone Sax: hxxp://www.saxontheweb.net/Coats/BariSaxMpcePitch.mid

If you want a bit more info look here: hxxp://www.saxontheweb.net/Learning/tone_production.html