Sax student playing flat

[JGSax]

Hello. I have a "young" 63 year old man who has always wanted to play the saxophone. He has no previous musical experience. He's had 6 lessons so far. His tone is good, he's using his abdomen to blow through the horn. The problem is that he's consistently playing a semitone flat, both on his YAS23 rental, and his new Jean Paul AS400. I have tried everything I can think of to get him to play in tune, save for discussing where his tongue is. Any ideas to help me out?

 

[Helen]

Embouchure?

 

[saxhound]

It looks like you got some answers over at SOTW.

 

[JGSax]

I did indeed. I was able to get the student to play in tune by changing the position of his tongue. Once he's in tune, I have him sing the note, so he can hear when he's playing flat. My student is a young 63 year old man, btw.