3.2.13

How to Choose a Saxophone

By Anita Hale


Here is some advice for all those thinking about taking up the saxophone. Saxophones are not the cheapest of orchestral instruments which means it's important to choose a good model which will suit your needs.

Usually, one can find 4 classic types of saxophone. These are named: soprano, alto, tenor and baritone. The soprano saxophone is in the key of Bb, then alto sax is one-half octave lower, in the key of Eb. Tenor saxophone is an entire octave lower than soprano and thus also in Bb and baritone sax is one octave below alto and therefore also in the key of E flat.

Music pupils are occasionally counselled at school to get started with the clarinet just before playing the saxophone. The clarinet features more difficult fingering and so teachers often believe that it provides a good grounding for potential saxophonists. Conversely, many believe that the saxophone is the perfect instrument when you are a newcomer to woodwind instruments because of its more gentle learning curve. The saxophone's embouchure is assumed to be rather less onerous than that of the clarinet. Embouchure denotes the way you apply your mouth to the mouthpiece to deliver notes. As this and the regular span of keys are easier to work versus the flute and clarinet, a saxophonist should be able to get a appealing sound from their horn with less effort.

The alto saxophone is considered the instrument that countless first-timers are recommended to begin with. Those starting out generally find this the easiest to generate the full range of notes from because the more extreme ranges demand more difficult breath control. In addition to this, the scale of keys is reduced on an alto and so young people should have no trouble in keeping hold of the instrument. The alto saxophone is usually the most frequently employed kind of saxophone in classical music and due to this fact there's a good deal of written music developed for alto sax readily available. This can be handy to students searching around for musical scores to learn.

The most key point to remember when buying a saxophone is that you want a model which will keep you committed to practising. This might not be the cheapest, but it's better to invest in a sax that you won't lose interest with because it's too difficult or uncomfortable to play. And as you will be parting with a lot of cash, make sure you actually get to try it out before you buy. There are plenty of online deals to be had online, but you should be able to track down any reputable brand in a shop to at least handle before buying.




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