Saxophone

What it means

The saxophone is a wind instrument with a conical tube, usually made of brass, and a mouthpiece fitted with a single reed like that of the clarinet. Despite its metal body, this reed-based sound production places it among the woodwinds rather than the brass instruments.

It was invented by the Belgian instrument maker Adolphe Sax, who patented it in Paris in 1846, originally intended as a link between woodwind and brass sections in military bands.

In the notation

Saxophone parts are always written as transposing parts: E-flat instruments (sopranino, alto, baritone) and B-flat instruments (soprano, tenor) each use their own notation adapted to their sounding pitch, so that fingering stays the same across the whole family.

Musical use

The saxophone exists as a whole family of instruments across different ranges, from sopranino to contrabass, with the alto and tenor being the most common. In the classical orchestra it remained an occasional guest, appearing in works by Bizet or Ravel, whereas in jazz it became one of the defining instruments from the 1920s onward, carried by soloists such as Charlie Parker and John Coltrane.

The saxophone is also firmly established in military bands, big bands, and popular music, thanks to its wide dynamic range and its ability to sound both soft and lyrical or sharp and cutting.

The saxophone should be distinguished from the clarinet, with which it shares the single reed but differs through its conical rather than cylindrical bore, which gives it a brighter, more powerful basic sound.

Performance practice

Keep your embouchure stable and your air pressure even, since the saxophone reacts sensitively to fluctuations and can easily squeak. Practice register changes with particular care, since embouchure and fingering shift the most at those points.