Saxophone

Overview

The saxophone is a single-reed conical-bore woodwind instrument, almost always made of brass — a combination that places it acoustically in the woodwind family but materially among the brasses. The reed sits on a clarinet-style mouthpiece; the body’s conical bore (broadening from reed to bell) makes it overblow at the octave like other conical woodwinds, in contrast to the cylindrical clarinet. Wikidata catalogues the standard alto saxophone in E♭ under Hornbostel-Sachs 422.212-71.

The family has fourteen pitched members in Sax’s original specification, though only four are in regular modern use: the B♭ soprano, the E♭ alto, the B♭ tenor, and the E♭ baritone. The C melody saxophone, the F mezzo-soprano, the C soprano, the bass saxophone (treated separately at bass saxophone), and the contrabass and subcontrabass saxophones are specialist instruments. All saxophones are transposing instruments and read from the same fingering chart, which makes doubling between sizes much easier than between, for example, oboe and bassoon.

Origin & History

The Belgian-born Paris-based instrument maker Adolphe Sax patented the saxophone family in 1846. Sax was simultaneously developing the saxhorn family of valved brass and the saxotromba; the saxophone was his single-reed counterpart, designed explicitly to bridge the tonal gap between the woodwinds and the brasses in the new French military bands of the 1840s. Hector Berlioz endorsed the instrument enthusiastically in print as early as 1842; the French army adopted Sax’s complete family in 1845.

Throughout the 19th century the saxophone was primarily a military and concert-band instrument, with limited orchestral use (Berlioz, Bizet, Ravel, Vaughan Williams, Britten — almost always as a colour rather than a section). The 20th century transformed it. American dance bands of the 1920s adopted the alto and tenor as central solo voices, and from there the instrument moved into jazz with the playing of Coleman Hawkins, Lester Young, Charlie Parker, John Coltrane, Sonny Rollins, and Stan Getz, Ornette Coleman, Wayne Shorter, and Michael Brecker — the central solo voice of an entire genre.

In rock and pop the saxophone has been periodically central — the King Curtis solos of the 1960s, the Boots Randolph Nashville sound, Junior Walker’s Motown work, Clarence Clemons in the E Street Band, the 1980s pop saxophone moment, the modern indie revival — and periodically dormant. It remains the sole woodwind in continuous use as a solo voice in popular music.

Construction & Materials

A modern saxophone is built in two main pieces (neck and body) connected by a friction joint, with a separate detachable mouthpiece. Body material is brass, lacquered or silver-plated, with mother-of-pearl finger touches. The neck is removable and changeable; the body has approximately 23 keys operated by both hands. Total tubing length varies from about 65 cm (soprano) to about 170 cm (baritone, much of it folded).

The mouthpiece is hard rubber, metal, plastic, glass, or wood, with rim profiles and chamber sizes that strongly affect tone — classical players favour a small chamber for a focused sound; jazz players favour a large chamber for projection and tonal flexibility. Reeds are Arundo donax cane, similar to clarinet reeds but proportionally larger, in strengths 1.5 to 5; the standard professional reed strength is 2.5 to 4. Selmer Paris (Mark VI of 1954-1974, Series II of 1986-, Series III, Reference 54) instruments dominate professional jazz playing; Yamaha Custom and Yanagisawa instruments share the modern classical market.

How It’s Played

The player holds the instrument with a neck strap (or harness for the larger sizes), with the right hand low on the body and the left hand high. The mouthpiece is taken into the mouth with the lower lip cushioning the reed (single-lip embouchure standard, though double-lip is used by some classical players). Air pressure causes the reed to vibrate against the mouthpiece in the same way as the clarinet.

Standard technique covers single, double, and triple tonguing; the chromatic range across roughly 2.5 octaves in standard parts (with the altissimo register adding another octave for advanced players); circular breathing (used by Kenny G and many jazz players for sustained notes); growl tones (humming while playing); slap tongue (a percussive attack); and multiphonics (multiple simultaneous pitches, used in contemporary classical and free jazz). Vibrato is continuous in classical playing and contextually variable in jazz, where players often move between dry, fast, slow, and absent vibrato within a single chorus.

Cultural Significance

The saxophone is the central solo voice of jazz across all its styles from the 1920s to the present. It is the central wind voice of the concert band (typically a section of soprano + two altos + two tenors + baritone). It appears in pop, rock, R&B, soul, ska, reggae, klezmer, and Cuban big-band traditions. In classical music it sits at the periphery of the orchestral tradition (Bizet’s L’Arlésienne, Ravel’s Boléro, Mussorgsky-Ravel’s Pictures at an Exhibition, Vaughan Williams’s Job) but at the centre of the wind-band tradition and a substantial 20th- and 21st-century concerto and chamber repertoire (Glazunov concerto, Ibert Concertino da camera, Tomasi concerto, John Adams Saxophone Concerto of 2013).

The Marcel Mule (France, classical) and Sigurd Raschèr (Germany / America, classical) lineages established the modern classical saxophone tradition; the Coleman Hawkins, Lester Young, Charlie Parker, and John Coltrane lineages established the modern jazz tradition.

Notable Examples & Recordings

• Recording landmarks: Coleman Hawkins (Body and Soul, 1939), Charlie Parker (Ko-Ko, 1945), John Coltrane (A Love Supreme, 1964), Sonny Rollins (Saxophone Colossus, 1956), Stan Getz (Getz/Gilberto, 1964), Wayne Shorter (Speak No Evil, 1964), Michael Brecker (Tales from the Hudson, 1996). Classical reference: Marcel Mule (Glazunov concerto), Eugene Rousseau (Ibert), Claude Delangle (modern French repertoire), Branford Marsalis (Ibert, Glazunov, John Williams).

Related Instruments

• Bass saxophone — the B♭ saxophone an octave below the tenor, treated separately.
• Clarinet — the closest single-reed cousin; saxophone players regularly double on clarinet.
• Oboe — the soprano double-reed woodwind.
• Bassoon — the bass double-reed woodwind.
• Western concert flute — the standard non-reed soprano woodwind.
• Saxhorn — Sax’s brass family, contemporary with the saxophone.
• Tárogató — the Hungarian wooden saxophone-like single-reed instrument.

Where to Hear It

Live: every full-time concert and military band, every jazz festival, and a substantial fraction of pop and rock concert programmes. The World Saxophone Congress (triennial) and the North American Saxophone Alliance conference (annual) are the central professional showcases. The Adolphe Sax International Competition (Dinant, Belgium, every four years) is the central solo competition.

• Wikipedia: Saxophone
• Wikidata: Saxophone (Q9798)
• DBpedia: Saxophone
• Wikimedia Commons: Saxophones

Learning Resources

A student alto saxophone costs around 300 to 800 USD; an intermediate Yamaha YAS-480, Yanagisawa A-WO1, or Selmer Bundy 1,500 to 3,000 USD; a professional Selmer Paris Series III, Yamaha Custom EX, Yanagisawa A-WO2, P. Mauriat, or Keilwerth typically 4,000 to 9,000 USD. Vintage Selmer Mark VI instruments (1954-1974) command 8,000 to 25,000 USD on the used market. Standard methods include the Marcel Mule daily exercises, the Larry Teal Art of Saxophone Playing (1963), the Sigurd Raschèr 158 Saxophone Studies, the Ferling 48 études (adapted from oboe), the Bozza études for advanced classical work, and the Charlie Parker Omnibook for jazz language.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is the saxophone a brass or a woodwind?
Acoustically and historically, a woodwind. The instrument uses a single reed and conical bore (woodwind characteristics) and was conceived by Sax as a woodwind. The brass body is structural rather than acoustic. Orchestras and bands seat saxophones with the woodwinds.

Which saxophone should a beginner start on?
The alto. It is the smallest size that produces a recognisable saxophone sound, the lightest in physical weight, and the size with the largest body of student method material. Most players start on alto and add tenor, soprano, or baritone later if needed.

What is the difference between alto and tenor saxophone?
The alto is in E♭, the tenor in B♭. The tenor is larger and pitched a fifth lower. Most jazz tenor solos sit in the cello-tenor register; most jazz alto solos sit in the violin-soprano register. Many jazz players double on both sizes; most classical players specialise.

Why are vintage Selmer Mark VI saxophones so prized?
Because the Mark VI was the dominant professional instrument of the 1954-1974 jazz era, played by John Coltrane, Sonny Rollins, Cannonball Adderley, Stan Getz, Wayne Shorter, and most of their generation. Surviving instruments retain a market premium that is partly acoustic, partly historical association.

Did Adolphe Sax invent any other instruments?
Yes — the saxhorn family (1843), the saxtuba family, and the saxotromba family. Sax additionally made important refinements to the bass clarinet and built large numbers of brass instruments under his own name. He was a remarkable inventor who happened to give his name most famously to one of his less commercially successful original designs.