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Saxophone

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Saxophone
Image
Saxophone family, from soprillo (left) to contrabass (right)
Woodwind instrument
Classification Single-reed
Hornbostel–Sachs classification422.212-71
(Single-reed aerophone with keys)
Inventor(s)Adolphe Sax
Developed1840s
Playing range
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Most saxophones are in a range in treble clef and can play about 2 and a half octaves. Many saxophones can play higher notes using altissimo fingerings.
Related instruments
Sizes:
Orchestral saxophones:
Specialty saxophones:
Musicians
See list of saxophonists
Image
An E-flat baritone saxophone.

A saxophone (often called the sax) is a type of single-reed woodwind instrument. The saxophone has a piece of wood, called a reed on a mouthpiece. The player blows air into the mouthpiece. This vibrates the reed and makes sound. The pitch can be changed by closing and opening holes in the saxophone. This changes the length of the tube.[1] The holes are closed by leather pads. These leather pad connect to keys that can be pressed by the player. A person who plays the saxophone is called a saxophonist or saxist.[2]

It was invented in the early 1840s by Adolphe Sax.[3] Sax made two types of saxophones. Each type of saxophone had 7 types. One group of saxophones had instruments in the key of C or F. The other type of saxophones were in B♭ and E♭. The B♭ and E♭ instruments soon became popular. Most saxophones are now in those keys.

Saxophones are used in many types of music. They are used in classical music (including as concert bands, chamber music, solos, and sometimes orchestras), military bands, marching bands, jazz (like as big bands and jazz combos), and contemporary music. The saxophone is also used as a melody instrument in a horn section in some types of rock and roll and popular music.

The saxophone family mostly has of B♭ and E♭ instruments. The most common types of saxophones are the B♭ soprano, E♭ alto, B♭ tenor, and E♭ baritone. The E♭ sopranino and B♭ bass saxophones are also sometimes used.

# B♭ family E♭ family
1 (highest) Soprillo (piccolo) —
2 — Sopranino
3 Soprano —
4 — Alto
5 Tenor —
6 — Baritone
7 Bass —
8 — Contrabass
9 (lowest) Subcontrabass —


Uses

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A US Seventh Fleet Band sailor with a tenor saxophone. The photo is in Hong Kong.

In military bands

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The saxophone were first popular in military bands. The instrument was first ignored in Germany. French and Belgian military bands wanted to used the saxophone in ensembles. Most French and Belgian military bands had at least 4 saxophones. They had an E♭ baritone, B♭ tenor, E♭ alto and B♭ soprano. These four instruments are the most popular saxophones. The E♭ contrabass and B♭ bass saxophones are usually too big to use. The E♭ sopranino is usually not loud enough.

In classical music

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The saxophone is used in concert bands. These usually have 2 E♭ alto saxophones, a B♭ tenor saxophone, and an E♭ baritone saxophone. A B♭ soprano saxophone is sometimes used. It is usually played by the first alto saxophonist. A bass saxophone in B♭ is also sometimes used (especially in the music of Percy Grainger).[4]

Saxophones are used in chamber music. There are many saxophone quartets, for example. A saxophone quartet usually has a B♭ soprano saxophone, E♭ alto saxophone, B♭ tenor saxophone, and E♭ baritone saxophone (SATB). Sometimes the soprano is replaced with a second alto sax (which makes AATB). A few saxophone quartets have different setups. For example, James Fei's Alto Quartet[5] has 4 alto saxophones.

In the 20th and 21st centuries, the saxophone became more common in symphony orchestras. The instrument has also been used in opera and choral music. Musical theatre music can also have parts of saxophone. These sometimes double another woodwind or brass instrument.

Common music

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Chamber music with saxophone

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Orchestral music with saxophones

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Operas and musicals with saxophones

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SS Stockholm. 369th Infantry Regiment Band and leader Lt. James Reese in Europe, winter 1918–1919

In the beginning of the 20th century, ragtime music became popular in the United States. At the same time, saxophones also became more common. Many bands were made with ragtime influences. These bands often had saxophones. These bands had syncopated African-American rhythms. W. C. Handy and James R. Europe both led ragtime groups with saxophones.Ragtime bands also became popular in military bands. Europe's 369th Infantry Regiment Band played ragtime music in France in 1918.[9] Many dance bands were made in the 1920s. These bands were influenced by ragtime. The saxophone was also used in Vaudeville in the same period. Ragtime, Vaudeville, and dance bands made saxophones very popular.

Rudy Wiedoeft became the most popular saxophonist. This lead to the "saxophone craze" of the 1920s.[10] Saxophones started to be used in many different types of music.

Saxophones became very common in jazz. The Fletcher Henderson Orchestra was started in 1923. It had music with improvisation. It brought jazz to dance bands.[11] The Duke Ellington Orchestra and Jean Goldkette's Victor Recording Orchestra would start to have jazz solos with different types of instruments. Dance bands in jazz would become most popular with the swing music of the 1930s. These dance bands would later influence big band jazz. Big bands with saxophones also became common in talk shows. The Tonight Show had big bands led by Doc Severinsen and Branford Marsalis. The swing era influenced saxophone styles that were seen in bebop and rhythm and blues.

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Coleman Hawkins, the most influential saxophone musicians in early jazz

Coleman Hawkins played in the Fletcher Henderson orchestra from 1923 to 1934. His saxophone solos became very popular. Hawkins' solos were arpeggiated, had rich tone, and had lots of vibrato. This style was a large influence on early tenor saxophone swing band players. Chu Berry, Charlie Barnet, Tex Beneke, Ben Webster, Vido Musso, Herschel Evans, Buddy Tate, and Don Byas took inspiration from Hawkins.[12] Hawkins' bandmate Benny Carter and Johnny Hodges (Duke Ellington's alto saxophonist) became popular alto saxophone styles. Harry Carney made the baritone saxophone popular Duke Ellington Orchestra. The New Orleans player Sidney Bechet was popular for playing the soprano saxophone in the 1920s.

Chicago jazz evolved from New Orleans jazz in the 1920s. Chicago jazz was different from New Orleans jazz because it added saxophones to the ensemble. Smaller Chicago ensembles allowed for more improvisation. This allowed for saxophone innovation from saxophonists Jimmy Dorsey (alto), Frankie Trumbauer (c-melody), Bud Freeman (tenor) and Stump Evans (baritone). Dorsey and Trumbauer became an influences on tenor saxophonist Lester Young.[12]

Lester Young had a different soloing style than Hawkins'. He liked to make melodic playing. His playing followed chords and made longer phrases. He used less vibrato. His tone was also darker than other saxophonists. His playing was influential on the jazz saxophonists Al Cohn, Stan Getz, Zoot Sims, Dexter Gordon, Wardell Gray, Lee Konitz, Warne Marsh, Charlie Parker, and Art Pepper.[12]

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Charlie Parker, leader of the bebop revolution, 1947

Lester Young worked with the Count Basie Orchestra in the late 1930s. Around the same time Hawkins' 1939 recording of "Body and Soul" became very popular. These musicians made the saxophone very influential in jazz.

The greatest influence of the saxophone on jazz happened in the 1940s when Charlie Parker became popular in jazz. He played the alto saxophone. He was one of the first saxophonists to play bebop. Bebop groups in jazz were much smaller than other big bands. These groups allowed for lots of freedom with the music's harmony and melodies. This style of playing was made popular because of musicians like Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, Thelonious Monk, and Bud Powell.

During the 1950s, there were many new popular musicians. Sonny Stitt, Cannonball Adderley, Jackie McLean, Lou Donaldson, Sonny Criss and Paul Desmond were popular alto players. Lester Young, Coleman Hawkins, Dexter Gordon, John Coltrane, Sonny Rollins, Stan Getz, Zoot Sims, Lucky Thompson, Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis, and Paul Gonsalves were popular tenor saxophonists. Serge Chaloff, Gerry Mulligan, Pepper Adams and Leo Parker were popular baritone saxophonists. These musicians made the baritone a popular solo instrument. Steve Lacy was a popular soprano saxophonist. John Coltrane also made the soprano saxophone more popular in the 1960s. Kenny G also usually uses the soprano sax in smooth jazz[13]

John Coltrane, Ornette Coleman, Sam Rivers, and Pharoah Sanders made avant-garde music in the 1960s through the sax. They explored modal, harmolodic, and free jazz.

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Illinois Jacquet. An influence on R&B saxophone, 1941

Some groups (like the World Saxophone Quartet) use the soprano-alto-tenor-baritone (SATB) group for jazz. In the 1990s, World Saxophone Quartet founder Hamiet Bluiett formed the quartet Baritone Nation (4 baritones).[14]

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Subcontrabass Tubax
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Bass saxophone
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Soprano, alto, tenor and baritone saxophones

Notes

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  1. ↑ Cottrell, Stephen (2013). The Saxophone (Yale Musical Instrument Series). Yale Musical Instrument Series.
  2. ↑ Waite, Maurice, ed. (2009). Oxford Thesaurus of English (3rd ed.). Oxford University Press. p. 49. ISBN 978-0-19-956081-3.
  3. ↑ Raumberger, Ventzke, Claus, Karl (2001). "Saxophone". Archived copy. Oxford Music Online. doi:10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.24670. ISBN 978-1-56159-263-0. Archived from the original on 6 December 2022. Retrieved 6 April 2019.{{cite encyclopedia}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  4. ↑ Ventry, J. (26 March 1930). "A Talk On Modern Band Music". Trove.nla.gov.au. The Mercury. Archived from the original on 18 August 2018. Retrieved 3 February 2017.
  5. ↑ "James Fei: DVD". Archived from the original on 2006-12-17. Retrieved 2007-05-07.
  6. 1 2 Cottrell, Stephen (2013). The Saxophone. Yale University Press. ISBN 978-0300190953. Retrieved 5 November 2022.
  7. ↑ "Recommended Saxophone Repertoire Alto Saxophone Level III" (PDF). Music.indiana.edu.
  8. ↑ Mauk, Steven. "Selected Repertoire". Ithaca.edu. Retrieved 2014-05-19.
  9. ↑ Emmett Jay Scott (1919). Scott's Official History of the American Negro in the World War. Homewood Press. pp. 308–.
  10. ↑ "How Rudy Wiedoeft's Saxophobia Launched the Saxual Revolution" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2019-10-25. Retrieved 2019-05-06.
  11. ↑ "Fletcher Henderson". Musicians.allaboutjazz.com. 4 December 2018. Archived from the original on 2012-10-10. Retrieved 2019-02-23.
  12. 1 2 3 Cite error: The named reference New Grove was used but no text was provided for refs named (see the help page).
  13. ↑ "Kenny G | Encyclopedia.com". www.encyclopedia.com. Retrieved 2023-02-17.
  14. ↑ Russonello, Giovanni (2018-10-07). "Hamiet Bluiett, Baritone Saxophone Trailblazer, Dies at 78 (Published 2018)". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2021-03-08.
  15. ↑ "Photo Gallery :: SaxPics.com". saxpics.com. Archived from the original on 2015-02-14. Retrieved 2015-01-16.
  16. ↑ "Photo Gallery". SaxPics.com. Archived from the original on 2012-11-01. Retrieved 2014-05-19.
  17. ↑ "Photo Gallery :: SaxPics.com". saxpics.com.

References

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