Klarinet Archive - Posting 000764.txt from 1995/03

From: David Brewer <dbrewer@-----.EDU>
Subj: Re: Soprano Saxophone
Date: Wed, 29 Mar 1995 23:52:49 -0500

On Wed, 29 Mar 1995, Tom Ascher wrote:
>
> I've been listening to an old CD I have of Branford Marsalis playing various
> classical pieces on a soprano saxophone and impressed by the warm,
> rich tone he gets reminiscent of a French horn. I don't know much about
> the soprano sax (except that its expensive). So any clarinetists from
> this group have experience with the soprano sax? What is the exact RANGE?
> How difficult is it to play, as compared with a Bb clarinet? Is it common
> for a clarinetist to double on the soprano sax?

Well, I'm really no soprano sax expert, but I've fiddled around with
them before and I think I can help you on these questions. The range is
(as far as I know) the same as any other saxophone, from a Bb below the
staff to an F or F# above. In many respects, I find the soprano easier
to play than the clarinet. However, I should probably warn you that alto
sax is my primary instrument, so if yours is clarinet your mileage may
vary. The only difficulty I had with soprano was staying in tune --
every part of the range seemed to be out of tune with every other part.
But the instrument I played on was a student model that had not been
treated well, so if you buy a decent instrument it will probably be much
better.

As for your final question, I'm not sure how common such doubling is for
clarinetists.

I hope this helps,

David Brewer
dbrewer@-----.edu