Klarinet Archive - Posting 000853.txt from 1999/10

From: "Kevin Fay (LCA)" <kevinfay@-----.com>
Subj: RE: [kl] Sax Advice
Date: Wed, 27 Oct 1999 21:09:48 -0400

Chris wanted to know:

<<<I keep getting conflicting advice as far as if I should get a soprano,
alto or tenor. I'm only buying one sax, since it is my
second instrument.>>>

If you're going to double on sax and expect gigs, you will end up owning
both an alto and a tenor. Trust me. Saxophones are like rabbits--if you
have just one, they propagate in your closet until your spouse makes you
sell a few. The real question is which one you should buy FIRST.

I'm a contrarian. My advice is to get a tenor, for a few reasons that have
nothing to do with what key it's in:

-- Many, many people own altos. If you have the horn they don't, you'll
have a better chance of getting the gig.

-- If you are planning to do pit work (i.e., musicals) and own an alto,
you're gonna have to buy a flute, too--and learn how to play it! The tenor
books tend to be only clarinet & tenor. While altos are cheaper than
tenors, tenors are cheaper than altos + flutes.

-- If the big band chart has a saxophone solo, chances are it's for the
first tenor player.

Finally, the bottom line--I have made way more money playing tenor than
alto. In fact, I've made more money playing tenor than clarinet, even
though I play clarinet much better. I just seem to get hired for tenor
gigs.

Do not buy a soprano. According to Phil Woods, there is nothing a soprano
can do that a clarinet can't do better. While this may be a harsh viewpoint
(that I happen to agree with, go ahead and flame me), it really shouldn't be
the first saxophone you buy. Playing opportunities for people that have
only a soprano basically do not exist.

Some have stated that the alto is "closer" to the clarinet, making for an
easier switch. I disagree; IMHO, the saxophone embouchure is an entirely
different animal, so which horn you pick doesn't make much difference. In
my teaching experience, any clarinet player with a decent embouchure usually
takes about a month to develop a better sax embouchure than any student that
started on saxophone--don't sweat the size difference. If you play bass
clarinet, moreover, you can use the same reeds as your tenor!

Of course, for pit and big band work, the bass clarinet is usually written
in the bari part . . . but that's a different string.

kjf

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