 The Doublers BBoard
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Author: karlbonner82
Date: 2010-05-10 10:46
I've always been fascinated with the question of which of these two instruments is more difficult, and by how much. I'm not expecting there to be a perfectly clear answer to this question.
In what areas of concern do you believe that clarinet is harder, and in what areas is sax harder?
Couple other things. What are prices like for good student altos nowadays, and how much do intermediates tend to be? Another thing to ponder is how important the upgrade from student to intermediate is for sax, at least with respect to the clarinet.
Post Edited (2010-05-10 10:59)
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Author: rcnelson
Date: 2010-05-10 13:54
I think most of us would find the saxophone to be much easier. I say from the perspective of being primarily a saxophonist, the major instrument during my music education major days 30+ years. In terms of what makes the clarinet more difficult, for me it is the fingering system. And the open holes can difficult to deal with unless I am very conscious of finger placement. I started on alto sax in 4th grade, added clarinet in 8th. I was told soon after that for someone who started on sax that I picked up clarinet fairly quickly.
The only aspect of the saxophone that may be more difficult to deal with (and with hours of practice, this is not a real issue for me), is the embouchure difference. The saxophone needs to be looser, while the clarinet is firm. This can lead to more difficulty in playing the saxophone in tune, at least consistently. Having said that, the looser embouchure allows for note-to-note flexibility if your instrument has some notes that are not quite in tune with the rest of the horn
In terms of student to intermediate, back in the '70's I went from a student model Conn alto to a Selmer Mark VII. With clarinet, I continue to play on a Selmer CL210, which is a very good intermediate level instrument. The answer to this question may depend on your goals.
Hope this helps. I'm sure there will be other replies/opinions.
Ron
Selmer Mark VI tenor (1957), Selmer Mark VII alto (1975)
Buescher True Tone soprano (1924), Selmer CL210 Bb Clarinet, Gemeinhardt 3SHB Flute, Pearl PFP105 Piccolo
Post Edited (2010-05-10 16:50)
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Author: tictactux ★2017
Date: 2010-05-15 19:30
Coming from the clarinet, I think sax is not easier nor more difficult, it's just, well, different.
Once you're used to the immense range of the clarinet, you find yourself leafing through your sheets and say "damn. Too low for sax. Damn, too high for sax. Damn, to boring for either".
A sad undertone - apparently the clarinet slips out of favour for "band" arrangements. Maybe it's indeed too difficult a double for the average sax player.
On the other hand, I get gigs I'd never get were I a sax player.
--
Ben
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Author: grifffinity
Date: 2010-05-16 01:32
As a clarinetist who dabbles in occassional in Alto sax for musicals, the most difficult aspect of the saxophone for me is playing the lowest notes softly. I'm not very good at that at all. It could be my horn, which is a student model Yamaha. Being primarily a clarinetists, I'm spoiled with that instruments ability to be played ppp to fff on any note fairly easily. Not so easy to do this on flute or sax...
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Author: Clarinet&Alto15
Date: 2010-06-01 20:29
In my opinion, (and I know many will disagree), saxophone seems harder to me. Maybe it's because I started on clarinet, but I really have more trouble with the saxophone. Playing high on the saxophone is an extreme challenge (with good quality, that is) and playing low (again, with good quality) is difficult in quieter dynamics. Maybe its just me, but also, the range on saxophone seems to be much smaller than the clarinet. (This may just be my opinion because I can't play above a high "F" on alto). Although, on the opposite end of the spectrum, clarinet is a much tougher embouchure. This is probably an instrumental problem, but for some reason I can cover the whole range of the clarinet from bottom E to top G (sometimes G sharp and A if I can support it), yet I can't get passed the altissimo F on saxophone. Does anyone know why this might be? I practice every day on saxophone for 45 minutes and it never improves.
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Author: gsurosey
Date: 2010-08-18 21:36
The things I find toughest about sax playing are:
~ The structural differences. I have a hard time with the side keys in the left hand (right hand also, but not nearly as much). I'm trying to figure out how to hit them without having to hold stuff down with the right hand so as not to drop my sax. I feel like I have to twist my left hand in strange ways to hit them (and that's before I try to hit combinations of them). Being that the sax bore is wider than clarinet, I also feel somewhat like a contortionist hitting the side keys on the right side. I didn't think it was a big difference at first, but the thumb rest placement tends to throw me off still. I'm used to the clarinet spacings. I still have to look sometimes to make sure my RH fingers are on 3 keys, not 2 keys and the keycup covering the tone hole above the first-finger key.
~ Blending is tougher. Dynamically speaking, I always feel I'm really loud on sax no matter how I try to play.
~ Intonation. That open c# is killer if tuning is off. I have such a hard time consistently tuning sax. My upper notes also tend to be in better tune than my lower notes.
The thing I dislike about clarinet compared to the rest of the stuff that I play is the overblowing at the 12th vs. the octave thing. On sax, it amazes me that when I hit the register key, it's an octave (as well as overblowing on flute/piccolo). Ah, the joys of a cylindrical vs. conical bore...
That's my 2 cents.
Rachel
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Rachel
Clarinet Stash:
Bb/A: Buffet R13
Eb: Bundy
Bass: Royal Global Max
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