 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: janlynn
Date: 2013-01-11 18:30
i finally started to teach myself saxophone. i was so scared of the 'beast' i didnt even take it out of the case for almost a year.
with a little extra time i just decided to one day.
its a lot of fun. much heavier than i expected but easier to play than i expected. love the sound.
still playing clarinet. and i have added piano lessons to my instruments. wow is it hard!
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2013-01-11 19:10
You'll soon find you can get around playing in keys with loads if flats and sharps easier on sax than on clarinet.
And you're still in 2nd harmonics when playing up to high F# on saxes.
Here's some high note fingerings that will make things easier (all with the 8ve key) - 'F' is the front F key:
High E - Fxx|ooo
High F - Fxo|ooo
High F# - Fxo|o high F# o (or Fxo| side Bb ooo for saxes without a high F# key)
High G - xoo|o high F# o (or with just the front F key only, but it might kick a bit) and xox|side Bb xoo
High G# - xox|sice C xoo
High A - oxx|xxx
High Bb - oox|ooo
High B - high D oox|ooo
High C - high Eb + D oox|ooo or xox|xox
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.
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Author: Jim22
Date: 2013-01-12 01:01
I started Alto sax myself a few weeks ago. I'm surprised at how soft the reeds I need to play are. It must be a different muscle group than clarinet. It will be nice when I can move up a little. Also, I am getting better, but voicing for the very low and very high is quite difficult so far. Good luck with it!
Jim C.
CT, USA
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2013-01-12 05:27
I only use 2 to 2.5 reeds on sax (with a 7* facing) - I like the flexibility softer reeds offer on saxes, but this level of flexibility that saxes have is probably what clarinet players may find difficult at first.
Make sure you don't tighten up as you go up as this will make things go very sharp. Especially if you play soprano sax - don't treat it or play it like a clarinet or you'll get into all sorts of tuning trouble!
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.
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Author: William
Date: 2013-01-13 21:24
And your good sax reeds can last a remarkable length of time as compared to clarinet reeds. Sax virtuoso, Fred Hemke, will in residence at our local university used reeds he said were over a year old and "grundgy" in appearance. They retain their resilience as a result of the fairly loose embouchure required for tone production and pitch control. I think the most common mistake made by clarinetist's learning to play sax is the use of reeds that are too stiff. Vibrato and jazz inflections are much easier to do with a softer reed. With saxophone, loosen up and enjoy.
Also, practice your clarinet more than your saxophone to keep those chops in shape.
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Author: blazian
Date: 2013-01-15 12:58
I really enjoy playing saxophone. I've only had a few different venues. Interestingly enough, it's been a different saxophone each time. I played bari once in high school, and have played tenor, alto, and soprano in college for random gigs.
I was lucky that my first wind symphony performance with soprano sax was John Mackey's Xerxes. Fantastic piece with a moderately hard soprano sax solo (at least for a non-native clarinet player). The best part about it was that, though I agree tuning is of the utmost importance, my tuning discrepancies were able to go unnoticed due to the nature of the piece.
Keep up the sax playing! If it's not good enough for public performance, it's at least fun to learn and honk away on.
- Martin
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