History of saxophone

The saxophone was invented by Adolphe Sax as an attempt to improve the ophicleide, an instrument from the early 1800s.  The ophicleide, a standard orchestra instrument, was a keyed brass instrument with a trombone-style mouthpiece.  Although it had power and good tone quality, erratic intonation and inconsistent execution left room for improvement.  Adolphe Sax aimed to keep the body but remodel the keywork and add a bass clarinet-like mouthpiece.  Today, the saxophone's powerful tone and flexibility makes it a popular instrument in bands, particularly military bands.  (The alto saxophone was established as a solo jazz instrument by the 1920s.)  It is one of the most flexible instruments in terms of color and articulation, as much of its variation is in the hands of the player.

From left: soprano, alto, tenor, and baritone saxophones

Sax applied for 14 different patents in 1846, and the standard saxophone family (sopranino, soprano, tenor, alto, baritone, and bass) was established in 1850.  (The contrabass saxophone is a rare extra.)  It's considered a "hybrid instrument" because it doesn't exclusively fit in with the woodwinds or brasswinds.  Its key system is derived from, but not the same as, the flute's and clarinet's.  There are between 22 and 24 notes holes, all of which are covered by keypads.

Different saxes have the same basic range (two octaves, plus an augmented fifth) but in different transpositions.  For example, the alto sax has a compass of db to a'' and the tenor sax has a compass of Ab to e''.

The alto saxophone's compass

Clarinet/Trumpet/Saxophone

Lessons learned this week:
1.  You don't really realize the effect of having a mouthpiece in your mouth until it isn't there anymore.
2.  Trumpet and clarinet are more similar than I initially imagined.
3.  Saxophone fingerings are the same as clarinet fingerings 90% of the time.

Here's the latest on the trumpet: Jingle Bells!  I was feeling festive.  I've finally figured out how to tongue properly.  Who knew that I would depend so much on having a physical mouthpiece in my mouth?  No part of the trumpet actually go into your mouth, so I had no clue what to ricochet my tongue off of when I played.  Until today.  I learned to treat the back of my bottom teeth as a place to aim my tongue.  It's working pretty well.

I also had a few (possibly coincidental) realizations between trumpet and clarinet.  A few of the fingerings for trumpet match the fingerings in the right hand for clarinet.  I'd be interested in learning if these similarities are deliberate.  Also, while switching partials on trumpet raises the pitch by a fifth (sometimes), pressing the register key on the clarinet raises the pitch by an octave and a fifth.  Just some cool things I noticed.

I brought a saxophone home last week, but admittedly didn't have time to play it until yesterday.  Even then, there was something wrong with the mouthpiece so the reed had no room to vibrate.  I swapped it with the mouthpiece from another case when I had a lesson with Mrs. Harvison today, and it worked fine.  Weird.  Why would they make mouthpieces that don't work?  Now it's really easy to play.  The lower notes require more air, and I have to lip up the higher notes.  (As of now, I can play from f' to g".)  Like I mentioned earlier, 90% of the fingerings are the same from what I've learned so far.  This will be explained in the Saxophone History post I'll make later on.