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Posted by: not_smiling on 2010-02-14, 13:09:07
The alto should be the beginner's choice, in order to maximize your enjoyment and shorten your learning curve. Alto (and tenor) saxophones have the most flexible tone qualities, from sweet-and-mellow to screaming. Alto has the largest repertoire of "legitimate " music for use in furthering your education and technique. Alto is easier to play in tune, easier to get the high range notes to speak from the horn, and you can usually find a higher quality alto for the money. You should be able to find a reasonable quality alto sax for $400-900, depending on brand and new vs. used status. Some of the newer alto saxes in the $600+ range approach professional quality. Beware ultra-cheap Ebay deals. You can develop a reasonable embouchure on the alto sax very quickly. Ease of playing for a single reed instrument is primarily determined by embouchure (do a search for this word for more complete explanation): your facial muscles have to be trained and developed over time. Another important factor is horn ergonomics (ease of reach to keys and mechanical improvements in the horn design). Most newer saxophones brands with good manufacturing methods have taken care of the ergonomics problem. Most experienced saxophone teachers can teach all of the sax family, and are often quite experienced on other woodwind instruments. You can start on alto and then branch outward from there to soprano, tenor, or baritone. I play them all! And they pay me! Imagine! My advice: Find an _honest_ player in your area who teaches, and get equipment advice from them. If you find someone with retail experience (music store sales) then he or she can steer you away from bad buying decisions. There are no absolutes in the sax playing world, and some would-be gurus will try to steer you in strange directions, so take all advice with a grain of salt, and research independently. |
