Here we are again,
hope you are ready with the first chapter: HISTORY OF THE TENOR SAXOPHONE *PART 1.0* Birth of the saxophone.
The saxophone was born in Belgium and exactly in the little town of Dinant from the hands of “Adolphe Sax” which will gave it his name and will patented in the 1846.
The saxophone is a wind instrument with a single reed which it is situated in the family of the wood/wind instruments and not in the brass even if it is made of brass. This instrument has seven different type of timbres , here the sax family from the lowest to the highest:
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Sopranino in Eb;
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Soprano in Bb;
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Alto in Eb;
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Tenor in Bb;
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Baritone in Eb;
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Bass in Bb (rarely used);
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Double-bass in Eb (rarely used);
Giving a quick overview to the repertoire we can immediately see that from the seven saxophones the Alto Saxophone and the Tenor Saxophone are the most common. Respectively we will find the Alto saxophone more present in the classical field than the Tenor which takes its palace into the popular, jazz and the contemporary music.
However it is really difficult to find the saxophone during the first period of the “New Orleans” (early twentieth century) style, in fact in this period this instrument was used just in the “Dancing Orchestras” or in the “Brass Band”.
When in the 1917 this new genre of music called Jazz begins to diffuse in the big cities of the north america the saxophone start to be used in different other ways than before and little by little overthrows the clarinet and will, together with the trumpet, be the king of the solos.
Well I hope you enjoyed this post and see you soon with the next: History of the saxophone *PART 2.0* Technical Function and Saxophone parts
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