Pretty much all of us start our saxophone journey on Alto or Tenor Saxophone. These instruments are the perfect size to learn on, have a pitch range that makes for comfortable listening, and have a wealth of music to play. I started on alto, but was soon drawn to the bigger sound of the Baritone Saxophone. Joining my first sax quartet introduced me to the Soprano Saxophone, completing the line up of the “usual suspects”.
Things didn’t stop there though… joining a sax choir and seeing the bass sax player opened my eyes – the saxophone family was much bigger than I ever knew! In this post I would like to share with you some of the extended saxophone family members I’ve discovered and (mostly) had chance to play over the years.
Aiming High
The Bb Soprano Saxophone is exactly an octave above the Bb Tenor Saxophone, and therefore half the size. Above that we have the Eb Sopranino Saxophone, exactly half the size of the Eb Alto Saxophone. Both require a strong embouchure and as things get smaller the precision, and therefore control, needed gets higher. They are tough to play well.
In Adolphe Sax’s original plans that’s where the family ended, but some master instrument makers over in Munich have taken things one step further. The tiny Bb Sopranissimo Saxophone is an octave above the Bb Soprano Saxophone and is the ‘piccolo’ of the saxophone world, hence the name “Soprillo”. It is so small and requires such tight control that even seasoned sax players struggle to play it for any length of time. (You might have seen Rob Digweed trying his hand playing the Soprillo for the first time earlier this year).
Digging Deep
At the other end of the family is the Eb Baritone Saxophone. At an octave below the Eb Alto Saxophone, it would normally be twice the size. However most modern baritones also add an extra note, the low-A, which makes them bigger still. If even that isn’t enough for you, you need a Bb Bass Saxophone, an octave below the Bb Tenor Saxophone. At one time these were quite rare, but are now becoming more common as more affordable models hit the market.
Let’s not stop there though. The family also includes some really extreme relatives: the Eb Contrabass Saxophone is an octave below the Eb Baritone Saxophone, and the Bb Sub-contrabass Saxophone (called the “bourdon” in Adolphe Sax’s original designs) is an octave below the Bb Bass Saxophone. Both of these monstrously large instruments typically come equipped with a low-A, adding even more heft. A baritone looks tiny next to a contrabass! (I couldn’t get hold of a sub-contrabass for this picture but they definitely do exist.)
A Family Portrait
From the highest harmonics on the “Soprillo” to the lowest fundamentals of the “Bourdon”, the saxophone family can cover pretty much the entire range of human hearing. Since every octave requires doubling both the length and the diameter, the size difference between the biggest and smallest family members becomes very extreme – and is hard to show in one image!
Thats it for today, but I will be back again to take a closer look at some of these more extreme saxes. I might even introduce some of the saxes from outside the “band” family. Until then, keep a lookout for these exotic beasts – you never know when one might turn up at a Sax Bandits gig!
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