In the last blog, we have introduced and analysed the tenor saxophone and alto saxophone. Have you determined what kind of saxophone you want to learn? What kind of tone do you like?
In this blog, Six Months Rebellion Music will continue to introduce different kinds of saxophone to you. I hope you can find the most suitable instrument and have a pleasant study. This blog is going to introduce the soprano saxophone. It is also one of the common types of saxophone, which is smaller in size and weight. Of course, the sopranino saxophone is smaller and lighter than the soprano saxophone, but this blog will mainly introduce the soprano saxophone.
Many students will become hesitant or have difficulty in choosing the saxophone. Six Months Rebellion Music also often receives such questions: Is the soprano saxophone better or the alto saxophone better? Can you choose soprano saxophone for beginners? What is the difference between alto saxophone and soprano saxophone, and what is the difference when playing?
The difference between alto saxophone and soprano saxophone:
Appearance:
Let's firstly observe the difference in appearance between the alto saxophone and soprano saxophone. The soprano saxophone is also called the straight-tube saxophone. As the name implies, its instrument body is straight, while the alto saxophone, the tenor saxophone style the bass saxophone are all curved. Many girls worry about the instrument being too big or too heavy when learning saxophone, and many students give up the instrument they really like for these reasons.
However, compared to the alto saxophone, the soprano saxophone is a smaller instrument, and its weight is so light that even a girl carrying this instrument will not be a great burden.
Tone and timbre:
The high tone is B flat, while the middle tone is E flat. The overall tone of the soprano saxophone is higher than that of the alto saxophone. It is precisely for this reason that these two instruments have different vocal ranges, so they both have certain limitations when playing.
When we play the soprano saxophone, we obviously feel that the airflow is going to be a little bit faster, although it looks like a smaller instrument but the breath requirement is quite high. Just like the tenor, its timbre is high, clear and firm, but we should pay special attention to the stability of intonation and timbre when playing the tenor part, otherwise it is easy to appear matte or not smooth performance effect. When many composers adapt some soprano saxophone music, they generally changedit according to the characteristics of the instrument and emphasize the soprano saxophone skills and timbre characteristics. At this time, if we go to appreciate the alto saxophone, we will feel that its tone is gentler, thicker and more rounded than the soprano saxophone.
Mouthpiece and reed:
The soprano saxophone is smaller than the alto saxophone, so its mouthpiece and reed are much smaller. You can take a look at the comparison between the mouthpiece and the reed of these two instruments, and you can feel the size difference between them more clearly when you actually play them. There are also many students who make wrong choices when choosing mouthpiece and reed because they are unfamiliar with musical instruments at the beginning, so they often feel tired, and even feel stiff mouth and even facial muscles. Therefore, they should choose mouthpiece and reed suitable for themselves to alleviate these troubles.
Mouthpiece and reed:
The soprano saxophone is smaller than the alto saxophone, so its mouthpiece and reed are much smaller. You can take a look at the comparison between the mouthpiece and the reed of these two instruments, and you can feel the size difference between them more clearly when you actually play them. There are also many students who make wrong choices when choosing mouthpiece and reed because they are unfamiliar with musical instruments at the beginning, so they often feel tired, and even feel stiff mouth and even facial muscles. Therefore, they should choose mouthpiece and reed suitable for themselves to alleviate these troubles.
Soprano vs Alto saxophone | The difference between them! |
In fact, a lot of things are what we do "experience", choose which instrument to learn is not absolute, it is mainly according to your own preferences and abilities to choose. If you are an adult and you like pop music, you may choose to study soprano saxophone directly. For example, "Going Home" and "Jasmine Flower" are all played by the soprano saxophone. Only the soprano saxophone can show the essence of these music, which is not done by other instruments. If you are an underage student, you may want to consider or try whether you are strong enough to play the instrument. At the same time, if you want to learn for the exam, you need to carefully consider that the number of songs played by the soprano saxophone is definitely less than the alto saxophone. Of course, if you have a pursuit for the tone of the saxophone, you can also learn two musical instruments at the same time, so as to meet your different needs for the tone of the saxophone. You can also reduce the boredom during learning and improve your playing ability.
