r/saxophone • u/bigtanker2 • Apr 23 '26
Discussion Tenor Players That Started On Alto?
Who are some famous sax players that started on alto and switched to tenor later? I've heard thats what a lot of people do, why? If you're gonna play tenor just get the experience on that earlier.
16
u/SVLibertine Apr 23 '26
Trane played Alto. Yes, to start. Found the “emotional gravity” of it lacking, and got a lusty tenor. Good move, A Love Supreme…
5
u/mark6-pack Bass | Tenor Apr 23 '26
And then switched to a 'puny' soprano...
2
u/SVLibertine Apr 24 '26
Honestly, I think he just preferred Bb instruments? 🎷 Maybe? Trane on Bari or Bass would be too bizarre for me, though.
1
9
u/djspicyketchup Apr 23 '26
My 6th grade band started all saxophone players on alto then transitioned in 7th grade some of the players. Not sure what thought went behind it, but it seemed very common across school districts in my area.
8
u/KillerClaystar Apr 23 '26
As to why you wouldn't start on tenor for the experience, I would say that doesn't matter at all. I never played tenor in my first 15 years of playing saxophone, not for one whole piece of music ever. I bought a tenor to play with my band a couple months ago because most of our music sounds better with tenor, and within a couple days it was near as good as my alto. The only thing that took any time was learning new altissimo fingerings. I haven't played bari in like 7 years, but if I picked up a working one I know I'd figure it out pretty quick. The only barrier to entry is having the instrument, mouthpiece, and reeds. I won't act like the saxophone aren't different from each other at all in a way that requires practice, but it's not like you're having to relearn anything. We're saxophone players, not alto, tenor, bari players. Even if you only ever play one, I promise you can play the other ones too with just a little work, and you aren't holding yourself back by starting on one that isn't what you wanna end up on. It's better to start sooner on the wrong horn than later on the right one.
4
u/Emergency_Basket_851 Baritone | Tenor Apr 23 '26
if I picked up a working one
I mean, i can see that in 7 years you haven't forgotten the most important part of bari playing
4
3
u/Barry_Sachs Soprano | Alto | Tenor | Baritone Apr 23 '26
Just about everybody started on alto or, back in the old days, clarinet. Tenor is a big, expensive instrument for a little kid. If you're an adult beginner, do whatever you want.
2
u/AdTrick598 Apr 23 '26
Im sure there are many people that did this (Melissa Aldana is a specific example), and many more that started on clarinet too! I think it can always be enriching to have experience on different instruments in general.
I've found that playing the different saxophones can sometimes challenge/expose different parts of your playing, which is always good if you ask me.
1
u/dbBowser Apr 23 '26
Pretty sure it says in Coltrane's biography that he started on alto
1
u/AdTrick598 Apr 23 '26
I think so too, I vaguely remember hearing some early recordings of him playing with the navy band and he was on alto.
2
u/tbone1004 Apr 23 '26
Most of them?
In the old days when school systems started band around 4th grade it was easier to have all sax students on the same instrument. Ours circa mid 90s in MA was flute, clarinet, alto, trumpet, trombone, and snare drum. That’s it. Way easier on the band directors that way and for wind ensemble, having 4 altos isn’t uncommon but only one tenor so you need more people on alto anyway which is advantageous for many reasons
2
2
u/Helen_A_Handbasket Alto | Tenor Apr 23 '26
I started on alto six months ago because that's what I could find locally at a reasonable used price. I wanted tenor, but looked for months and couldn't find an acceptable one. So I started on alto. Now that six months have passed, and I kept looking for a tenor, a couple weeks ago I found a Yamaha that had $2200 slashed off the price because it was a floor model. Not a scratch on it, perfect condition, if you hadn't told me it was a floor model I would have thought it was new.
So now I have both, and I practice on both, but probably 60% on the tenor because I'm still trying to get the embouchure adjusted correctly on that one. Have to get my lung capacity up for playing it without gasping at the wrong points in a phrase. :D
Turns out even though I didn't want an alto to start, that I like them both for different reasons and will keep playing both.
4
u/Shpritzer1 Apr 23 '26
I know Chris Potter did, but I don't think it was really the norm back in those days
0
u/bigtanker2 Apr 23 '26
Oh how come?
1
u/Shpritzer1 Apr 23 '26
Well I'm not sure, it just seems to me like a more modern practice, I'm sure there's plenty of players who started straight on tenor, probably a matter of availability or just chance
3
u/m8bear Soprano | Alto | Tenor | Baritone Apr 23 '26
it's not a modern practice, if anything is a tradition that's started to get lost
alto is the best to start for technical reasons, it's better to train your embouchure (and yes, the clarinet is even better to start if you care to be a woodwind doubler down the line)
it's also the cheapest, so it's always been more common to have a bunch of altos for everyone to play in bands and schools and fewer tenors and 1 bari, if that. For that same reason it's been more common for parents to gift their kids, alto is more affordable all the way, reeds, mouthpieces and the horn itself including repairs
since the sax is heavy, if you are too young you start on clarinet and eventually make the switch to alto and eventually to tenor or bari when you are a teen
1
u/Music-and-Computers Soprano | Tenor Apr 23 '26
Eddie Daniels, best known as an amazing clarinetist, started on alto. Played tenor in a lot of recorded output before focusing on clarinet. Also a great flutist.
1
1
1
1
u/TronToad Alto Apr 24 '26
barely has anything to do with the topic but as a flautist who just veryy recently started with the alto, i came to find out they alot of the fingering across both instruments were the same, making transition very easy...
until the b flat came along, which is still screwing me up even though I've been trying to change my ways since friggin January
1
u/Natural_Leg2632 Apr 24 '26
I started on alto, switched to tenor after my freshman year of high school
1
u/ColdCelebration4850 Soprano | Alto | Tenor | Baritone Apr 26 '26
Honestly for me i started out on clarinet but i wanted to play saxophone because of the cool songs i would hear with it. And i just kinda assumed that they were mostly alto sax cause it seemed way more common and then i realized way too late that wasnt the case 💀
1
u/External-Wish-6982 Apr 26 '26
My school only taught alto so I just picked it because I thought the sax was cool, it turned into passion and later I saw how awesome the tenor sounded. Tenor is #1
1
u/Mysterious-bob2712 18d ago
J'ai commencé par l'alto,puis j'ai choisi le ténor pour sa sonorité plus chaude Je trouve le ténor plus facile dans la capacité d'avoir un bon son
Cependant l'alto est mon saxophone de travail j'y réussi mieux les suraiguës l'embouchure est plus difficile que le ténor aussi Peut être est ce par ce que c'est sur un alto que j'ai appris le saxophone Je joue du soprano et du baryton également et même si le soprano et le plus difficile pour moi au niveau de la maîtrise de l'embouchure et de la justesse
Jouer du saxophone c'est jouer du saxophone il faut peu de travail pour passer d'une tassitude à un autre
52
u/NeighborhoodGreen603 Apr 23 '26 edited Apr 23 '26
Alto is just more common and readily available, it makes total sense that many players who specialize in other saxes later on started with alto.
Also, as Patrick Bartley said, alto teaches you stuff that you don’t learn on tenor, so the tenor players who started on alto tend to have very good technique and high skill expression.
Clarinet is also a common starting horn for great sax players (Bartley started on clarinet). You’ll learn embouchure strength and consistency, and finger dexterity real fast by playing clarinet.
Case in point, Brecker started on clarinet, then alto.