Hi. I play the clarinet in my school's orchestra and I've been playing it for more than 2years. This year I auditioned for jazz band and got in with the clarinet, but my teacher suddenly told me to play the tenor saxophone(since she wanted tenor/baliton but nobody was playing). I accepted but now I feel nervous about it & also jazz is totally new to me!!:-(
Please give me some advices/ experiences about the tenor saxophone :-) In the big band era, it was understood that all the sax players could also play clarinet, and often flute.
It is no problem. Saxophone fingerings are almost the same as clarinet fingerings over the break. In some ways it will be easier, because the fingerings are the same for both octaves, unlike clarinet, and the holes are covered, unlike the clarinet, where you fingers are the pads covering the holes.
Here's what you will have to get used to. Don't try to make the mouthpiece go into your mouth at an angle, like the clarinet mouthpiece does. The saxophone mouthpiece goes straight in. Someone else said something about learning new note names. I don't know what they meant. It's still treble clef, and it's even in the same key as the clarinet, so you won't have to transpose differently.
Hope this helps. they pretty much have the same fingering position
good luck The keys are almost exactly the same you will just be playing lower notes....I did the same in band. Wow, the exact same thing happened to me! It isn't so bad. You hold it in your mouth the same way, and you hold it with your hands the same way. The only difficult part is learning the new note names. I play both and I find the saxophone easier to play, with less use of palm keys and the left-hand first finger key on the top stack.
The tenor saxophone is a great instrument to play in jazz band and it will give you much oppportunity to solo. As mentioned in the answer above, the mouthpiece and embouchure will be a little strange to start,b ut you should be able to adapt quickly. Start with a softer reed (#2 or 2 1/2) until you build your embouchure.
As far as playing jazz goes, the first thing is to remember how to 'swing'. Four eight notes are played like dotted eights (on the 1 and 3) with sixteenths (on the 2 and 4). Also, it is important that when playing in a sectional ensemble, do not try to stand out. Listen carefully and play at the same volume as your fellow section members.
I am sure you will really enjoy playing in the jazz band, as it will expand your musical horizons. Best of luck! I'd say no, it shouldn't be too hard. It might be easier to switch to alto sax though cuz the embouchure may be more similar to the clarinet. Play as much as you can. Do it slowly.
For a while, you'll have to think carefully about the fingerings below 4th-line D, because they're the same as recorder (the fingerings from D up are the same as the clarinet). After a little while it will get easier. After a while longer it won't be easier, it will be completely natural. Your brain will click into gear for whichever instrument it feels you holding.
The advantage of sax is that the notes in both high and low registers have the same fingerings. Sax players picking up the clarinet have it harder, because they're suddenly playing two different notes on the same fingering.
When I say "a little while", I don't mean I mean a matter of only a few months or only a few weeks, I mean a few practices. eh well i tried learning the sax on my own and if i stuck with i think i couldn't have been good on it,but it was pretty easy my sophmore year i switched from clarinet to alto sax in jazz band. my friend gave it to me and showed me some fingerings less than 5 min. all together. i picked it up pretty easily. almost all of the fingering are just like upper register clarinet (except like 5) and both octives are the same. now i barily ever play my clarinet because i love sax so much. and in jazz some of the music is harder and some is easier but the music is more laid back. | 