THE AX CALLED THE SAX

Among brass and woodwind instruments, the saxophone is a relatively new instrument, only being invented in 1841 by Adolphe Sax. It was not accepted among orchestras for quite a while, and of course now, is widely accepted in almost all genres of music. Saxophones are also called reed instruments because they use something in the mouthpiece called a reed, which is made of wood. See below...

When first invented, saxes filled a gap between woodwind and brass instruments, because it became the most powerful woodwind instrument, yet more adaptive than a lot of brass instruments. The most well-known use of the sax is in jazz. Most saxes, past and present, are made from brass, even though they are categorized as woodwind instruments. That was the genius of the invention at the time: the sax has the projection of a brass instrument, but the sound qualities of a woodwind. Check out this funky variation on sax material - this sax from the 1950s is made of plastic! Not sure how great that would sound?

To me, the saxophone is an instrument that can convey such a wide range of human emotions. It can whisper you to sleep, be very sexy, or blast your ears off. I think that's pretty awesome.

If you are interested in saxophone lessons, take some at Earthtone School of Music: http://www.earthtonemusic.org/

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