Saxophone

Next to beer and waffles, another great Belgian pride
🍺🧇🎷

A saxo-whatto ?

A saxophone is a woodwind instrument. Although made of brass, it is played with a single-reed mouthpiece. The pitch of the note being played is controlled by covering holes in the body tube. To cover the holes, keys need to be pressed by the player (saxophonist).

Play that funky music?

The saxophone has a very creative sound that is flexible for many genres. It is used in classical music, military bands, marching bands, jazz and contemporary music. You can also discover the saxophone in some styles of rock and roll and popular music.

🎵 Sit back, relax and enjoy a bit of saxophone in Baker Street by Gerry Rafferty.

What is the link with Belgium ?

The saxophone was invented around 1840 by Adolphe Sax, a Belgian instrument maker, flautist and clarinetist. He was born in Dinant. He introduced his new-found instrument in 1841 during an industrial fair in Brussels. As he had not yet patented his invention, he played from behind a curtain.

💡 The International Saxophone Day is on November 6th.

The modern sax family

Saxophones have been produced in a variety of series. The series pitched in B♭ and E♭ soon became dominant. Most saxophones encountered today are from this series. Instruments from the series pitched in C and F never gained a foothold and constituted only a small percentage of instruments made by Adolphe Sax.

From left to right: the most well-known saxophones

🎷 Eb Baritone saxophone
🎷 Bb Tenor saxophone
🎷 Eb Alto saxophone
🎷 Bb Soprano saxophone

💡 The bigger the instrument, the lower it sounds (do check out the links!)