Alto saxophone

The alto saxophone is a member of the saxophone family of woodwind instruments. Invented by Belgian instrument designer Adolphe Sax in the 1840s, it has a special sound that many people love. The alto saxophone is pitched in the key of E♭ and is smaller than the B♭ tenor but larger than the B♭ soprano. It is the most common saxophone and is used in many kinds of music.

It plays an important role in popular music, concert bands, chamber music, solo repertoire, military bands, marching bands, pep bands, carnatic music, and especially in jazz. Jazz bands like big bands, jazz combos, and swing music often feature the alto saxophone.

Many famous jazz musicians have used the alto saxophone, including Don Redman, Jimmy Dorsey, Johnny Hodges, Benny Carter, Charlie Parker, Sonny Stitt, Lee Konitz, Jackie McLean, Phil Woods, Art Pepper, Paul Desmond, and Cannonball Adderley. Even though it is not often used in orchestral music, some famous players like Marcel Mule, Sigurd Raschèr, Jean-Marie Londeix, Eugene Rousseau, and Frederick L. Hemke have made beautiful music with it.

Range

The alto saxophone can play notes from a low D♭ to very high pitches. This means players can make sounds from a low D♭ (below middle C) up to a very high A♭.

Some special alto saxophones can play an extra low note. Playing the highest notes, called the altissimo register, is hard and usually done only by experienced musicians.

Alto saxophonists

Main article: List of saxophonists

Many famous musicians play the alto saxophone. In jazz, some well-known players are Charlie Parker, Cannonball Adderley, and Johnny Hodges. There are also great classical players like Tim McAllister and Jean-Yves Fourmeau.

Some musicians mix different styles. For example, Kadri Gopalnath helped bring a type of Indian music called Carnatic music to the alto saxophone. Rudresh Mahanthappa blends jazz with Carnatic music in his performances.

Manufacturers

Many companies make saxophones today. Some of these companies are Buffet Crampon, KHS/Jupiter, Conn-Selmer, Selmer Paris, Yamaha, Leblanc/Vito, Keilwerth, Cannonball, and Yanagisawa.

Classical music repertoire

The alto saxophone has many solo pieces that can be played with an orchestra, piano, or wind symphony. Two important pieces are Jacques Ibert's "Concertino da Camera" and Alexander Glazunov's "Concerto in E Flat major".

You can often hear the alto saxophone in concert bands and groups of four saxophones called saxophone quartets. Many famous composers have used the alto saxophone in their music, including Georges Bizet, Richard Strauss, Dmitri Shostakovich, Maurice Ravel, Alban Berg, Sergei Rachmaninoff, George Gershwin, Pierre Boulez, Benjamin Britten, Leonard Bernstein, and Igor Stravinsky.