Which saxophone for a beginner

They are a couple of steps down in quality from the top of the range. But they can use the same manufacturing techniques and knowledge found in the more expensive models. The Prelude range is a good example of an affordable instrument for a student.

It is nicely made with a yellow brass body with ribbed construction. It has been given a dark lacquer finish to the body and keys. The bell is nicely engraved.

The keys are well designed for comfort when playing. This is important for a student. Having a good and comfortable hand position will encourage good technique. Vital on all instruments, but especially on instruments you have to blow. There are some nice playing features built-in. It has a C adjusting screw and a left-hand key rocker system as well as a high F. The pads are leather, which means they will give you a good seal and are durable.

They have metal resonators. As is usual, there is a right-hand rest for the thumb, which is adjustable. A molded mouthpiece with a mouthpiece cap and ligature and a neck strap are included. There are also two half-inch reeds, all enclosed in a hardshell case. It is an easy to play, nice sounding instrument and is good value for money. Certainly could be considered as the best alto saxophone for beginners. The EAS by Etude is a very affordable instrument that is certain to be well-received by any student.

It is well made from solid metals and feels and looks the part. The body and kets are finished in an attractive lacquer. It comes with a mouthpiece, ligature, and a cleaning cloth. It also comes with a stylish hard case. The mouthpiece is very basic, and once the student has mastered the early skills, an upgrade will probably be necessary. It is made to be easy to play and weighs just ten pounds.

It comes with a neck strap, and is supplied with reeds. But as with the mouthpiece, they are very basic. New ones will probably be needed to be bought quite soon after purchase. The note sustain is acceptable, and the bore size makes it easy to get a decent sound in the early days.

This applies even to the lower octaves. It should be remembered that this is very much a budget range instrument with a price point to suit. And certainly not at this price. For what it is, it is a decent sax.

You may find they will need to upgrade before they move onto the improver level. It 9s an affordable alternative to initially paying a lot of money. At the end of the day, this could well boil down to one question. How much do you want to pay, or maybe how much can you afford to pay? The problem with this type of instrument is that more than most, you get what you pay for. Therefore, what you pay has a huge gap between the top and bottom, even at the student level. If it is for an absolute beginner, it might be unwise to spend too much.

Will they stick it out? Will they be able to play it? It will be an expensive ride if any of those things happen. So, is it for an absolute beginner? If so, then as long as it is playable and you can raise a tune, the cheaper, the better. But always be careful. Unscrupulous manufacturers copy cheap instruments as well as the expensive ones. Go for an easy playing action, not too heavy, and forget looks at first. They all look very similar anyway.

This is where it will start to bite. You have a child or student who has learned the basics, can play it, loves to play it. However, you know they need a better instrument. And you really do not want to keep changing saxophones every year or so. That would get expensive. So a second instrument will need to take them to the next stage and the one after.

However, that is going to cost. You cannot avoid it. We looked at some that fall into that category. But that is going to be your decision. Materials used in manufacture. Forget something that is made to look pretty. It is what it sounds like that counts. Most are brass made. Yellow brass is the most common at this level. Lacquered instruments can lose their initial shine after a while, so be aware.

You will need an instrument with decent key action, preferably leather or simulated leather pads and good intonation. A few extras would be nice. But a decent hard case is a must. This is an investment that must be protected. One final point. Buying new, you will get a new instrument with a warranty if something should go wrong. All things considered, this is not an easy instrument to play well. Even harder to learn and certainly tougher than most. If we are to buy a saxophone for a starter, then we would push the boat out and get a good one.

A sax that will take them through student days and go beyond. Maybe quite a bit beyond. To find that instrument, you need a quality manufacturer. We have therefore chosen as the best student alto saxophone….

Absolute quality from one of the best saxophone brands. And our choice for the Best Beginner Saxophone. Your email address will not be published. Paul loves guitars, guitarists, and music made with a guitar to an almost worrying extent. But he didn't start out playing the guitar and was a good pianist until the age of nine when 'Rock' entered his life.

Since then, he has also become accomplished on a range of other instruments, but Guitar is still his number one love! He has played in a lot of bands over the years, the majority of them rock bands and mainly playing guitar. He has a substantial home recording studio and enjoys recording his own and other people's music as often as he can. His passion for the guitar always comes through in his writing, and he hopes to continue to preach the importance of guitar music for decades to come.

He lives in Chicago with his girlfriend Pam and lots and lots of guitars! Before we get to our best beginner saxophone reviews, a little bit of history… It was in that Adolphe Sax, a musical instrument for Belgium, patented his new musical invention. Our rating: 4. Check Price On Amazon. Pros The typical quality of design and build you expect from Yamaha.

Designed to be lightweight and easy to play. Cons The price will put some people off. Pros Nice looking saxophone. The large bore makes it easier for a student to get a decent sound. Pros Well-made with good materials.

A decent sound and quite easy to play. Cons Some will find it expensive for a Starter instrument. Easy to play, lightweight, and comfortable to hold. Answer 9 quick questions and I will give you a personalized step-by-step 7-week action plan showing you exactly what you need to do to get more traffic. This is probably the question I get the most from folks who want to start playing the saxophone - which saxophone is best or easiest for a beginner to learn—alto or tenor sax?

The short answer—there is not that much of a difference between the alto sax and the tenor sax playing-wise. They are both equally as easy or hard for beginners to play although the alto is, arguably, a bit easier, fingering-wise. Beyond ease of learning, there are differences such as size and weight, blowing effort required and the big one—tonality that might determine your choice.

Besides this, you really can start with either. Personally, I don't think there is that much of a difference between the alto and the tenor sax playing-wise. They both play equally as easily or hardly.

As a beginner, of course, your primary focus is most likely ease of learning. But you are probably reading this because you want to know the subtle differences beyond learning that make a huge difference later on.

Let's see what some of those differences might be and how they might tilt the scale on one side or the other for you as you get started. Do you enjoy listening to the lower, deeper tones of tenor sax or do you prefer to listen to the higher, brighter tones of an alto? The tone of the alto sax is different from that of the tenor. The register of the alto saxophone the smaller version is, as I understand it, very close to the female human voice. From the way it sounds, the timbre of it, and the range of it, the tenor is really close to the typical human male voice.

Besides appearance, the tonality is quite easily the main difference between an alto and tenor sax. Funny enough, you'll see most female sax players gravitate towards the alto and most of the male players , at least the ones I know, even if they start on alto slowly gravitate towards the tenor sax. This happened to me also. I started on alto, then picked up the tenor out of curiosity, but I slowly found out that I play more comfortably on tenor, and that I just like the sound of the tenor sax more, perhaps because the tenor feels a bit deeper, lusher, lower and thicker whereas the alto feels sharper, brighter, a little higher even edgier.

First I am going to prefix this by saying that even though the alto sax is an E flat instrument and the tenor sax is a B flat instrument mechanically the notes and fingerings are the same for all saxophones.

The fingerings—where you place your fingers on the keys—for a C on an alto sax, for instance, is the exact same fingering for the C on tenor. Again, they have the same fingerings. This means that you can easily go back and forth between the alto and tenor, or even soprano and baritone because they all have the same fingering positions. So, when you learn how to play one saxophone, you're more or less learning how to play all of them.

That said, however, the spaces between the keys are a little bit different. The keys on an alto sax are slightly closer together than the keys on a tenor sax. The saxophone fingerings come almost as second nature, with the sound getting deeper as more holes in the instrument are covered in order from top to bottom.

Not to mention the fact you can order one today and have it delivered to your front door in as little as 24 hours, along with all the necessary saxophone accessories.

A basic, beginner saxophone will allow you to get familiar with the instrument and start learning to play. In our opinion, the best student saxophone available — in terms of price vs quality — is the Yamaha YAS The pricing is also affected by the nuances of their sound, which means you need to be extremely comfortable with playing saxophone to make that decision.

Sometimes, especially in the case of beginner children , it might be worth considering renting a saxophone. You can always sell them second-hand if you stop using it and buying a new sax online avoid the need to travel to a local store, go through the options and check out their rental agreement. Whilst there are some more eccentric members of the saxophone family including the massive contrabass and the beautiful but under-appreciated C Melody , there are four common ones that most beginner saxophone students choose:.

NB: the order of the keys and the musical notes they correspond to are the same on every saxophone, which is why more advanced players generally switch between at least different instruments in the family.

Often straight resembling a clarinet in shape , the soprano saxophone has one of the highest ranges of all saxophones and is the third-smallest member of the sax family, following the soprillo and sopranino.

Beginners who decide to choose a soprano saxophone may want to try a few different mouthpieces on their saxophone to find one that feels right and helps produce the best tone. As a reminder, the lower numbers such as 2 will be easier to play.

You can find out more about the soprano sax in our detailed guide here. Patented in , the alto saxophone is the most common saxophone on the market and is often found in school bands, marching bands, orchestras and jazz bands. You can find our in-depth reviews of the best beginner alto saxophones here or check the table below for the quick version.

Hint: our overall favourite which combines affordable pricing with good quality is the Jean Paul AS Check out Cannonball Adderley , a popular alto saxophonist in the s and 60s. The tenor saxophone looks very similar to the alto, but a little bigger.