<p>Hey guys, it's the mom of the 11-year old clarinet player again. You've all given me such great advice that I thought I'd come back again and ask your advice and your indulgence!</p>
<p>Last night was parent-teacher conferences at school (he's in a music magnet program) and his teacher, who has a great reputation, told me that he'd like to see my son add saxophone now that he's become proficient with the clarinet, but maintain the clarinet as his first instrument for orchestra purposes and because my son is best friends with the clarinet.</p>
<p>So when does one generally add a second instrument and what is the usual way to do that? Any advice is, as always, very much appreciated.</p>
<p>Your son should find it pretty easy to pick up the saxophone from the clarinet. A couple of questions. Is he talking about an alto sax? Tenor and bari sax will have bigger mouthpieces, which could lead to some embouchere (sp?) issues.
Another question: in what context would he play the sax? If there is, for example, an extracurricular jazz group, then this might be a great (and fun) idea.
In terms of general benefits of another instrument–does he play piano or guitar?</p>
I didn’t know there were different saxes. I would imagine it’s the Alto, then, because my son is a teensy guy.</p>
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The school has a superb jazz band for the upper grades and it is the teacher’s baby. He is also the program’s director. There are two separate options and kids can do both depending on instrument starting next year. He told us that my son is his best musician in this grade and he can already see him in the orchestra for the musicals next year, but he’d also like to see a kid of his talent in the jazz band, so he needs to add something other than the clarinet and suggested the sax. Hubby and I have no musical knowledge or ability, so we depend on the kindness of strangers to translate music to moron for us!</p>
<p>I think it may depend on what’s a class and what’s an extracurricular, and what your son wants to do. In my opinion and experience, jazz band is a lot of fun and gives the player a lot of opportunity to grow and play as an individual (because he learns how to improvise). Reading between the lines, I think the director really wants your son to switch to sax, but to keep playing the clarinet so he can use him in pit orchestra as well. You may want to clarify what is going to be his main instrument–because if it hasn’t happened already, I predict that this director will also be talking to you about private lessons.</p>
The director knows that my son has been taking lessons from a good friend of his for a while now. I don’t think the director gives private lessons because he has so much on his plate with performing and teaching. What you said about being in the “pit” was interesting because that’s exactly what he said. I just didn’t understand it.
I guess I should clarify because I assumed that clarinet would remain the first instrument because it was the first instrument, but I don’t know about that either.</p>
<p>I just wonder if taking a second instrument would confuse him. I’ll ask his private teacher, too, but I wanted to have some idea of what I was talking about.</p>
<p>Your son is still young. Many students start on some of the basic instruments like clarinet, flute, trumpet but then branch out and experiment with others as time goes on and their skill and size improve. He may fall in love with sax or something else he tries, or he may stay with clarinet. Give him opportunities and let him choose.</p>
<p>Hi, My D is a percussionist in her first year of college and started on drumset in grade 5 but decided to teach herself to play Alo, Barri and Soprano Sax in Grade 7. She did get good enough on Bari that she was able to fill in on the odd piece when she was not playing percussion. She also has Royal Conservatory of Music Grade 6 Piano and being in college now she looks back and says those were the best moves she ever made. She specializes in Orchestral percussion, she is a double major (ED and Perfomance) and says her knowledge of the Sax and Piano are invaluable since she has to take all of the instruments and she is still finding some a challenge but much more reasonable. I think learning more than one instrument is a fantastic idea and if his teacher is encouraging it I would say jump at the chance as it will only open more doors for him later on.</p>
<p>It is very common for clarinetists to take up one (or more) of the saxophones. Usually it is done in order to fill in the sax parts in jazz bands (where typically there are no clarinets). The fingering is almost identical and the embouchure is very similar. </p>
<p>Woodwind players, in general, switch frequently amongst the instruments. In fact, most musical pit band parts are not generally written specifically for one woodwind or another, but instead just say, “reed I,” “reed II” and “reed III” and assume that the players in the pit band will have two or three instruments in the pit with them. I don’t know if a middle school/junior high school pit band would do that, but certainly the pros do and the better high schools do.</p>
<p>So, yes, it is a good and common move. The transition is quite easy. Many do it with minimal extra instruction although getting some initial private instruction on the 2nd instrument would be a good idea. </p>
<p>If your son is serious about music, I would encourage him to maintain the clarinet. Orchestras do not have saxophones but always need good clarinets.</p>
<p>If the director’s main group is the jazz ensemble, this suggestion is a good thing. I will warn you that your son may well find jazz ensemble more fun than orchestra, and you may find that he’s mainly a sax player in pretty short order.</p>
<p>You may also want to factor in the cost of buying a saxophone in the not too distant future as well, if you follow this course.</p>
<p>It sounds like this teacher wants your son to be able to be in the jazz band where there are no clarinets. What does your SON think? I would say that at age 11, there is still plenty of time to decide on the preferred instrument(s) for long term study. Many kids change instruments in middle school, and even high school.</p>
<p>Agreed…most kids find jazz band a lot of fun. </p>
He wants to be in the jazz band because they take trips and it’s the coolest thing. However, he is deeply attached to the clarinet. He walks around the house with it all the time playing a soundtrack for his life. He will make certain angry sounds if he’s angry (and loud!) and other sounds to signify his mood. So I don’t know how he’d feel about an interloping instrument. But he can’t be in that jazz band with the clarinet.</p>
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<p>Heaven only knows. He takes weekly clarinet from a wonderful teacher who is, himself, a professional sax player. I don’t know if his schedule (the teacher’s) could fit in an extra lesson or if it would be split or something. I didn’t even think to ask that.</p>
<p>We started my daughter in Suzuki cello @ age 4. At age 9, she decided she wanted to be in band and wanted to pick up clarinet. Already a proficient musician, by the end of the year, she was invited to play in PMEA on clarinet. At the end of the year, her teacher asked her to switch from clarinet to trombone because he needed trombones in his band. She did for a year. She didn’t like Middle School band, and she didn’t necessarily like trombone. She quit both band and trombone. (The director was heartbroken because she was his best musician). She has now been playing piano for 1/2 a year and now wants to take up double bass. This is pretty funny, because she is only 5’1".</p>
<p>In any case, when she quit trombone, she said cello was her musical voice and she continues to progress with the instrument. She has been successful learning others, which we encourage.</p>
<p>He’ll be able to walk around with the sax, too, unless it’s a bari sax, in which case he’ll get tired sooner. (I played bari sax, and it’s pretty darn heavy. Really easy, though, which is why I switched from third clarinet.)</p>
<p>I just want to thank you all again. You are an amazing resource for a family in which the kid has a different interest from the parents and I am very grateful.</p>
<p>The Precious Baby King’s private teacher wants to introduce him to the sax with no commitment yet and let him see what he thinks after a few weeks. Sounds good to me!</p>
<p>Size need not be an issue for someone who is 5’1" and wants to play bass. There are instruments and techniques that can make it work. It may look a little funny from some angles when all you can see of your daughter is her left arm, but you soon learn where not to sit in the auditorium.</p>
<p>My D (now almost 18) started with piano at age 7, started with sax at 9 (while continuing piano) and added clarinet at 10. Usually, kids start with clarinet and add sax later, as your kid. We inherited the alto sax, and she fell in love with it so that’s how honking started with her. She got really good at piano but the performance opportunities were really not there. Also the school had an 8th grade jazz band which encouraged her to work hard at sax. She eventually dropped piano lessons and now plays piano for fun (!). She went to music camp in the summer where she played sax (alto, tenor, soprano and bari) in jazz/big band combos and 50-piece orchestras. At the camp, she also played clarinet (Eb and bass) in 50-piece orchestras. For both, eventually moving up to 1st chair positions. It was heaven for her to be part of an orchestra playing real, serious music. Her first sax was alto. Then she wanted a soprano, and then a tenor. Now, in 12th grade she plays tenor in the jazz band. Her school also has semiannual musicals for which she plays in the orchestra, right beside professionals that the school has hired. She plays “Reeds” – sax and clarinet – usually in the same tunes, with one in her lap while playing the other. For one show she needed flute, so off to the store again, and more lessons! She absolutely LOVES playing in the orchestra for the musicals and loves to triple in the reeds role. She tells me that all the saxes play the same, and that the clarinet is the same as the sax. The flute plays the same as sax and clarinet. But the smaller the lungs, the smaller the sax (or clarinet). So for a small kid, start with alto. Soprano would also be easy, but not much music is written for the soprano sax, and most good sax players seem to hate Kenny G and his soprano sax playing. When she was smaller, she tried the bari and could barely get any notes out. So I’d start with the alto sax for your S and add tenor in about 3+ years.</p>
<p>When dealing with basses, 3/4 is more of a loose set of guidelines for size than a standard. There can be quite a range of size differences among instruments that are considered 3/4 size. Unless she feels overwhelmed trying to get around the 1/2, I would guess that there are 3/4 instruments out there to suit her. Even if she is not comfortable with a 3/4, a lot of jazz players are using a 1/2 as their regular instrument these days.</p>
<p>My daughter plays an instrument that is somewhere between a very large 3/4 and a smallish 7/8 and she is about 5’6" and does not have large hands. The string length is well within the 3/4 category, but the body size and particularly the ribs are huge. She even had an extended fingerboard put on so that she could add a few notes to the top end of the range. It definitely requires a 7/8 sized case. She manages quite well with it.</p>