Hello. i am in 9th grade and i am first chair clarinet in my band. i was looking into learning a new instument for jazz band possibly, or a brass instrument so i can be in a corps one day. i was think of switching to tenor sax for jazz band b/c of the similar fingerings and key, and then learning trumpet for corps. any ideas or thoughts? thanks in advance

I think it`s a great idea to be proficient on multiple instruments. I am a sophomore in high school, and last year learned tenor sax to be in jazz band. Someday i want to learn about a million other instruments as well, lol.

As far as what to learn first, i would suggest the sax. Become proficient on that in the next few years in jazz band, and then learn trumpet. To the best of my knowledge, the earliest time you can be in a corps is around when you`re a senior in high school, so you could pick up trumpet in a few years. Or you could learn trumpet for both jazz and corps. Whatever you do, it`s probably not the best idea to attempt to learn both sax and trumpet at the same time, because you need time to build up the muscles in the embouchure for each instrument.

Hope i helped a little!

Hi! Just a little note on when you can join the corps. Here in Cali you can join the Blue Devils, at the earliest, around the age of 8. That is if you want to be part of the "C" corps. 8-13 is the C corps and it requires no experience, but as you get older you can join the "B" or "A" corps, the A corps is the one that travels and I`m pretty sure you have to be around 18-22.

In my opinion I would start trumpet first. Since you already know wood winds, you wont have that much trouble switching to sax. But if you want to be in a corps playing trumpet you have to be very good or they won`t take you. I`d suggest maybe mellophone, its a little easier, but its just my opinion