Hiya, i'm ChrisBull - piano teacher (reached grade 8), and think it's about time i take up another instrument, so guess which one i picked!!
ahehe
i know that there are soprano, tenor, bari. saxophones etc. and i was wondering a couple of things:

1) What are the differences between them???(Is one easier to learn than the rest?

2) Which one's the most sought after for performances/ensembles etc.???

3) Which one do YOU think is the "best"?

and Finally,
4) Does playing one, say the soprano saxophone, mean you can automatically pick up a different sax (eg. the alto) and play it just as well??

Thanks very much if you can help someone out who knows absolutely NOTHING about saxophones!

Thanks very much if you can

What saxophone you play depends on skill level and budget.

The most obvious difference between the saxes is size, and the smaller the higher in tone if you will. Another difference is the embouchure needed to play. The smaller the instrument the tighter your embouchure must bee. ex. A soprano maybe harder to learn than a tenor because needs to be built up to be tight. If you're looking for an instrument that has a wide variety of available music, the soprano may not be for you. The "Top Two" in terms of availability of music is the Alto and the Tenor. I personally believe that the Tenor is the best one out there because: A)I play tenor, and B)Jazz is my type of music and the tenor is more widely used than the alto in jazz. Fingerings for all saxes are the same. ex. The fingering for G on a tenor saxophone will be the same as a G on the alto, soprano, baritone, bass, etc... The only difference is the key in which the instrument is pitched. ex. G on a Tenor will sound like a concert F. Meaning that G an ANY Bb sax (soprano, tenor, and bass) will sound like an F on a piano. While a G on an Eb sax (Sopranino, alto, and baritone) will sound like a Bb on a piano. You can TECHNICALLY pick up any sax if you already know how to play one, providing that you can adjust your embouchure.

In conclusion: For a beginner I guess it would be a toss up between an Alto or a Tenor. Tenors are typically more expensive than Altos. I believe that Tenor would be the better choice because unless your hands are small and may not be able to handle about 10 or 15 lbs on your neck. The tenor also doesn't need a very tight embouchure to get a good tone.

My last point is to avoid eBay auctions for brands like Selman("Bootleg" of an amazing company: Selmer), Schill, and basically any auction WITH A TITLE IN CAPS LOCK AND TWENTY EXCLAMATION MARKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I would recommend a lightly used Yamaha YTS-23. MusiciansFriend.com is also a great site. However I wouldn't recommend it if you are going to ship out of North America. If you find a good sax on eBay or anywhere else I would suggest asking around if anyone has had experiences with the brand. If you find something do not hesitate to post on this forum because I can answer about 95% of your questions.

Good Luck!

Here is a list of approved saxophone brands as noted by connsaxman_jim at saxquest.com :
Antigua Winds
Armstrong
Borgani
Buescher
Bundy
Buffet
B&S
Cannonball
Cleveland (King)
Conn
Couf
Dolnet
Evette Schafer (Buffet)
Guardala
Holton
Indiana (Martin)
Jupiter
Keilwerth
Kessler Custom (Kessler Music)
King
LA Sax
LaVoix (Selmer)
Martin
Oleg
Selmer
SML
Vito
Winston
Yamaha
Yanagisawa

From my own personal experience I would add in these brands:

Conn-Selmer Prelude
Kohlert

Also a list of the saxophones

Soprillo(Bb) - Very rare, ive never actually seen one, but its on the list.
Soprinino(Eb) - Even cooler sax, even harder to play. Max range> only 2 and half octaves.
Soprano(Bb)- Cooler sax, bit hard to play. Max range> only 2 and half octaves, cause it cant play altissimo.
Alto(Eb) - Basic, most normal starting sax, not hard to play. Max range> about 4 octaves.
Tenor(Bb) - Jazz sax, not hard to play. Max range> about 4 octaves.
Baritone(Eb) - Bass sax, mainly used in bands of any kind, not hard to play. Max range> 3-4 octaves.
Then i think its contra-bass but im not sure.

Really its what you want, i play soprano alto and baritone, if your planing on performing in small bands etc, maybe tenor, if your just trying it out choose alto, then maybe try soprano later on, but if you dont need a bari sax, DONT GET ONE, only reason i got one is cause of orchestra.
But, lol, if you want cheapo instruments you cant go past ebay, sopranos are about $200, and altos about $300.
Well im going back to practice, if anyones got serenata sheet music7 by igor stavinsky from the 'romances for saxophone' cd email turnni1@gmail.com.

I want to get into playing the soprano saxophone as well, I play the clarinet right now.

I have a friend who plays the soprano very well and suggested starting out with a cheapo ebay sax, he reasoned that if you can make that sound good, when I move to a more expensive brand I will be a much better player.

Well if you REALLY want to get a cheap eBay sax I would suggest atleast getting a good mouthpiece like an Otto Link 7 Rubber Mouthpiece. These cheap saxes have improved alot since they first came into the market, but definately not at the level of Selmer, and Yamaha. They may not last you more than 5 years, but that should be good enough time to save up for a better sax if you feel like it.

Also if your thinking of getting a soprano sax you may want to consider a curved vs. straight sax. Straight sopranos sound more like a metal clarinet. By that I mean that, compared to the curved sax, it has a brighter tone. Curved saxes tend to sound more mellow and dark, and sound more like a regular sax.

Turnni1,

Good list of saxes.
Yes, there is a Bass Saxophone after the Baritone and a contra bass after that.
JOhn

Don't forget about the tubax. :D

WOW !!!!
I like it.

John

my dad has always wanted to play the sax but if he was to get him one a cheap ebay one would be ok for his casual learning and playing

Well it really depends if he plans on using it for a long time. If he is then he should probably save for a student line Jupiter. They're only about $1200. Mind you thats about 3X more expensive then a cheap eBay horn, but they're about 20X the quality. I for one use the Jupiter 787GL Tenor for Service Band. Its built like a tank and sounds great. If you live in North America I would highly recommend Musician's Friend. They have some sweet deals. If your dad has $1900 he could get a nice black Giardinelli. If you have a tight budget I would recommend getting a used Yamaha 23 Series on eBay, like the YAS-23 (Alto) or YTS-23(Tenor). One should run at about $800. Just remember looks aren't everything! I can't stress that enough! All you need is a sax with good springs and pads.