I also forgot to mention that we have newbies (new band members that never played an instrument in band and are in 9-12th grade). We have three people who are newbies in the section that are doing very well with tenor.

Hey y`all

Just thought id say howdy Well I play the alto sax. in my school band secound year and lovi`n it
We always get melody lines in all the songs ha ha ha attention is great Mission Inpossible i think is one of my favorite songs to play but i dont like mesure "69" because its well

after one year of alto sax, i decided to switch to tenor, which i believe was a good choice.
tenor`s seem to have fuller low notes, which are my favorites, and were quite hard for me on an alto, but now are easy.
but being serious, for buying a saxophone, maybe you should stay with alto, since there is such a little difference, only a few notes lower.

Hmm... tenor or alto. How about BOTH! I play soprano, alto, tenor, c-melody, and bari, and love em all. They are all great! Of course, my least favorite is tenor. It easier to get all area bands with tenor, but I still made it top #3 with alto sax. I guess thats why tenors are easier to get seating on...

I personally love tenor. I play both alto and tenor, but i like tenor much better. About melodies, it depends what kind of music you are playing. I play in my schools jazz band. Tenors get a good amount of solos and melodies and are well noticed. But in concert bamd they are more of a background type instrument. I have been playing for 7 years now and am taking private lessons. I have a pro yanagasaw(not sure if its spelled right ) it cost me $2000 so about the money question. There is no way u are going to find a good sax for that little. Oh and i wouldn`t recommend buying them from ebay. A picture doesn`t describe tone quailty and if its easy to play on. When I got my sax i went to my friends store and played around with it for about an hour before i decided to buy it.

True; tenors get more solos in jazz (sops get more) But Altos have a much more interesting line in concert bans. (melody, counter-melodys, background cool sound bolstering unit (to add a nice tone to the crappy french horns or baritones) It depends on what you want to do. (ALL All All)
!Wildband!

I play Saprano, alto, tenor, and bari sax along with flute, piccalo, saprano clarinet, alto clarinet, bass clarinet, and piano. I have been recruited by 6 university music major programs and I am 15. My main insturment is Clarinet but out of all the saxophones my favorite is Tenor It has a nice deep full sound. When all of you were saying they don`t get melody and so on...WHO CARES! if there were no bass lines or harmonies songs would be BORING!!!! Bass lines and Harmonies make a song!....this is all coming a first chair first clarinetist...but it`s true. Tenor has awesome back up parts that are so important in a band setting!

-Jen

Number one...just because the instrument is lower doesnt effect the "depth" or "fullness" of the sound. That is primarily created by A. what sax you`re playing and B. what your mouthpiece and reed set up is. As far as which sax to play...that is completely up to you! In a normal middle/high school concert band the alto may have the melody more often than not. But in any jazz/big band setting there isnt such a thing as "tenor saxes get most of the solos". It all depends on which band you are playing in and what kind of instrumentation they want/need. I have played equally as many solos on bari sax as I have on tenor or alto. If you`re looking to buy a new or used sax then generally a tenor will be a little more expensive but that doesnt meant that you have to sell body parts to get one...I have a very nice professional vintage tenor that I payed $300 for (it plays perfectly after I spent a few hours working on it). Another thought to consider is that if you decide alto or tenor you could always play the other later on. I started on tenor and now play on most of the sax family. Also in college if you decide to take any serious music classes you will be playing all sorts of instruments. Someone said that the mouthpiece is big on the tenor and its heavy...that is NOTHING in comparison to the size and weight of my bass sax. For anyone who wonders what I base this info on, I have experience on sax;alto, c melody, tenor, bari, bass clarinet; Eb soprano, Bb soprano, alto, bass, contrabass flute; soprano, alto, bass. So in short for all you wondering if you should play alto or tenor...it is completely your call! Which ever you think fits you best...if its because you can hold it easier or you like playing it more...it doesnt really matter if you have enough air to fill the sax right away, it all takes practice no matter which you decide on! I never post on this forum but after seeing a few misleading replies I thought I would put in my thoughts. Hopefully this helped a few of you that had questions.

You got me there, I was coming from a high school students perspective, though I am aquanted with many professionals.

hey i have the answer to your question
i have been playing sax for 6 years and i play alto tenor soprano baritone and bass sax
start off on alto first because it will help you build up an embochure
you will need this embochure because if you want to become a true musician you will be faced with different saxes
if you need any more advice my email is Ralandomonster@aol.com

Personally, I like playing Alto, and about buying a sax eBay perhaps? Definitely there are ones under 300 like this one for example????

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=16232&item=3769013989&rd=1 check out the user store!

Ebay is always a risk; you never know what condition the instroments in, ect. BUT, you can always check feedback.
Good reviews = good sax maybe

Read description carefully (sorry, maybe this is all obviuos, if it is sorry again, i`m NOT trying to insult)

If you don;t like the horn, you can always list it again.

-Careful about Moniques, there is one dealer on eBay who sells good ones(forgot who) He replies to your questions

Im taking alto and dont give up keep on playing

Hi, I`ve been playing alto sax since 5th grade and recently switched over to tenor and I was wondering what is the b flat concert scale for a tenor? I know an alto is G...but Im not sure about the tenor and I have a midterm and I think I probably have to know it. Ive been faking all the other times. *sheepish grin* Please help.

Nevermind I found out for myself its the C scale. No need to reply...not that anyone probably was in the first place...