Saxophones Soprano - curiosity.....

[LisaP2026]

Currently learning alto but thinking about hiring a sop just to see what it's like but have a couple of questions.....

1) is sop more difficult to play than an alto?

2) have heard that they are more prone to going out of tune - is this the case?

3) would you recommend a straight or a curvie to try?

Or would you suggest sticking with the alto until more competent......?

 

[Pete Thomas]

1) is sop more difficult to play than an alto?

Not really but I’d ask @Jeanette

2) have heard that they are more prone to going out of tune - is this the case?

No, but may do show up intonation issues a bit ,

3) would you recommend a straight or a curvie to try?

Straight.

Or would you suggest sticking with the alto until more competent......?

No, if you fancy soprano and can afford a half decent one, go for it.

 

[Ivan]

Hi, Lisa

You should probably play the sax you like the sound of best. You don't need to serve an apprenticeship on a horn you like less

Alto is the commonest starting horn...relatively lightweight and relatively manageable intonation (saxes have tuning issues)

Sopranos don't 'go out of tune', as such, but they're trickier to keep in tune, note to note... Practice makes perfect

Straight vs curvy is more a matter of taste than playability... Some might say curvy looks more like a saxophone and less like a shiny clarinet

*Edit*... I see that our Patron, @Pete Thomas, who knows infinitely more than Yours Truly, recommends a straight soprano... Perhaps he'll say why

(curvy looks cool)

 

[Tuppertn]

Currently learning alto but thinking about hiring a sop just to see what it's like but have a couple of questions.....

1) is sop more difficult to play than an alto?

2) have heard that they are more prone to going out of tune - is this the case?

3) would you recommend a straight or a curvie to try?

Or would you suggest sticking with the alto until more competent......?

1) Yes
2) Yes, but it's really related to #1
3) Straight. I'd play a straight tenor if I could but they're not practical.

Soprano is a tiny, sassy, intolerant little beast...like the Yorkshire terrier of the saxophone world. It's pretty easy to make one sound bad, but play whatever is fun to play. The more fun it is, the more you'll play and the better you'll get.

Just for reference--alto is a Poodle, tenor is a Golden Retriever and bari is an English Mastiff.

 

[lydian]

I disagree with @Pete Thomas on this one. Every soprano player I know, including myself, struggled with intonation much more than on alto. It takes more practice to learn play in tune than the larger saxes. And if you only play occasionally, you're very likely to have intonation issues. In that sense, it is more difficult to play.

They don't "go out of tune". Beginners simply fail to play them in tune due to the fine level of control that must be developed. Heck, I know plenty of excellent players who never quite tamed soprano.

Curvies are cute and they project the sound more toward to the player. Straights are harder on your right thumb. What's better is entirely personal preference.

I'm not saying avoid difficult instruments. People master very difficult instruments all the time. Just don't expect to sound great for a while.

 

[Pete Thomas]

I disagree with @Pete Thomas on this one. Every soprano player I know, including myself, struggled with intonation much more than on alto.

As did I, why the disagreement? I think, maybe due to higher pitch, they show up intonation issues more than the larger horns.

 

[Pete Thomas]

*Edit*... I see that our Patron, @Pete Thomas, who knows infinitely more than Yours Truly, recommends a straight soprano... Perhaps he'll say why

Purely because out of the several I owned, I prefer the straight ones.

 

[Wade Cornell]

Generally all the high pitch saxes (soprano, sopranino and soprillo) require hearing the note you're attempting to play rather than just using the right fingering. If you're strictly a reader (as opposed to playing occasionally by ear), then there is a tendency toward not listening. The lower pitch horns have a larger degree of tolerance. The higher the pitch the more accurate your embouchure needs to be.

That requires a mental feedback loop from your ears to adjust your embouchure for the note you're playing. If you're not listening or anticipating the note to be played you'll never sound good on a high pitch sax.

The key is in listening and knowing the sound of the note you're going to be playing... a different type of practice compared to playing the lower pitch horns. It's also a good practice for the lower pitch horns, but not as much a necessity.

The straight soprano can not only be hard on one's right thumb (if played correctly), it can also give you tendonitis. The curvy is much easier, yet puts the sound back at you in close range (which some people don't like).

Often you see straight soprano players with the horn and their head angled towards the floor. Not a good practice, but if using a strap eliminates the strain on the thumb and tendon problem. Personally I like the sound of a straight soprano, but changed to a curvy because of the tendon problem. Older curvy sopranos with the right mouthpiece are fairly mellow so don't scream in your ears.

 

[Colin the Bear]

Soprano is much more pitch sensitive than alto.

1mm movement of mouthpiece position can make or break intonation, in my experience. Also the notes are so close together it can feel like a swannee whistle.

A curved sop can hang and be supported on a sling. With a straight, the weight is mostly hand held. The right thumb can take a beating.

I struggled with sop more than all the others but once I got the right (for me) mouthpiece on a decent horn and found my reed, it all snapped into place.

It's a beautiful, frustrating and maddening instrument. A real love hate relationship that I wouldn't be without.

The heart wants what the heart wants. Go for it, but don't be expecting it to be easy.

 

[LostCircuits]

It's not just the position of the MPC but also the embouchure and the "presence" for lack of a better word. Especially if you ever play sop and you are getting even slightly nervous about your intonation, it's almost a guarantee for disaster. The smaller the horn, the easier it is to bend the notes and by extension, the easier it is to get off pitch/out of tune. A slight tremor in your lips will give you a (not so) beautiful tremolo, usually centered where you don't want it. Been there, done that many times. You play perfectly fine at home, you go to a gig and someone says "your D is flat" and your intonation goes out the window.

Doesn't happen on tenor, very marginally on alto and non-existent on bari but on soprano, hell, you can bend the notes up or down a full step without realizing it.

 

[skeller047]

The real problem with saxophone intonation is this. The best way to get a good sound is with a firm but relaxed embouchure and good breath support. “Firm but relaxed” is hard to do, and keeping it consistent is even harder, so people either bite too much, or relax too much; both exacerbate tuning problems.

Soprano is less tolerant of this than alto (which in turn is less tolerant than tenor). Put another way, it’s easier to play soprano out of tune than alto or tenor. So you need to exercise more consistent control.

That said, go for it - I’m primarily a tenor player these days, but I love playing soprano.

I have always had both curvy and straight sopranos. The biggest difficulty with straight horns is the need to keep it away from your body, so the mouthpiece enters your mouth straight. Modern straight sopranos often come with both straight and curved necks; the curved neck makes this problem easier to manage.

I like the curved one for playing in a big band, it’s easier to blend in the section, and the sound doesn’t get buried on the floor. But tonally and ergonomically, I prefer the straight.

 

[Jeanette]

I wouldn't argue with any of the above comments as everyone has a different experience 😁

I fell in love with the sound of sop so it was the first horn I brought. I knew nothing about playing sax or any instrument so wasn't expecting any particular problems.

I bought a straight and whilst I have tried curvies, never really got on with them.

My 2nd tutor was great on sop and I credit playing along with him a lot in training my ear.

Yes your thumb does suffer and a strap will help a little but not much I started to use one from fear of dropping it and whilst it's stable in my hands now it's just a habit.

I developed tennis elbow at one point, not from playing sop but it made it hard to play so I bought an alto but that suits unused in my cupboard most of the time.

If you live the sound go for it.

Jx

 

[Pete Effamy]

My formative years were on clarinet, and I’ve always found that those skills translated well onto soprano, but I’m not saying that it’s played like a clarinet, certainly embouchure-wise; moreover voicing notes and of course the pitches that come out for each written note (same).

I have played both straight soprano and curved and my preference is for straight, based only upon the fact that I find the curved one awkward to hold.

There are too many years in between ownership of straight and curved soprano’s for me to comment on sound, though I imagine it to be negligible and less of a factor in choice for me as comfort and the individual horn itself.

Some instruments have felt much more free-blowing than others (even with a larger-tip mouthpiece v smaller, so I presume that some instruments are a narrower bore.

I have had a couple of Yanigisawas - curved (maybe 40 years ago) which was nice, though I hated the ergonomics. A “student “ straight one - didn’t like it, found it to be “thin / small “. Beautifully made though.

Sold the above for a used Selmer S2. Harder to play and not “great” but it is still pretty nice. Far more open too.

Also had a SMS Academy (forerunner of Jericho instruments supplier) which Robbie let me have for about £90.

It was remarkably good, though had a lot of resistance and used to give me a headache after an hour.

 

[LostCircuits]

and used to give me a headache after an hour.

And you swear it was not your playing?

 

[Digger2054]

I have a curved soprano, it's fun to play, but I resemble a T-Rex when playing it.

🎷🦖

 

[lydian]

I have a curved soprano, it's fun to play, but I resemble a T-Rex when playing it.

🎷🦖

 

[LostCircuits]

I have a curved soprano, it's fun to play, but I resemble a T-Rex when playing it.

🎷🦖

That's exactly how I feel 😁

 

[Nick Wyver]

My first sax was a soprano - a silver Buescher True Tone. Sops are still my favourite. I’ve currently got 3 Bb ones - 2 straight Yanagisawas and a curved Bauhaus Walstein. Curved or straight depends on what I’m doing, I don’t really have a preference. If I’m being miked up curved is easier.
As has already been said, they’re not more difficult to play just need a bit more care with intonation.

 

[Stephen Howard]

Straight sops are easier/cheaper to fix when they go wrong or get damaged.
They also look more stylish and less clown-on-a-unicycle like.
Lots of people 'play' a soprano - not so many play them well because you tend to have to 'steer' them rather more than the larger horns. All the very best soprano players I've ever heard play nothing but soprano.
Yanagisawa make excellent sopranos, but my favourite (and I don't like sopranos) is the Yamaha 62.
I would always recommend a single-piece body. The crook tenon joint on sopranos is a common source of leaks because it's rarely that well engineered.
Tuning on modern sopranos is generally pretty good - but quite a lot of cheap sopranos require the mouthpiece to be fully pushed onto the cork.
As a good rule of thumb, the smaller the horn the more accurately it needs to be made...and thus the more it tends to cost.

Other than that, get in!

 

[LisaP2026]

There's a Fortissimo student sop on eBay at the moment (straight) currently at £81 - anyone heard of that brand?? Photos are diabolical though... can't seem to paste the link, not sure why??