Saxophone Research Paper

Charlie Parker, an American musician, once said, “Don’t play the saxophone. Let it play you.” Saxophone is an instrument that was very recently created by Adolphe Sax in 1840. It has a lot of influence on the music we listen to today, with its smooth, buttery, voice-like sound. Many genres of music utilize the velvety tone of all different kinds of saxophones. Saxophone is an instrument that has had a major influence on both music from 200 years ago to modern music now. The creation of the saxophone began with Adolphe Sax. Sax showed an early version of the baritone saxophone in 1842- it had qualities of both brass and woodwind instruments. This provided a very smooth sounding instrumental voice that was pleasing to the ears. Sax produced seven versions of saxophone, sopranino to double-bass; there was a lot of variation for players desiring lower or higher pitches ("Adolphe Sax”). All seven of these instrument created different sounds, so the saxophone was considered a very versatile instrument that was easy to adapt to, if one
Vaudeville was a type of entertainment popular in the early 20th century. Vaudeville provided a perfect venue for the saxophone, either in solo performance or in saxophone ensembles. Vaudeville introduced the saxophone into a wider audience and eventually developed into ragtime. Ragtime music then developed into jazz in the 1920s and the saxophone was to play a prominent role again. The 1920s is referred to by some as the "golden era" of saxophone production in the United States (Mauk). The music written in the golden jazz era of saxophone production is still very popular to this day. During all of jazz history, the saxophone has been one of the major voices of the genre. Because of this, saxophone soloists today play both countless classical and jazz recitals every year, and saxophone quartets win many international chamber music