Let's Talk About Sax Trivia Quiz

Answer: Woodwind

Woodwind and brass instruments are more accurately defined by how their sound is produced than by the composition of the material from which they are constructed. Thus, a 'brass' instrument can be made of wood (alphorn or didgeridoo, for example), and a woodwind can be made of metal (like a flute or saxophone).

Brass instruments are more accurately called 'labrophones', referring to the buzzing of the lips being how the sound is produced. All other wind instruments are considered part of the woodwind family, with sound produced by splitting the air over a sharp edge, like a reed or a fipple. This includes the saxophone family of instruments.

Answer: Belgium

Antoine-Joseph "Adolphe" Sax was born on November 6th, 1814 to parents who were also developed instruments as a profession, so he came by it honestly. While still a teen, Sax built his own flutes and clarinets, and his first patent was for an improvement to the bass clarinet as it existed at the time.

The town in which Sax was born - Dinant - was part of the region of the Southern Netherlands (part of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands) that became the Kingdom of Belgium in 1830. Thus, Adolphe Sax is historically described as being Belgian.

Answer: Paris

Sax relocated to Paris in 1842, where he remained for the rest of his life. He established a workshop in the rue Neuve-Saint-Georges, and within five years was building instruments with nearly 200 employees.

In addition to his line of saxophones, Sax also developed brass instrument families called saxhorns, saxtrombas, and saxtubas. A prominent French composer you may have heard of - Hector Berlioz - liked Sax's developments so much that he wrote an article about him in the "Journal des débats". His description of Sax was very favourable:

"He is a man of penetrating mind; lucid, tenacious, with a perseverance against all trials, and of exceptional skill... He is at the same time a calculator, acoustician, and as necessary, smelter, turner and engraver. He can think and act; he invents and he accomplishes." (source: www.selmer.fr)

Answer: Military bands

Saxophones combined the agility of woodwind instruments with the projection power of brass instruments, and thus were quickly appreciated by military bands, which often played out-of-doors. Sax established a course on learning the saxophone at the Paris Conservatory in 1857, hoping to expand its use in wider musical circles, and for a time he succeeded, but the political realities of life in Europe got in the way (the Franco-Prussian War in 1870), and the program was discontinued until the end of the century.

As a consequence, interest for the saxophone in classical music circles waned, while continuing to be popular with military bands.

Answer: Selmer

Various different companies have constructed saxophones since Sax's original patents expired, beginning with C.G. Conn in the 1890s. As this new era of manufacturing began for the saxophone, Adolphe Sax passed away (in 1894) at the age of 79, and his son Adolphe-Édouard took over management of the company.

The saxophone found a new niche in North America, with more companies adding variants of the instrument to their product lineups, and eventually (after World War I decimated many industries in Europe) they also began to be made by Selmer Paris in 1921. Their innovations revolutionized the saxophone, and they quickly became the dominant manufacturer in both Europe and North America. This culminated in their acquisition of the Sax workshops in 1929 from Adolphe-Édouard Sax (Adolphe's son), and the Selmer name became synonymous with saxophones.

Answer: Treble clef

When originally developed, Adolphe Sax conceived of a family of eight instruments (according to the patent) in two different groups... one group pitched in Bb and Eb, the other in C and F. In a short time, the Bb/Eb grouping became the preferred set, and is the basis for the modern family of saxophones that was largely standardized by the mid-20th century.

As a homogenous set of transposing instruments, every saxophone has a two-and-a-half octave range with music written in the treble clef. Whatever the key, the written range is the same for each type of saxophone, making for easy switching between instrument.

Answer: False

The device that holds the reed to the mouthpiece is actually called a 'ligature'. The term is related in etymology to the anatomical term 'ligament', in that they both stem from the root Latin term 'ligare', meaning 'to bind'. Ligatures and mouthpieces come in many different forms and materials, but serve the same function of securing the reed in place.

Answer: Soprano saxophone

The four saxophones listed in the question are the most commonly used of the family, and usually appear together in music specifically written for saxophone quartets, but the soprano saxophone is typically only used in concert bands and jazz bands as a feature solo instrument, rather than as a regular component of the ensemble.

The modern lineup of saxophones has nine instruments that range from high to low as follows:

Sopranissimo (Bb) - one octave higher than soprano
Sopranino (Eb) - one octave higher than alto
Soprano (Bb) - one octave higher than tenor
Alto (Eb)
Tenor (Bb)
Baritone (Eb) - one octave lower than alto
Bass (Bb) - one octave lower than tenor
Contrabass (Eb) - one octave lower than baritone
Subcontrabass (Bb) - one octave lower than bass

Answer: Glenn Miller

The saxophone was introduced to North America through military band use, but with the advent of vaudeville and ragtime bands, the instrument found a new home. With the birth of jazz, the saxophone began to be popularized in a whole new way. But it still took some time to go from being a novelty to being considered synonymous with the musical genre.

Coleman Hawkins (1904-1969) was one of the earliest jazz (tenor) saxophonists, who set the standard for future legends to emulate. Charlie "Bird" Parker (1920-1955) was (primarily) an alto saxophonist who was instrumental in the development of the bebop style of jazz. The iconic John Coltrane (1926-1967) started on clarinet and alto saxophone, but switched to tenor in 1947, exploring the limits of the instrument through amazing improvisational virtuosity.

Glenn Miller (1904-1944), however, was a trombonist known for being one of the top bandleaders of the swing era.

Answer: "Careless Whisper" - Wham!

"Careless Whisper" was written by George Michael and released on Wham!'s 1984 album "Make it Big". Michael went through eleven sax players to get the sound that he wanted for the song, and it was finally British freelance musician Steve Gregory who got it right... sort of. His tenor sax didn't actually have the high F# key needed for the solo, so he slowed the solo down and played it a semitone lower than written. Afterwards, the sound techs sped it up and brought it up to the correct pitch electronically.

The other songs all feature solo instruments, but not saxophone. "Penny Lane" has a piccolo trumpet solo, "You Can Call Me Al" uses a penny whistle (and a brass ensemble), and "Stairway to Heaven", of course, has an iconic electric guitar solo.