Which wone is better, Alto Sax or Tenor Sax?

Question

for a cool, soft, mellow, sunset sexy sound.

Answer 1

If you want cool mellow and sexy, Listen to players like Cannonball Adderley or Kenny Garret on Alto and John Coltrane or Dexter Gordon on Tenor play a Ballad. That's when they go for that type of sound and they were some of the best at it. If you're into a smooth jazz sound check out Eric Merienthal on Alto and Kirk Whalum on Tenor. Just go to amazon.com and listen to samples of these guys' CD's. There really isn't a better here. It's all preference. For myself, I play both and for me it really just depends on the mood I'm in. Sometimes I want to play Alto and sometimes I want to play Tenor. There are many guys who can get the sound I think you are looking for on both types like Chris Potter. Just listen to the two as much as you can and go with the one you like more. They are basically the same instrument and you could always change you mind later.

If you're interested you can check out my MySpace at www.myspace.com/ralphtorresjazz and here clips of me playing both, although the alto stuff is classical, you can get an idea of the sound I get. Hope this helps.

Answer 2

There are subtle differences between saxophones. Most people dont even know how many there are. I will start from Highest to lowest.

Sopranino - Eb horn. Comes straight or curved and sounds like a kazoo.

Soprano- Comes in Bb abd F. Generally hard to play in tune, depending upon the player. The "Kenny G" horn

Alto - Eb horn. Altissimo range not as pleasureble to listen to as tenor, personal opinion though. Comes in a striaght interation as well. Sometimes has a low A key, very rare though.

C-tenor or C-Melody Sax - Some look like a smaller tenor and some look like a bigger alto because of the option of having a curved or straight neck. Has a weird tone. I havent played a new one yet, but the one I had played like crap because I couldnt get the original mouth piece for and had to use a tenor mouthpiece. These weird made for the specific reason of transposition. People in churches wanted to play along with hymnal, but most if not all hymnals are written in C because its the native key of organs, keyboard, pianos, vaginas.

Tenor - Bb horn. The most widely played saxophone. Has the easiest (granted all saxes are easy to play and Im a sax player admiting to it!)and largest range of any of the saxes. I dont play tenor. I just plain dont like it. Nothing wrong with it

Baritone - Eb horn. Lisa Simpson plays this saxophone although it is drawn to look like a tenor, but the sound is distinctly a baritone. This one of my favorite horns.

Bass - Bb horn. Very rare sax. Prolly has no useful applications today. Sounds like a bassoon, faggotte (which literaly means a bundle of wood, which a bassoon look like, and not homosexual)

Contrabass - A nintendo game from the mid-80's vastly poparized by its "30 life" cheat code...... or maybe it the extremely rare 6'8 200lbs saxophone with the range of a Tuba. At one point the were only 18 left in the world and it started for the New York knicks from '79 to '84

Now, I play Alto sax. Its the best for me to play because I have small hands (Im 6'6 and I dont get it) and a severe under bite which screws with me tone. What ever sound you get or how play a sax depends solely on the individual. Which one you play doesnt really matter. Its kinda like the different between a male voice versus a female voice. Thats what make music great. Its different not better or worse. Every person is different, with the exception of twins and clones.

Answer 3

I like Tenor sax its a medium between Bari sax and Alto sax

Answer 4

definitly agree with Steve S... but I would have to say the tenor... more times than not that is probably going to have that sound you are talking about... yeah, an alto can be played that way.. but the tenor is naturally a rich instrument and I prefer it played that way.

Answer 5

I prefer the tenor...but Cannon Ball Adderly used to play a alto and make it sound like a tenor!

Answer 6

"Tenor Madness" by Sonny Rollins. hell, it says it all for me.
still,Coltrane played soprano, tenor, and alto, and well, he's about as genius as genius gets. i played in a band for 2 years where my sax playwe played a ton of baritone, and that was alway my favourite.
I think its not the instrument, its the player.

Answer 7

I agree with Blueroro93.

if You are a boy,the tenor is more masculine and the girls like it better.
no women,will get mushy with a alto sax.

Answer 8

Paul Desmond - Alto

Stan Getz - Tenor

Gerry Mulligan - Baritone

Why choose?

Answer 9

The instrument doesn't matter. The musician who plays the instrument makes the difference.

Answer 10

I'd go for tenor. It sounds so bold, hip and sexy.