National Saxophone Day: Celebrating One of the Most Dynamic Instruments!
This Sunday, November 6th, is National Saxophone Day! It is celebrated every year on the birthday of Antoine-Joseph ‘Adolphe’ Sax, the inventor of the saxophone. Throughout history, this soulful instrument has a long legacy for its contributions to music, from jazz to classical to pop and everything in-between. Let's learn some more about one of the worlds most beautiful and dynamic instruments!
5 fun facts about the sax:
- The saxophone is the only instrument in the world that was created by one single individual. Adolphe Sax played many wind instruments, but he was determined to create a brand new instrument that had the lyrical characteristics of woodwinds, but had the projection of a brass instrument. In 1846, the saxophone was born!
- While in modern day, there are mainly 4 different types of saxophones (soprano, alto, tenor and baritone), there was once 14 different types!
- The saxophone is the only woodwind instrument that is made out of brass and was never made out of wood.
- Because of it's dynamic tone, voicing and range, the saxophone has been used in almost every genre of music including: military bands, marching bands, jazz, late-classical, pop, r&b, house music and hip-hop to name a few!
- Adolphe Sax had at least 5 near death experiences when he was young, including ingesting poison, falling out of a third story window and a gunpowder explosion! It's a miracle he survived, and we are so glad he did otherwise the world would not have the saxophone today!
To celebrate this versatile instrument, we wanted to create a playlist just as dynamic as the saxophone itself. Wether you enjoy jazz or r&b, or something else completely, there is something for everyone on this playlist. Click play below to discover your new favorite saxophone song!
Happy Listening!
-Center Stage