Biography Adolph Sax was born November 6, 1814 in a town called, Dinant in Belgium. At age six, he was able to drill a clarinet's body perfectly and twirl a cup of a horn too. When he was twenty, he reinvented the bass- clarinet from a unreliable instrument to the modern day bass-clarinet. In the 1841, he began working on a new set of instruments, called the saxhorn, that ranged in seven different sizes. The saxhorn was a valve bugle that was a saxophone with a trumpet mouth piece. Patented in 1846, he created the saxophones.

Soprillo is the brand name for sopranissimo saxophone, the smallest of the saxophone, it ranges an octave above the soprano. Constructed by Benedikt Eppelsheim.

The sopranino sax is tuned in the key of Eb. It is sounds about an octave higher than an alto sax. Picture at right: Eb sopranino sax at right, Bb soprano sax at left and C soprano sax in the center.

This instrument is considered the second highest in the saxophone family (not including the Soprillo). Since the soprano is a Bb instrument they can play trumpet music.

The Mezzo-soprano sax is sometimes called the F alto saxophone. Picture at right: the Mezzo-soprano at right and alto at left. Click Here to Listen

The Alto Sax is played in the key of Eb. Click here to listen to the Alto

The Tenor sax is the second most common saxophone. It plays in the key of Bb. Click to Listen to Tenor

The Bari sax has a loop on the the top by the mouthpiece to make it a reasonable six. It also played it the key of Eb. Click to Listen

The Bass sax is not very common because the tubas take its part in a concert band most of the time. It is played in the key of Bb. Picture at right: Bari Sax at left and Bass sax at right. Click to Listen

The Contrabass sax is played in the key of Eb but an octave lower then the Bari sax. It has twice as much tubing than the Bari and it stands 6 ft. 4 in. tall and it weights approximately 45lb. Click to listen

This sax was designed by Adloph Sax but he never made it; the first one was made in the mid 1960’s and the person needed help to open and close the pads. It is played in the key of Bb to octaves below the Tenor Sax. Picture at right: The Subcontrabass at right and the Tenor at Left. Click here to Listen to Sax Quartet

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