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History of the saxophone instrument
History of the saxophone instrument
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Although I have just embarked on the journey of learning to play the saxophone,I am very intrigued by it’s history and musical origin. The saxophone is simply an amazing instrument with so many different kinds and variations of it, and so many musical genres it is able to play. The saxophone can produce soft angelic tones, or hard hitting jazz numbers, basically anything you want to hear the saxophone, and it’s player are able to provide you with. Upon such a versatile instrument there are so many endless possibilities and I am here to share with you some of the most amazing and chalenging things about the Saxophone. I will inform you about the history of the saxophone and how it has influenced the musical world, and much more.
The saxophone was created by Antoine Joseph Sax, but more popularly regarded as Adolphe Sax in 1846. The Saxophone is the most recent woodwind instrument to have been produced and accepted into music. In 1814 Adolphe Sax was born in Dinant, Belgium. At a young age he learned from his father, who retained his own instrument crafting shop how to make instruments himself. He studied the Flute and Clarinet at the Brussels conservatory in Belgium, and in 1840 Adolphe decided he would make an instrument to cover the middle range of military band music. He wanted a sound similar to the Clarinet, but also with the Brass tone of the Trumpet. He made it a hybrid using a Clarinet mouthpiece, and key work resembling the Oboe’s. In 1842 Adolphe moved to Paris to finish creating the instrument that was soon be appropriately named, the “Saxophone”. He finished making the Saxophone in 1845, and it was soon picked up by several French Orchestral Composers in 1846. Thereafter the Saxophone was being played in many small ...
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...t High School Library-Date of publication: Not stated-Publishing company: Stoddart- Page numbers:14-15
JAZZ written bye John Fordham-Erin District High School Library-Date of publication: 1993 by the Reader’s Digest Association-Publishing company: RD press-Page numbers: 64-65
The Orchestra written by Michael Hurd-Erin District High School Library-Date of publication:1981-Publishing Company: Phaidon Press Ltd
Encyclopedia Edited by Stanley Sadie-Erin District High School-Book 16-REF 780.3 NEW v.16
Internet Sources: http://library.thinkquest.org/5116/saxophone.htm written by Samuel and Jason-Title of Page: Saxophone http://musiced.about.com/od/lessonsandtips/a/saxparts.htm written by Espie Estrella-Title of Page: Parts of the Saxophone http://www.toptenz.net/top-10-jazz-saxophonists.php written by Nathanael Hood-Title of page: Top 10 Most Influential Jazz Saxophonists
The music of jazz became an important aspect of American culture in the early 20th century. The crisp syncopation of ragtime and the smooth tunes of the blues seeped into American mainstream music through dance halls and saloons and later through ballrooms. Instruments like the piano, trumpet, trombone and clarinet became important and symbolized the “swing-feel” of jazz because of their capability to syncopate and improvise precisely. With the help of the booming recording industry, musical geniuses were discovered and their talent and contributions to the emergence of jazz spread throughout the entire country. Such musicians include composer, arranger and pianist Jelly Roll Morton who heavily influenced the development of early jazz by his unique piano style, his “invention” of musical notation for jazz, and his compositions that have become the core in the jazz repertory. Because the style was new and different and so successful in drawing in large audiences, musicians around the world tried to mimic it. Furthermore, Morton’s masterpieces were the first to show notation for complicated jazz music and thus, formed the basis for standard notation in jazz compositions today.
Baldwin, James. “Sonny’s Blues.” The Jazz Fiction Anthology. Ed. Sascha Feinstein and David Rife. Bloomington: Indiana UP, 2009. 17-48.
The saxophones are timid on average and have a talent for complaining. They can usually be found huddled together in the band hall talking about how awful something,or another
Music is magical: it soothes you when you are upset and cheers you up when you are down. To me, it is a communication with souls. I listen to different genres of music. When appreciating each form of music, with its unique rhythm and melody, I expect to differentiate each other by the feelings and emotions that it brings to me. However, I would definitely never call myself “a fan of jazz” until I witnessed Cécile McLorin Salvant’s performance last Friday at Mondavi Center. Through the interpretations and illustrations from Cécile’s performance, I realized that the cultural significance and individual identity are the building blocks of jazz music that create its unique musical features and support its development.
Vladimir Bogdanov. All Music Guide to Jazz. Forth edition. Ann Arbor, MI: All Media Group, 2002
Jazz music’s roots go deeper than most people could ever begin to imagine. Whether it is the influencing of other styles of music, the broadening of other media forms, or even the molding and shaping of the atmosphere of entire cities, jazz usually has a part in it. And with an impressive career spanning over 50 years, countless hits that are being replicated in numerous forms even today, and the pivotal part that he played in the Harlem Renaissance , it is almost impossible to talk about anything jazz related without mentioning Edward Kennedy “Duke” Ellington.
Paying tribute to Ella Fitzgerald is almost a priori to the concept of jazz vocalization itself. Her influence spans generations, genres, and instruments. Her voice is the voice of postwar jazz, and, perhaps especially for people of more recent generations, is probably the one that first comes to mind when we think of ‘classics’ or ‘The Great American Songbook’. Jazz violinist Regina Carter likely knew the idea of an Ella tribute wouldn’t be as novel as her previous two albums, but she seized upon the icon’s 100th birthday and took the advice of friends who saw how Fitzgerald’s music had been a constant influence in her musical life and told her, “why not make an album about it?” Approaching Fitzgerald’s work in fresh light, Carter sifted through
The history of the Concert Band and Wind Ensemble will be reflected through a timeline of events, including an analysis of significant events, groups, composers, and advancements. When society envisions a Wind Ensemble, talented musicians, grand music halls, and difficult arrangements typically come to mind. However, a modern-day Wind Ensemble includes a variety of musicians, each with positive and negative aspects. In society today, music is greatly appreciated and accepted. It is considered an honor and a privilege to expose our ears to the music.
Many jazz artists as we know it are quite talented. Their talents are unique in that they can translate human emotion through singing or playing their instruments. Many have the ability to reach and touch people’s souls through their amazing gifts. Although this art of turning notes and lyrics into emotional imagery may somewhat come natural, the audience must wonder where their influence comes from. For Billie Holiday, her career was highly influenced by personal experience, the effects of the Great Depression, and the racial challenges of African Americans during her time.
All types of music require musicians. In the H.R. (Harlem Renaissance), there were many who contributed to this new style of music known as jazz. These musicians all have their own style and form. Each of these styles has in some way influenced the evolution of jazz. Louis “Sachmo” Armstrong is recognized as the most famous trumpet player of all time.
John Coltrane was a jazz saxophonist from 1955 to 1967. He was born in Hamlet, North Carolina on September 23, 1926. A few years later he moved to Highpoint, North Carolina.(D) As a child he was surrounded by a musical family. When he turned thirteen he started to play the alto saxophone. 1939 was a life changing year for Coltrane because his father, uncle, and grandparents died.(C) In the middle of that same year he graduated from grammar school.(D) Sadly when his family started to split and go to different states Coltrane moved to Philadelphia in 1943.(C)
Baldwin, James. “Sonny’s Blues.” The Jazz Fiction Anthology. Ed. Sascha Feinstein and David Rife. Bloomington: Indiana UP, 2009. 17-48.
The sound of the saxophone is greatly influenced by the person who is playing it. The sound of the saxophone can be described as “boxy” or “hollow” but in the right hands the saxophone can sound beautiful and creative. I feel that the saxophone I play (the alto saxophone) makes a very smooth sound and energetic. It sounds like a usually high pitched noise that can sometimes be related to sounding like a bus.
Jazz is the best-known artistic creation of the Harlem Renaissance. “Jazz is the only pure American creation, which shortly after its birth, became America’s most important cultural export”(Ostendorf, 165). It evolved from the blues. In the formally standardized, instrumentally accompanied form of “city blues”(as opposed to the formally unstandardized and earlier “country blues”), the blues was to become one of the two major foundations of 1920s jazz (the other being rags). City blues tended to be strophic songs with a text typically based on two-line strophes (but with the first line of each strophe’s text repeated, AAB) and a standard succession of harmonies underlying each strophe’s melody.... ...
Wharram, Barbara. Elementary Rudiments of Music. Ed. Kathleen Wood. 2nd ed. Mississauga, Ont.: Frederick Harris Music, 2010. Print.