Alto + Soprano at the same time?

[chengccs]

Hi all,

I'm a newbie in Alto (around 10 months). I'm interested to play Soprano together with my Alto. I saw a lot of threads here mentioning to add the other horn after several years of playing one horn. Since I'm a bit quite old, I think...(27 years old now...) So:
1. Is it "appropriate" for me to learn Alto and Soprano at the same time?
2. Are the mechanisms (fingering...etc) similar between Alto and Soprano?
3. If the above question is true, can I apply the same concept on Alto to Soprano?
4. Is there anything that I should aware of?

Thank you so much for all your advice.

-Stanley

[dshook]

Hi all,

I'm a newbie in Alto (around 10 months). I'm interested to play Soprano together with my Alto. I saw a lot of threads here mentioning to add the other horn after several years of playing one horn. Since I'm a bit quite old, I think...(27 years old now...) So:
1. Is it "appropriate" for me to learn Alto and Soprano at the same time?
2. Are the mechanisms (fingering...etc) similar between Alto and Soprano?
3. If the above question is true, can I apply the same concept on Alto to Soprano?
4. Is there anything that I should aware of?

Thank you so much for all your advice.

-Stanley

yes
yes
yes
not really, the soprano will take more control and most likely seem more difficult to you at first

[chengccs]

Thanks a lot, dshook.

Then I better ask my teacher to see if I'm able to control the soprano in current stage.

[Dave Dolson]

I agree - no real biggee in playing both horns. True, the soprano requires a bit more embouchure-tightness, but that should only improve your alto tone, once you develop it.

One thing, though - if you are only reading music, you'll need written music in both horns' keys. If you are improvising, the switching between a Bb and an Eb horn may prove confusing at times. Even after all these years, when I switch horns in the middle of a tune, it causes me to give a brief thought to playing in a different key for the same tune. DAVE

[altosaxguy1]

yeah ive only been playing sax for about a year and i play alto, bari, and soprano at the same time (and no not physically) ive had not trouble at all just a little on improving

[jacobeid]

I played alto for roughly 2 years before moving to Soprano. With me, I balanced out my practice time and I've worked out all the problems on the soprano. In my opinion, intonation is the hardest on soprano and since you are usually the only one playing one..it's real easy to hear if you're off. It took me a good few months with sitting down with a tuner and getting comfortable with pitch tendancies, but now it's really worth it. My ears are well trained when I play soprano and I am pretty much always in tune.

I think some people could argue to start now or to wait. Some people will say it's better to learn now while you are less experienced so you grow with them than playing say alto very well then trying to switch to tenor. Others could argue the differences in embouchure could possibly mess with your alto embouchure. I have not found this to be the case, but I guess everyone is different. Are you taking private lessons? If so, I would recommend asking your teacher, as he/she is most likely to know you the best and can give you better advice than any of us can.

[chengccs]

I took my first soprano lesson last Saturday!!!

Yes, I agree with all your opinions.
I also found out that doubling in Alto and Soprano really beneficial to each other, well....for myself. For example, I realized that my fingering is jumping to hard while playing Alto and this cause my out of tune in playing Sop. Meanwhile, after I played "softly" for my fingerings in Sop, my Alto fingering would become "soft" and helped me to maintain "clearer" sound...

Anyway, thank you so much for all your opinions. Hopefully can share other issues on playing Sax with you.

- Stanley
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Alto: Weril A932, Selmer Metal Jazz (F) MPC, Vandoren zz 2.5
Sop: Jupiter 747, Yamaha 7CM, BG L51 ligature, Hemke 3