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Starting from a Baritone?

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#1 ·
Hi, i'm 23 and i'm getting everyday more interested in the magic sound of saxophones, especially the baritone :3 is it ok to start from it? i think i'll rent one and find a teacher to understand if it's the right thing for me. Anybody started from the bari?

Let me know :)
 
#2 ·
Starting on the baritone sax is discouraged for young students (and in fact may be virtually impossible for them) because of the horn's size and weight. But for an adult who can handle the instrument well, it should be fine. The most important thing in taking up any musical instrument is to be highly motivated. That means that if one type of sax moves you more than all the others, that's where you should begin. If you don't know exactly where to start, get an alto. But if the sound of the bari is what draws you to the music, by all means go in that direction.

The other issue with the baritone is the much higher cost of buying, equipping, and servicing a decent horn. You'll discover that challenge when/if you begin your serious shopping. But if you've found a way to rent a baritone while you learn, you're in great shape!
 
#3 ·
Hi, i'm 23 and i'm getting everyday more interested in the magic sound of saxophones, especially the baritone :3 is it ok to start from it? i think i'll rent one and find a teacher to understand if it's the right thing for me. Anybody started from the bari?
Has anyone EVER started from bari? Of course. Were they successful??? Aye, there's the rub.

Do you have any singing experience? Have you played any other wind instruments? If none of those, are you familiar with (and practice) what some call "yoga breathing"?

Adequate breath support is fundamental to getting good tone from a baritone sax.

This is not to dissuade you from trying. I have known a few people that were similarly drawn to the bari, and were very successful with it.

Please do get lessons early in your quest, such that you avoid creating and reinforcing bad habits.
 
#4 ·
23 is not too early for baritone. I know at least one 15-year old that played the baritone and even marched with it.

Another plus for the baritone is that it is very forgiving. As soon as you have learned to play it properly, it is on your side. A slight fault that would result in a very flat tone or even a squeak on an alto will be unnoticeable on a baritone.

The only thing I have to stress is: Always remember that the baritone is BIG! Never turn around fast or even medium fast with a baritone - you will hit something. I learned the hard way and ended up by telling myself: Always place the baritone on the floor when doing something other than playing it - including putting on or removing the mouthpiece!
 
#7 ·
23 is not too early for baritone. I know at least one 15-year old that played the baritone and even marched with it.
My daughter played Bari in her middle school jazz band. (She started on alto sax in 4th grade.)

Neither her small size nor youthful age proved to be a problem.

Best thing though was that the school supplied the Bari . . . I am glad I didn't have to shell out for one (although now I wish I had, so I could play it).
 
#8 ·
Absolutely ! Honestly, as NV noted above - even early teens is an appropriate enough age to start on BigHorn.

If it is the voice which mooooooves you most, just saddle up and go for it !

They are amazing instruments, fun as all heck.

The other issue with the baritone is the much higher cost of buying, equipping, and servicing a decent horn. You'll discover that challenge when/if you begin your serious shopping. But if you've found a way to rent a baritone while you learn, you're in great shape!
Maybe yes - maybe no.

I mean, if one goes into it unrealistically, thinking that when they eventually buy , they'll only need a $600 budget...then yest, definitely.

But, relatively speaking...many folks who play Tenor or Alto already go into buying a horn with a $1000-1800 budget. That dolla' can get you a good BigHorn as well.

Likewise mouthpieces. Unlikely you'll find a good Baritone mouthpiece for $20 new. But if, like many Alto and Tenor players, you set your budget at around $75-125...then you have some good possibilities there.

Which is to say, at the end of the day a Baritone player may invest $1200-1900 in their rig...but that's not necessarily more than many Alto or Tenor players will invest, either.

Regarding servicing...again, yes-no. If the servicing is just your standard tune-ups, pad replacement, cleanings, adjustments, etc...then really servicing is no more expensive.
But if becomes a matter of significant body damage (you smacked the upper bow on something, your bandmate knocked the horn over while it was on its stand, resulting in a brace impaction...stuff like this) then indeed, bodywork on a Bari is more expensive than other saxes.
 
#9 ·
In 1973 i had been playing flute since 1970.
i went to a JC and played in the wind band.
The instructor (he lead the jazz band also) asked me if i wanted to play in the jazz band, I said yes.
He handed me a bari and gave me some lessons.
I took it seriously, soon i was playing in the band.
 
#10 ·
There is absolutely no reason on earth why you as an adult couldn't start on baritone.

There are a few things a bit different from alto or tenor, but hey, you don't play alto or tenor, so you may not even notice these.

1) It's big and heavy. Get a good strap.

2) It's more fragile than you would think. Be extra careful, and get a good sax stand. Adjust the stand till it fits the horn properly.

3) It needs a lot of air. I don't mean a superhuman amount of air; junior high school students of modest stature play bari all the time. But whereas you might be able to get away as a beginning alto player with not paying attention to proper breathing, you won't be able to get away with it on baritone. So, get a teacher and pay attention to what they tell you about breathing.

4) Reeds tend to warp more than the smaller reeds. Keep an eye out for this.

5) A baritone will be more expensive than an alto or tenor of equivalent quality. Same with pretty much everything associated with it: reeds, mouthpieces, etc., etc. But compared to violin-family instruments, or even high quality flutes, everything about saxophone is reasonably priced.

With that out of the way, go for it!

Baritone is my primary and most favorite saxophone. I started playing alto then within a year I started tenor and shortly thereafter I dragged the extra bari out of the closet at school; on my first concert with the high school jazz band (playing tenor) I played a solo on bari - so maybe eighteen months after playing any sax for the first time, I was taking rides on bari- and it's been like that ever since.

(Just as an aside, early in my freshman year of college I dragged the Holton bass sax out of the closet and started working on that! But, I couldn't find a suitable use for it at the time, so after a while I put it back. When I went back for my 20th reunion, I asked "do you still have that bass sax?" (thinking maybe I could lay some cash on them and buy it) "What bass sax? We've never had a bass sax." So, someone has a nice silver plate Holton bass sax, but it ain't me.)
 
#11 ·
I started on baritone at age 12 in High School.
Granted I was 6'2" even back then, and probably about 75 or so Kilos in weight.
Breath support was key and was a basis of my lessons with my teacher back then.
He was a tenor player and when ever he played my bari, he would comment that he couldn't play one all the time as it was to much work.
Truth is he could blow the walls down with it but just preferred tenor.
The parts I played in the school bands were mostly bass lines so I lived around the bottom end of the horn.
No fancy high baffled pieces for us students back then, just whatever came with the horn.
When we used to swap horns between ourselves it was easy to tell the alto and tenor players when they played my bari.
They could blow it but there was a lot of puffing and panting.
I wasn't much better when i played alto.
I moved onto tenor after a couple of years mainly because I couldn't afford my own bari and our school pushed students into buying their own horns so as to free up the rentals for younger students.
I can't say I found starting on bari any harder than those who started on alto or tenor, except when it came to dragging it around on trains and buses etc.
Affordability is the real limiting factor when it comes to starting on baritone.
 
#12 ·
Of course, take up the Bari - would someone advise against starting on a Tuba?
The Bari is forgiving, as compared to the Sop especially. Go for it!
 
#13 ·
So OP did you start on bari?
Bari was my first and main sax. Took it up after many years of playing flute as the band needed it and there was a instrument sitting unused in the store at the school where we practised.
I love the sound of the bari whether belting out a bassline, playing sweet and tender up high or playing melodies like it is a big fat lush alto. Playing bari in a big band is my happy place.
If it speaks to you, do it! Get playalongs for alto and play them on the bari to make practise fun.
Downsides are lugging it around, cost of everything and getting some pretty boring charts if you play in a concert band.
After 4 years I started on alto too,which is a lot of fun, but the sound of the bari is just really satisfying to play. Great therapy after a xxxxty day a work.
 
#14 ·
Dissenting voice here. I know a few excellent bari players who learned on bari, and they play very well. However, they are marginal on tenor, not good on alto and downright terrible on soprano. So if you ever plan to play any other sax, it's better to start on alto I think. It's a lot easier for an alto player to adapt to bari or soprano than the other way around. There's just some level of control that you miss when learning bari that never gets translated to other horns. I'm sure there are exceptions, but that's been my experience.

So I'd at least rent an alto for 6 months, learn the basics and develop a decent sound before switching to bari. You'll be a much more flexible player in the long run. If, on the other hand, you never see yourself playing anything besides bari, then you can safely skip the alto.
 
#16 ·
Dissenting voice here. I know a few excellent bari players who learned on bari, and they play very well. However, they are marginal on tenor, not good on alto and downright terrible on soprano. So if you ever plan to play any other sax, it's better to start on alto I think. It's a lot easier for an alto player to adapt to bari or soprano than the other way around. There's just some level of control that you miss when learning bari that never gets translated to other horns. I'm sure there are exceptions, but that's been my experience.
This is a valid point. I mostly play bari and tenor, I can manage well enough on alto but would sound horable on soprano.
 
#18 ·
My first saxophone playing was as a freshman in high school, I was 4' 11" and 95 pounds, starting on a then brand spanking new school horn, a Beaugnier made Vito bari (I grew up very near their home base in Kenosha, Wisconsin in 1963). A big help was probably playing bass clarinet in junior high. I marched with a neckstrap, don't know if they even made harnesses back then, never thought anything about it! I bought a tenor for college, thinking that's what you did for playing R&R, but never really bonded (and, now, I hear tons of bari in old R&R songs). Baritone saxophone is such a magical entity that it is worth switching hands when carrying, struggling with it on the bus, paying more for reeds, developing 100 gallon lung capacity, having it take the whole back seat of your car, because when you get good, the reward to your brain is immeasurable. To feel the sweet vibration of low notes blurring your vision while you grin on the inside is sublime. To feel the ethereal upper register is unreal. You can ---always--- be heard.

I recommend starting today, and let nothing stand in your way. If your physical size or gender worries you, look here: If this skinny high school girl can play like this, just about anyone can! (BTW that's not me, I'm a 69 year old Grampa--but I did play that same arrangement as that 95 pound freshman) And, for all of you bari players, do you make actual love to your horn like this young lady does? I hope she kept on with it after high school!

Like a T-shirt I saw: "Baritone sax----like regular sax---- only better!"
 
#20 ·
i took it up at 48 after years of trumpet/sousaphone playing, was relatively easy to pick up, but i had a foundation in music and breathing.
I say go for it, get a good instructor, get the Science of Breath book (worked wonders on trumpet and sousaphone (which i took up solely for bettering trumpet breath) and have at it!
My biggest issue was finding fun music for bari.
Get the John O'Neil alto book for method (Jazz) and use that with your instructor. It is a phenomenal 'adult' learner course (no Hot Cross Buns).
And search Musescore for loads of tunes.
 
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