How Many Types of Saxophone Are There?
From the tiny 30cm soprillo to the massive 20kg contrabass, explore the complete family of 9 saxophones — and the unbelievable, accident-prone life of the genius who invented them.
Quick Answer
The saxophone family has 4 primary types in everyday use[1]: soprano, alto, tenor and baritone. Nine distinct family members are recognised in total[1] — from the rare soprillo to the specialist contrabass and subcontrabass. Most musicians, orchestras, jazz ensembles and schools work with the four primary saxophones. The extreme instruments at both ends of the family are specialist or novelty instruments, some built in very small numbers.
Despite being made of brass, the saxophone is classified as a woodwind instrument because sound is produced by a vibrating wooden reed attached to a mouthpiece, not by the player's lips buzzing in a cup (like a trumpet).
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The Saxophone Family — Shapes & Sizes
A visual comparison of the primary instruments in the saxophone family, scaled to show their relative sizes.
Relative Size Comparison
All 9 Types — Complete Reference
| Name | Key | Size (approx.) | Weight | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Soprillo | Bb | 30 cm (12 in) | 0.5 kg | Extreme high register | ~30–33cm depending on model; extremely rare |
| Sopranino | Eb | 45 cm (18 in) | 0.8 kg | High coloratura | Rarely used in jazz, occasionally in orchestral works. |
| Soprano | Bb | 70 cm (28 in) | 1.2 kg | Lead melody | Usually straight, popularized in jazz by John Coltrane. |
| Alto | Eb | 70 cm (28 in) curved | 2.5 kg | Lead/Solo | ~70–80cm depending on model. Most common beginner instrument. Charlie Parker's choice. |
| Tenor | Bb | 85 cm (33 in) curved | 3.5 kg | Solo/Harmony | ~85–95cm depending on model. The iconic voice of jazz. Played by Dexter Gordon, Sonny Rollins. |
| Baritone | Eb | 110 cm (43 in) curved | 5.5 kg | Bass line/Rhythm | Features a looped neck. Essential in big bands. |
| Bass | Bb | 140 cm (55 in) curved | 8.5 kg | Deep bass | Large and cumbersome, used in saxophone ensembles. |
| Contrabass | Eb | 190 cm (75 in) curved | 20.0 kg | Extreme bass | Massive instrument, requires a stand to play. |
| Subcontrabass | Bb | 225 cm (89 in) curved | 25.0+ kg | Sub-sonic bass | Conceived by Sax in 1846, first fully playable version built in 2010. |
The Most Accident-Prone Genius in Music History
Adolphe Sax — Belgium, 1814–1894
The Childhood Survival Record
His mother famously said: "He's a child condemned to misfortune; he won't live."
Three-Story Fall
Fell down three flights of stairs, hitting his head on a stone floor. Believed dead.
Swallowed Needle
Swallowed a large pin/needle which passed through his system.
Sulfuric Acid
Drank a mixture of sulfuric acid and water, mistaking it for milk.
Kitchen Stove Burn
Fell onto a burning cast-iron stove, suffering severe burns.
Gunpowder Explosion
Caught in a gunpowder explosion that blew him across the room.
River Drowning
Fell into a fast-flowing river and was pulled out unconscious.
Varnish Poisoning
Slept in a room where varnished items were drying; poisoned by fumes (happened 3 times).
Cobblestone Hit
Struck on the head by a heavy cobblestone falling from a roof.
"In life there are conquerors and the conquered; I most prefer to be among the first."
— Adolphe Sax
The Paris Years & The Sabotage Campaign
Surviving childhood was only the beginning. When Sax moved to Paris in 1842 to establish his instrument factory, his brilliant innovations threatened the established instrument makers. They formed a literal syndicate called L'Association des Ouvriers en Instruments de Musique with the sole purpose of destroying him.
- They stole his tools and poached his best workers.
- They mysteriously set fire to his factory.
- An assassin fired a gun at him (and missed).
- They dragged him through endless patent lawsuits, forcing him into bankruptcy three separate times (1852, 1873, and 1877).
The Rifle Moment (1851)
According to popular biographical accounts — less rigorously documented than other events in Sax's life but widely repeated: During the 1851 coup d'état in Paris, soldiers stormed Sax's factory, demanding he hand over his workers. Sax calmly stood in the doorway, picked up a rifle, and told the commanding officer he would shoot the first man who tried to enter. The soldiers backed down.
(This account appears in multiple popular biographies but has not been independently verified in primary historical sources.)
The Lip Cancer (1853–1858)
As if bankruptcy and assassins weren't enough, from 1853 to 1858, Sax suffered from lip cancer — a devastating diagnosis for a man who designed and tested wind instruments. He refused surgery, instead treating himself with a controversial herbal remedy prescribed by an Indian doctor. Miraculously, he made a full recovery and went back to playing and inventing.
The End of the Story
Adolphe Sax died in complete poverty in Paris in 1894 at the age of 79. He never lived to see his invention become the defining voice of jazz music in the 1920s. His son, Adolphe Edouard, continued the business until 1928, when it was sold to the Henri Selmer Company — which remains one of the premier saxophone manufacturers today.
Today, his legacy is secure. Before the Euro, his face graced the Belgian 200 Franc note. His hometown of Dinant, Belgium, is essentially a living museum to the saxophone. And in a bizarre pop-culture tribute, the character Bleeding Gums Murphy from The Simpsons plays a saxophone — an instrument that, much like its inventor, refuses to be silenced.
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It's Made of Brass. It's Called Woodwind. How?
One of the most common questions about the saxophone is its classification. It looks like a brass instrument, it's made of brass, and it sits next to the trumpets and trombones in a big band. Yet, in the Hornbostel-Sachs classification system, it is firmly categorized as a woodwind. The answer lies entirely in how the sound is produced, not the material the instrument is constructed from.
Woodwind Sound
Sound is generated by splitting air across a sharp edge (flute) or by a vibrating piece of cane called a reed (clarinet, oboe). The saxophone uses a single wooden reed attached to a mouthpiece, making it acoustically identical to a clarinet in its sound generation.
Brass Sound
Sound is generated by the player's own lips vibrating (buzzing) inside a cup-shaped or funnel-shaped metal mouthpiece. Trumpets, trombones, and tubas all rely on lip vibration to create their initial sound wave.
The Saxophone's Genius
Adolphe Sax didn't just invent a new instrument; he engineered a perfect hybrid. He took the single-reed mouthpiece of a clarinet (woodwind), combined it with the key mechanism of an oboe (woodwind), and attached it to a wide, conical brass tube (brass).
The conical bore (getting wider from top to bottom) is crucial. Unlike the cylindrical clarinet, which overblows at a twelfth (making fingering very complicated), the saxophone's conical shape allows it to overblow at the octave[4]. This means the fingering for the lower register is almost identical to the upper register, making it incredibly logical and relatively easy to learn. It truly is the best of both worlds: the agility of a woodwind with the projection of brass.
How the Saxophone Conquered Every Genre
1840s — THE MILITARY BAND
Adolphe Sax initially designed the saxophone to bridge the gap between woodwinds and brass in military bands, providing the projection of brass with the agility of woodwinds.
1860s-1900s — THE CLASSICAL EXPERIMENT
French composers like Berlioz and Bizet championed the instrument, but conservative orchestras largely rejected it. It found a home in vaudeville and marching bands.
1890s-1920s — NEW ORLEANS AND THE BIRTH OF JAZZ
Early jazz relied heavily on the clarinet and trumpet. The saxophone was a novelty instrument until players like Sidney Bechet proved its expressive power.
1930s-1940s — THE SWING ERA
The saxophone became the defining sound of the big band era. Coleman Hawkins and Lester Young established the tenor sax as the ultimate solo instrument.
1940s-1950s — BEBOP AND CHARLIE PARKER
Charlie Parker revolutionized music with his lightning-fast alto saxophone lines, creating bebop and cementing the sax as the intellectual voice of modern jazz.
1950s — HARD BOP AND SONNY ROLLINS
A return to blues and gospel roots. Sonny Rollins and Dexter Gordon pushed the tenor saxophone to new heights of rhythmic and harmonic complexity.
1960s — COLTRANE AND THE SPIRITUAL
John Coltrane took the saxophone into spiritual and avant-garde territory, exploring modal jazz and free jazz with unprecedented intensity.
1950s-1960s — BOSSA NOVA
Stan Getz's smooth, breathy tenor tone perfectly complemented the gentle rhythms of Brazilian bossa nova, creating massive international hits.
1950s-1970s — ROCK AND SOUL
From Little Richard to Pink Floyd, the screaming,honking saxophone solo became a staple of early rock and roll and soul music.
1970s-1980s — SMOOTH JAZZ
Players like Grover Washington Jr. and Kenny G popularized a highly polished, melodic style that achieved massive commercial success.
TODAY
The saxophone remains a vital voice across genres, from modern jazz innovators like Kamasi Washington to pop, funk, and electronic music.
The Greatest Saxophone Players
The players who defined the instrument
While the saxophone was invented in Belgium and initially intended for classical and military music, it was in America that it found its true voice. The history of jazz is inextricably linked to the evolution of saxophone playing.
CHARLIE PARKER
Died aged 34 · Body aged 55–60 · 'Bird Lives'
JOHN COLTRANE
Died aged 40 · A Love Supreme · 'Trane'
COLEMAN HAWKINS
Lived 1904–1969 · Body and Soul · 'Hawk'
SONNY ROLLINS
Born 1930 · Saxophone Colossus · Williamsburg Bridge
STAN GETZ
Lived 1927–1991 · Getz/Gilberto · Girl from Ipanema
WAYNE SHORTER
Lived 1933–2023 · Weather Report · Footprints
CLARENCE CLEMONS
Lived 1942–2011 · E Street Band · Born to Run
KENNY G
Born 1956 · Breathless · 45 min 47 sec record
You Would Never Guess These People Play Saxophone
The saxophone appears in places no one expected.
BILL CLINTON
Played tenor saxophone wearing Ray-Bans on The Arsenio Hall Show during his 1992 presidential campaign. Widely credited with winning him the youth vote. The image of a presidential candidate playing a saxophone became one of the defining moments of that election.
Clarence Clemons
Bruce Springsteen called him 'the most important friendship of my life.' Clemons was the physical and musical heart of the E Street Band for 40 years.
Lisa Simpson
Fictional but culturally significant. Lisa's saxophone obsession has been a running thread through The Simpsons since 1989. Adolphe Sax himself is mentioned in Season 28 Episode 1.
David Bowie
Bowie played saxophone throughout his career. His early recordings feature his own sax work. Later he used session players — but his understanding of the instrument shaped his arrangements across decades.
Pink Floyd (Dick Parry)
Session saxophonist Dick Parry played on some of Pink Floyd's most famous recordings including Money (The Dark Side of the Moon, 1973) and Shine On You Crazy Diamond.
Rolling Stones (Bobby Keys)
Bobby Keys played saxophone on Brown Sugar, Tumbling Dice and dozens more Stones recordings from 1969 until his death in 2014. He and Keith Richards were born on the same day — December 18, 1943.
The Most Famous Saxophone Riff Ever — And the £27 It Was Worth
In 1978, session musician Raphael Ravenscroft arrived at a recording session for a Gerry Rafferty song called Baker Street. He played a saxophone riff. Four bars. Twice at the start, then again later in the song. The riff lasts approximately 30 seconds before the first verse begins. It is one of the most immediately recognisable pieces of music ever recorded.
The cheque — reportedly — bounced. Ravenscroft's payment became one of music's most retold ironies, though in a 2010 BBC interview Ravenscroft clarified that the cheque did not in fact bounce. The low payment was real and undisputed. The bounced cheque may be legend. Either way, £27 for the most-recognised saxophone riff in history remains one of the great injustices of session music.[8]
The saxophone riff that opened Baker Street is heard by millions of people every year. Its creator was paid less than a restaurant meal — in a cheque that didn't clear.
That's what Raphael Ravenscroft received for the most recognised saxophone riff in history.
£27 — disputed whether the cheque bounced, but confirmed he received no further payment.
The Saxophone in Culture
From jazz clubs to film scores — the sax is everywhere
The saxophone appears in more cultural contexts than almost any other instrument. In film, it carries the sound of noir detective thrillers — Michael Mann's crime films, Chinatown, Blade Runner (Vangelis used synthetic sax tones throughout). In comedy, the boing-and-slide of a cartoon sound effect is often a saxophone. In pop music, it signals romance, sophistication, the 1980s. The saxophone is central to several of the most important moments in 20th century popular culture:
- The Girls from Ipanema brought Brazil to the world
- Bill Clinton's saxophone[9] defined a generation's political moment
- Baker Street became the radio era's most persistent riff
- Careless Whisper's saxophone introduction (by Steve Gregory) is one of the most recognised in pop history
- The saxophone is the sound of every American detective drama from the 1950s onwards
George Michael's Careless Whisper (1984) opens with a saxophone riff played by session musician Steve Gregory. Gregory was paid a session fee. The song sold 6 million copies and is still played on radio globally.
Saxophone Myths — Busted
Which Saxophone Are You?
Five questions — find your place in the family.
Your ideal musical context?
How Many Saxophones Are in a Symphony Orchestra?
ANSWER: Zero — in the standard modern symphony orchestra the saxophone has no permanent seat.
It is one of the great ironies of Adolphe Sax's life. He designed the saxophone specifically to bridge the gap between the woodwind and brass sections of the classical orchestra. Yet, conservative orchestral establishments largely rejected it. Today, while it is the defining instrument of jazz and a staple of concert bands, it remains an occasional guest in the symphony orchestra.
The Exceptions
When the saxophone does appear in orchestral music, it is usually for specific coloristic effects. Famous examples include:
- Bizet: L'Arlésienne Suite (1872) — two saxophones
- Mussorgsky/Ravel: Pictures at an Exhibition — alto saxophone
- Saint-Saëns: multiple works
- Prokofiev: Romeo and Juliet — tenor saxophone
- Bernstein: West Side Story — throughout
Where the Saxophone Does Live
- Jazz ensembles and big bands (usually 5 saxophones: 2 alto, 2 tenor, 1 baritone)
- Military and marching bands
- Concert bands and wind ensembles
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The Great Saxophone Makers
Henri Selmer Paris
Est. 1885 — absorbed Sax's workshop 1928[2]
The most prestigious saxophone manufacturer in the world. The Selmer Mark VI (1954–1974) is the most celebrated saxophone model ever made — Coltrane[6], Parker[5] and hundreds of other masters played Mark VIs. Current top model: the Selmer Series III. Price: $8,000–$12,000.
Yamaha
Japan — student to professional
The most trusted maker for student and intermediate players. Their YAS-280 alto is the standard student recommendation worldwide. Professional Yamaha saxophones (Custom series) are played by leading performers globally.
Yanagisawa
Japan — professional specialist
Japanese manufacturer known for exceptional build quality and innovation. Made the first silver and bronze saxophone bodies. Beloved by professional players who want an alternative to Selmer.
Julius Keilwerth
Germany — distinctive dark tone
German manufacturer known for a darker, more powerful tone than French instruments. Popular in jazz and commercial music. The JK SX90R is their flagship model.
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