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Hey Guys.

I just had to say how fascinating I've found this thread. As a guitar/bass/keyboard person, my knowledge of the saxophone is strictly limited and I found these posts really interesting. It's also increased my already considerable respect for sax players!

Many thanks.

ROG.



I play both guitar/bass and sax, although I'm much better on the sax due to decades more experience on it.

It's easier to read music on the sax, as you don't ever have to take your eyes off the music to look at the fingers, it is only one note at a time, and the fingerings of the notes are more logical.

It's easier to transpose on the guitar. Move up one fret and you are in a new key. The fingerings of the same scale or arpeggio in each different key is entirely different. So while on the guitar you can learn 5 different fingerings of the major (or any other) scale depending on the position on the fretboard, for each different scale on the sax you have to learn 12 different fingerings, one for each key.

Neither the guitar nor the sax is perfectly in tune with itself. However the guitar is closer to being in tune with itself than the sax, and it's easier to adjust (if you have a good guitar). The sax intonation varies more and is different from note to note. The Bb may be flat while the B might be sharp and the C right on. On the other hand, a person with a good ear and good sax can overcome the intonation challenges on the sax much more than the guitarist can. For example, if a particular not is flat, the sax can lip it down to be perfectly in tune. That isn't easy on the guitar - if you have a whammy and you can play as well as Jeff Beck you might be able to do that.

Of course there are plenty of other differences between the two, but these are the ones that aren't so obvious to people who don't play both.

Notes

Bob "Notes" Norton smile Norton Music
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