[NickCormier]

Hm. So I been having a huge itch lately to get into Woodwind/brass instruments for jazz, mainly Tenor sax and Trumpet.

I rented an Alto sax over xmas break and while it was difficult, I saw potential in it being fun.. but I like the sound of Tenors better.

Anyways my issue lies in deciding between Tenor and a Trumpet, as trumpets are cheaper, easier to learn and not as common as Tenor sax (every jazz band has a tenor sax player..) so hmmm.. But I dunno if Trumpet can get that growl/"sound" that Tenor sax gets..

I dont know if I listen to many trumpet players outside Miles, but watching afew people play them lately, sounds like you can get some good tone out of them..

Anyone here play either one, or have an opinion on Tenor sax's or Trumpets?

Me personally thin sax is easier then trumpet.

[NickCormier]

how? Trumpet you have 7 possibilities for notes, then just use your lips to do the rest (which isnt as hard as it sounds, as if you are trained musically, using your mind to hear the next note in a scale or where you want to go will help you tremendously once you got the basics down)

Sax is a huge bag of worms. with like 14 buttons or something crazy, I know it confused the fuck out of me the first few hours I played it.

a guitar has a shit load of frets, but it still easier to intonate a tone then on a trumpet

I find it hard as hell to even get a tone out of the trumpet, but the sax is something that I can at least play a little melody on.

But as I said it's a personal thing. It is defiantly not a universal truth.

[OzzyC]

It all depends on your embechure. (I'm sure I'm spelling that wrong...)

Myself, I was more suited to low brass. I played trombone 3 years in the school band, and was the second best in my class. But, I couldn't get much out of a trumpet, and never got more then an uncontrolled honk out of woodwinds.

[kung_fu]

Personally, I'd go with the clarinet. I know it isn't one of your listed choices, but It is certainly less common in modern jazz than either instrument you chose.

[NickCormier]

The clarinet is abit too squeeky for me, and Also apparently I heard from many people, much much more difficult to keep it in control when playing jazz/fast melodic passages.

Hmm

[Lucky Seven]

I gotta tell you this, picking up a wind instrument is NOTHING like picking up guitar. Also, trumpet is waaaaaaaay harder to play than tenor sax.

Originally Posted by NickCormier

how? Trumpet you have 7 possibilities for notes, then just use your lips to do the rest (which isnt as hard as it sounds, as if you are trained musically, using your mind to hear the next note in a scale or where you want to go will help you tremendously once you got the basics down)

Dude, you have no idea. Using your lips = the hard part about brasswind. Also, to get anywhere near good, you gotta be very dedicated and have professional instruction.

[kung_fu]

Originally Posted by NickCormier

The clarinet is abit too squeeky for me, and Also apparently I heard from many people, much much more difficult to keep it in control when playing jazz/fast melodic passages.

Hmm

Fair enough. This bit of news makes Eric Dolphy all the more amazing to me.

[thedonutman]

Agreed. Trumpet has more to do with embrasure. Once a horn playing friend of mine got hit in the lip before a show and he couldn't play, and that wouldn't have been as big as a problem if he played a woodwind instrument.

But Sax is still pretty hard.
Also, as a woodwind player, you get totally ripped off on reeds too. As a Clarinet player, I find that out of a box of 10 reeds (Vandoren Or Rico Royal) 3-4 are too hard, 3-4 too soft a 2-3 that are completely fucked up, and a few perfect ones. And I'm paying over a quid per reed!

Wind instruments are pretty hard in general, I mean when was the last time you struggled to play something because you couldn't actually hit that note on guitar?