# Trumpet or Tenor sax?



## SnowfaLL (Feb 1, 2008)

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?


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## Desecrated (Feb 1, 2008)

Me personally thin sax is easier then trumpet.


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## SnowfaLL (Feb 1, 2008)

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.


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## Desecrated (Feb 1, 2008)

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.


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## OzzyC (Feb 1, 2008)

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.


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## kung_fu (Feb 1, 2008)

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.


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## SnowfaLL (Feb 1, 2008)

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


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## Lucky Seven (Feb 1, 2008)

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.



NickCormier said:


> 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.


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## kung_fu (Feb 1, 2008)

NickCormier said:


> 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.


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## thedonutman (Feb 1, 2008)

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?


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## kung_fu (Feb 1, 2008)

Ya, there seem to be difficulties no matter what you choose. How 'bout a recorder  ?


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## SnowfaLL (Feb 1, 2008)

You guys seemed to have misread the part where I said I played an alto sax before (over 5 hours at least, not alot but enough to know what im getting into). Im not intimidated by difficulty, Its more the type of sound I want to achieve vs limited cost. 

My question basically was along the lines of should I get a trumpet to try it out because its 3x cheaper, and I still have a great interest in playing trumpet anyways, or save up for a sax, which, with my guitar funds, could be awhile unless I get a cheap china piece of crap =[


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## Desecrated (Feb 1, 2008)

See if you can rent both instrument from somewhere.


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## OzzyC (Feb 2, 2008)

Desecrated said:


> See if you can rent both instrument from somewhere.





Like I've already said- your embrachure might not allow for one or the other. Learning which one your more naturally able to utilize will make choosing which to pursue further an easy decision.


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## SnowfaLL (Feb 2, 2008)

Yea.. The thing that sucks is I dont have a CC here, so I dunno if im able to rent one. I rented an Alto while I was home on xmas break because I could use my moms CC, but now I think im screwed..

I saw a nice Jupiter Tenor at a local pawnshop for $300 CAD, which I heard they are one of the nicer taiwanian sax's, so if its still there, Im gonna bring in my sax playing friend to get him to test it and maybe lower it down to 250ish.. Just crossing fingers its still there >X<


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## Holy Katana (Feb 9, 2008)

I don't really know much about tenor, but as an alto player, I'd tell you to pick the sax. Yes, it has more buttons, but it's also easier to intonate, as you don't have to do much tuning with your embouchure (although, on high notes, you will certainly have to do a bit), and because the fingerings make more sense (at least to me, they do, but then again, I played it in band class for five years). Like, with trumpet, you have to memorize fingering patterns, and then you also have to change your embouchure to play different notes as well. With sax, more buttons means a lower note, and less means a higher one, until you press the octave key when switching from C of C# to D, and the whole process begins again. However, the trouble with both instruments, and with all wind instruments in general, is that to get into the high range, one must have great control over their breathing and their embouchure, or the note will either not come out, or come out horribly out of tune.


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## jacksonplayer (Feb 9, 2008)

I played clarinet in school as a kid (fairly well, I might add), and when we had a substitute teacher, we'd fuck with their mind and all swap instruments. Germs, what germs? 

Dude, brass instruments are WAAAYYY harder to play than woodwinds, IMHO. Sax requires more stout effort to play than clarinet, but it's easier in that you don't have to cover the holes with your fingers.

Any of 'em require a lot of practice when you start out, just like guitar. There are no shortcuts.


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## Luan (Feb 9, 2008)

Both sounds awesome, but trompet = pure love


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