Tenor. A simple word that has many
different meanings: a vocal tenor, a clef, a range, a tenor sax. The latter is
the most interesting to me. Saxophone is my specialty and I recently got the
privilege of learning how to play tenor saxophone.
You might be thinking, aren't all
saxophones the same? You couldn't be more wrong. Every saxophone has a
different personality that a non-saxophone player wouldn't understand. Each sax
is like a person; no two are alike, each has a unique personality which a
player has to figure out. The saxophone is an interesting object, you have to
caress it and learn to love it or face the consequences.
I normally play the baritone saxophone
in jazz band and alto sax in concert band. Both these intricate machines have
different sounds, tones, personalities. The bari is the low humming engine of a
roaring Hummer, it always gets the job done. The alto is the high intoxicating
sound of a Lamborghini, the more interesting and, in its own way, beautiful
sound. Coming from the same family, these two machines could not be more
different.
And then there’s the tenor, the
Challenger, not quite a tank but not quite a sports car. A beautiful machine
that has the sweet purr that runs through your body, but also, a sense of
power. I have gotten addicted to this wonder, tenor madness if you will. No,
not tenor madness, but might as well be.
Tenor is fun, it’s like nothing I’ve
ever played. Last night, the first time I ever played a tenor sax, I realized
why there are so many more tenor sax players known than any other sax. For
example, to name a few: Ernie Watts, Joe Lovano, Sonny Rollins, Dexter Gordon, John
Coltrane, Charlie Parker, Sonny Stitt. And that’s just the few off the top of
my head. Tenor madness must truly be real. I've caught a virus that is all
consuming, I can’t wait to let it take over, that is, if it hasn't already.
I caught this bug all due to my
church. This coming Sunday I am involved in a musical, if that’s truly the word
for it. This virus overcame me when I was asked to improvise, without chord
progressions I would later find out, and the instrumentation called for a
b-flat instrument. I don’t own a tenor, (hard to get addicted to it then huh).
I was planning to just play alto until I was offered a tenor to borrow for this
one occasion.
Instantly I took up this opportunity,
as I have wanted to play a tenor for a while. The question is then raised, did
tenor madness reach me before I had even touched the brass keys of a tenor? In
any case, I currently have a bad case of tenor madness. I am figuring out how
to play and sound good all for a silly children’s program at my church. This
one time, I could not be more happy about the opportunity given to me.
Perhaps this tenor madness could
lead me to an award winning album, (I highly doubt it but go big or go home,
right?) In all honesty this epidemic will most likely lead to further studies
in saxophone. Maybe this is how all great musicians get their start, by playing
at their churches. Only time will reveal the truth.
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