Alto VS Tenor Saxophone: Which is Better for You?

After playing sax for 50 years, I can say that studying the Eb Alto is the key to total saxophone understanding. From the alto, you can then proceed to the Bb tenor, Eb baritone sax, and the Bb soprano.

Tenor has a certain edge to it. I play both but tenor is my favorite

I prefer the alto saxophone for several reasons. One reason being that I've always considered the saxophone to be a small instrument, and the tenor saxophone is a medium instrument. I mostly think of the saxophone as being slightly larger than the trumpet. And the tenor saxophone is quite a bit larger than the trumpet. I prefer the lower notes on the alto saxophone over the higher notes. Also the kind of music I listen to is more suited for the tenor saxophone, but despite that I still prefer the alto saxophone.

Great demonstrations of each!

Awesome Video. really enjoyed the playing part. it was super helpful showing different styles 🔥🙌 had 10:05 on repeat for a bit

I’ve played alto in middle school band and now first tenor for my jazz band. I really love the sound of tenor in jazz and it’s been amazing doing many solos with it. For classical and upright music I usually play with alto because it sounds more fit into that category. All in all, they’re both so good and I love improvising with both so thanks for the vid!

This helped me a lot choose between alto and tenor, thanks. Great video

Nice video. Wish I saw this before I purchased my sax. I recently purchased an alto sax for a lot of reasons you gave, but my primary reason was that it is smaller than a tenor which makes it more portable and easier to manage, esp if you have to travel. Also it was on sale, so I decided it was the perfect time to get it. Love the sound of the tenor so I may purchase one in the future.

This is quite helpful and informative. This is by far the best comparison video I've watched. Definitely going for tenor saxophone because of the rich sound 7:50 8:50 and its great as solo 8:11

Que bueno ha sido este video, muchas gracias! Genio!

today is the 32nd day Yesterday I put a tenor reed on the alto and it sounds amazing I definitely like better the alto for learning and then give the tenor what I learn in the alto and is always more beautiful but when I go back to the alto That’s when is like going in 5gear and it gets exiting that each sax helps the other one in agility and sound and is amazing how much one day of practice can do on the sax! thanks for the welcome!

ok so i am in grade 6 and currently play the bass clarinet. in a month from now some of the band get specialty instruments which are alto, tenor, baritone saxophones, oboes and french horns, i definitely know i want to play a saxophone. but what would be a good sax to switch to from bass clarinet?

Thank you for this video. Question about your mic placement. That mic looks like the Rode NT1. If so, it’s a side address mic, but it looks like the end of the mic is pointed at the bell. Do you find that the sound is better in this position? Thanks!

so i’ve started to play the alto after switching from bass clarinet, i’ve really enjoyed it. i find that i preferred playing the bass line. but after switching to alto it’s super fun to play solos and stuff. if i were to compare my 2 instrument experiences it would go like this: sound: alto parts in music: b. clarinet tone: b. clarinet high notes: alto low notes: b. clarinet i’ve decided i’m more of a bass line person so i would like to switch to a bari sax. for anyone wondering, alto plays melodies and solos, bari does bass line but can do solos, and tenor can do both.

Life is short. Coming from clarinet, I found both YAS/YTS-32 (used). A good reed on either tips the balance, but a good reed on tenor is memorable. The alto easier on your neck. If you have space and means, you want them both.

i’ve been playing flute for 3 ish years now in band and since im in jazz band now my band teacher wants me to switch to tenor saxophone. do you have any tips for getting started on the instrument?

What mouthpiece and reed are you using in these instruments? Thank you for the video :-))

I like both. Cool video bro.

thank you

C melody also has a curved neck fyi, its simply smaller or inbetween the alto and tenor. Tenor takes getting used to, but I prefer it as far as range. The low Bb is incredibly resonate.