What is the difference between a tenor sax and an alto sax?
About five pounds 🙂
Actually, while both saxes use essentially the same fingerings, embouchure, etc., the main difference is that the alto sax plays in a higher register than the tenor sax. They also play in different keys–alto in Eb and tenor in Bb. The tenor sax generally has a mellower, deeper sound, though good players can get a huge range of sounds out of both instruments.
What is a harpsichord?
A harpsichord is the general term for a family of European keyboard instruments, including the large instrument nowadays called a harpsichord, but also the smaller virginals, the muselar virginals and the spinet. All these instruments generate sound by plucking a string rather than striking one, as in a piano or clavichord. The harpsichord family is thought to have originated when a keyboard was affixed to the end of a psaltery, providing a mechanical means to pluck the strings.
Which instruments are normally in a marching band?
Marching bands consist of woodwinds, brass, and percussion instruments. Due to the physical movement of the ensemble and the fact that they are playing outside, the instruments used are those that are sturdy and portable and create a substantial volume of sound.
The woodwinds most commonly used are piccolos, flutes, clarinets, and alto, tenor, and baritone saxophones.
Brass instruments include trumpets, French horns, baritones, and sousaphones and/or tubas.
Percussion instruments include bass drums, snare drums, crash cymbals, and glockenspiels.
If you have no natural musical talent, but you want to learn play an instrument, which instrument would be a good one to start learning on?
The answer to this question is purely subjective, it’s really up to you to decide. The following questions/comments will help you to decide.
-What is your favourite instrument to listen to (solo or accompanied)?
-How much money are you willing to spend? (little return value if you give up and try to resell equipment)
-Are there constraints on noise levels due to proximity of neighbours? Drums and electric guitar can be very loud and offensive to your neighbours. Wind and reed instruments are also hard to play quietly except for the harmonica or mouth organ.
-How much time are you willing to spend practicing? All instruments require the learning of basic musical theory, some are also hard to master because of the complexity of their use, such as the twelve string guitar.
-Will you be playing with other people? Some instruments are not all that fun by yourself, like the bass guitar.
I think that a wise first instrument would be a compact cheap synthesizer /electric piano/organ. This can be cheap but effective for £200-300 but for the more serious musicians it is expandable with amplifiers and mixing boards, audio input lines etc…
It is a relatively easy instrument to play and the electronic functions make it fairly adaptable to produce a wide range of sounds, using echo, vibrato, organ, guitar sound effects etc…