Orchestra auditions. Saxophone.

Saxophone: audition and music jobs

A musician who makes their living exclusively from playing the saxophone is known as a saxophonist. The jazz scene is where this particular instrument is most prevalent among the contemporary ones and finds many uses in a variety of musical genres. Saxophonists tend to be members of bands, and rarely play on their own – on the other hand, their fans tend to recognize their particular talents very strongly and saxophonists have a good potential for becoming successful in their field.
Becoming a good saxophonist is similar to the path taken by most other musicians – a candidate must typically show interest in the instrument from an early age. Throughout their careers, many successful saxophonists have played in amateur bands until they have gained sufficient experience to join a more well-known band or even start their own. A saxophonist generally has good potential for developing their career, and it’s very easy to find employment if one is skilled and experienced enough – as well as willing to change their style and adapt to a band’s flow.
If you can play the saxophone and you want to do it on a professional level, there are several potential career paths that you can explore. You can become a saxophone instructor at a school to teach students, from elementary school through college and beyond, how to play the sax. You can also work in a music store or give private lessons. As a saxophone instructor, your duties and responsibilities involve teaching a specific music style, such as jazz or blues, and ensuring that students can read and play music. If you prefer to perform as a saxophonist, some options are to play in a band or for musical backgrounds for films and theatre.

The initial qualifications for getting a saxophone job include being a proficient saxophonist. This typically requires earning a degree in music with a focus on the saxophone or otherwise becoming proficient by listening to and studying from professional saxophonists. If you plan to teach people to play the sax, employers may look for some experience with teaching to help ensure that you can perform the teaching duties of this music job as well. As a musician, some beneficial qualities to hone include adaptability, concentration and memory, responsibility and self-discipline, perseverance, being a team player, confidence, and communication and listening skills. Being open to all feedback and able to critique your own playing is essential for performing as a professional saxophonist.

A significant part of learning and playing the saxophone is learning the breathing requirements necessary to blow air, vibrate the reed and ultimately produce the intended sound. Like when singing, if the saxophonist runs out of air to blow, the saxophone stops producing sound.
So we must become skilled with and conscious of our breathing when learning and playing the sax.
In addition to superb breath control, we must be able to match the exhales with the proper fingerings for the notes we intend to produce. This takes incredible dexterity to accomplish in a defined rhythm.
In learning the saxophone, we must develop the ability to synchronize our hands, breathing and embouchure, making them perform the notes we want, when we want them. With the timbre and emotionality we want to express. That demands the development of dexterity!
Any musical instrument requires practice, commitment, and a desire to get better. In other words, practicing and learning the saxophone require focus and discipline.

Orchestra jobs

These skills (discipline and concentration) can be learned and nurtured with intentional practice. Learning how to play the saxophone, from the mechanics to the in-depth theory, is a fun way to learn music and the saxophone in and of itself and to also develop discipline and concentration.
Orchestra Audition: saxophonist, job postings and listings

The saxophone is a conical bore woodwind instrument, meaning that it starts out at one diameter and gets wider and wider as you reach the bottom end of the instrument. A cylindrical instrument like the clarinet, by contrast, stays the same diameter throughout the entire length of the instrument. Conical bore instruments are generally known to have warmer and mellower tone qualities than their cylindrical counterparts. Generally made of brass, they have occasionally been constructed of silver and gold, even plastic. The key-work consists of metal buttons (or keys) attached to leather pads which when pressed cover strategically placed tone holes. Pressing different combinations of these keys results in different pitches and sometimes even sound effects like growling and screeching.

Salary for musician jobs - saxophonist

The list of international music schools includes education to become a saxophonist:
1. Brigham Young University – Provo
2. University of Arkansas
3. East Carolina University
4. University of Munster
5. Aalborg University
6. Stockholm University
7. University of Zurich
8. The Purcell School for Young Musicians
9. Royal Hamilton College of Music
10. Tokyo University of the Arts‎

Saxophone Societies:
1. The Clarinet and Saxophone Society of Great Britain
2. North American Saxophone Alliance
3. Kent State University Saxophone Society
4. Queensland Clarinet and Saxophone Society
5. The L.Switters Saxophone Society

The most famous saxophonists in the world:
1. Ray Abrams
2. George Adams
3. Pepper Adams
4. Cannonball Adderley