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The melodic advantages of the saxophone are mechanical, not tonal. For example, to play a scale fragment on saxophone, one need only move fingers, while continu
by beat 9y ago
The melodic advantages of the saxophone are mechanical, not tonal. For example, to play a scale fragment on saxophone, one need only move fingers, while continuing to blow, creating a smooth, legato sound that can be done very fast. Contrast with guitar, where a note must be fretted and then picked, two separate motions that are difficult to coordinate. Smooth legato playing at high speed is extremely hard. Trumpets have a similar problem, tonguing notes to make changes.
And yes, saxophones have a great deal of tonal expressiveness available, especially once overblowing is brought into play. It's just not pretty tonal expressiveness, compared to other instruments.
- cma 9y agoYou can still do legato on guitar: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bTI2s4svE2s&t=1m24s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bTI2s4svE2s&t=1m24s
- beat 9y agoMeh. Legato on guitar comes at a cost of expressiveness and note choice. When hammer-on and pull-off are your only ways to sound a note, you lose all the coloration available from dynamics, palm muting, distance from bridge, pick angle, and the million other little things guitarists do to make a note special. And note choice? Scales of any substance will force either difficult position shifts, or legato-breaking string switches. It can be done, and I certainly do it. But it can't be all that's done, or your sound falls flat.