[ContraGal]

Next marching season I'm going to be marching saxophone instead of bass clarinet. I'm still unsure of whether I should play tenor or bari. There are enough altos in the band and there's just going to be one or two tenors and no bari next year. One of my friends is trying to convince me to play bari and I really want to, but I'm concerned that I may not be able to march with it. I'm 5''1 and a bit wide. Renting a tenor is also cheaper than bari.
So should I go for a tenor or bari? I'm going to be a beginner in terms of memorizing fingerings and tone, so I'm also wondering if a smaller sax would work better.

 

[empressdiver]

I'd get the tenor. If in doubt, you might try a bari in a music store and stand with it for an hour to see how you feel about the weight and size.

 

[MoonMind]

I'd advise against marching bari altogether - at any rate, only march bari if you're allowed to use a harness. I'm 5'4'' and no wimp (25 years of martial arts...), and it was a real pain to have to march bari (I still did that for several years); I'm now marching alto - bliss. That said, marching tenor wouldn't be a problem for me, and I think tenor's a better match for a bass clarinetist.

But if you really want to march bari, follow empressdiver's advice and try out standing with (and marching!) a bari in a shop - the duration of an hour is about right to give you a real idea of the problems. Just remember: Having a 12 pound weight (at least!) resting squarly on your right thigh doesn't really help with walking straight, let alone marching.

M.

 

[Mal 2]

I presume you are switching from bass clarinet to saxophone because you'd actually like to be heard from the stands. If so, tenor is the way to go. If you think you need to be part of the bass line though -- march a sousaphone before you march a bari. It's a better instrument for the field, and your back will thank you for it.

 

[Grumps]

Renting a tenor is also cheaper than bari.

If you're going to march with a saxophone, it's going to take some knocks. I'd first inquire whether or not the school has any saxophones for this purpose. I know when I was a kid, I wouldn't take my alto on the field. Everyone thought the school horns were absolute junk, but I found a beat up old one in the back of the instrument closet that suited my purposes... a King Super 20.

 

[JayeLID]

Bass Clarinet = Bb

Tenor = Bb

I thought Mal's comment was off-the-wall when I first read it, but he's right.

You cannot hear a Baritone in Marching Band; certainly not a lone one.

In the context, you have to overblow the hell out of an instrument in marching band to begin with.

You don't wanna be a novice on Baritone having to blow the hell out of it while also dealing with harnesses and ergonomics and such. Even if you can achieve all of that...

...nobody will hear you other than maybe half of your bandmates....

Nnnnow....IF you had written saying you were joining stage band and they had no Baritones and were short a Tenor also...I would have said: go with the BigHorn, hands down because they are cool and you will be a much more valuable player to the band.

But in this instance....and I think most replies are leaning that way, too....the Tenor seems the better choice.

 

[Chunsoo]

I recommend marching an alto, because marching a tenor for 3 seasons isn't very pleasant. I got used to it, but an alto felt like I wasn't marching with an instrument at all because it was lighter than a tenor.
I'm just assuming that this is a high school marching band program.

 

[Steve Stockham]

I was a bari player in my high school's marching band and I can tell you that you will prefer marching with a tenor over a bari! You shouldn't have to rent a tenor or a bari, however, as the school should already have those instruments! The bass clarinet is closer in size to the bari (fingering positions, etc...) but the tenor's weight is closer to the bass clarinet. Whatever you decide, I would advise getting it now and get started learning the fingerings. It's relatively easy due to the fact that you alredy will have half of the fingerings learned!

 

[ContraGal]

After what you all said, I think tenor is going to be better for me. I'm planning on getting one in February after an important all-district band event. And yes, I'm a sophomore in high school. I've been using a Neotech harness for marching with my bass clarinet and it took a lot of weight off my thumb and neck.

 

[JayeLID]

Just for kicks try a few BigHorns, too...who knows ? They may 'speak' to you in a special way a Tenor does not (i.e. maybe you'll absolutely fall in love with how it makes you feel as a player). But I think that based on what we can offer on a Forum, the T seems to be a more appropriate direction.

 

[Agent27]

Two instruments that I feel shouldn't be in a marching band:

Bass Clarinet
Baritone Saxophone

 

[TMadness1013]

If I were you, I'd prefer to march tenor. Why not ask your director what they think? Maybe you don't have any sousaphones in your band & NEED the bari. Maybe your director needs you to stay on bass clarinet. I have a fairly small band (30 kids) but it was great because this season I had a tenor, bari, AND bass clarinet & I could hear them all. Everyone commented on how great it was to be able to hear the tone color of bari & bass clarinet in the band. Not something you hear everyday.

 

[ContraGal]

My director told me it's my choice. There is a strong possibility of having another bass cl. marching next year, but that may change. We march contras (3) instead of sousaphones by the way. Bass clarinet is my main instrument and I would never play a saxophone in concert band. My band is around 50-60 people. In terms of the most recent season the saxophone section consists of 3 altos, 2 tenors, and 1 bari. I would become very frustrated with a brass instrument. I've played my friend's mellophone and that seems to work for me if I really needed to switch to brass.
I'll check with my BD and see what he thinks is best for me.

 

[JayeLID]

I think the sousaphone/brass suggestion was partly tongue-in-cheek.....you are a reeds player, obviously Pick a sax.

 

[bari_sax_diva]

Seven reasons you don't want to march with a baritone sax:

1. It's really heavy and marching with it (especially any modern low-A horn) is rough on your back unless you're built like a football linebacker.
2. Marching bands usually like sax players to have their horns in front of them. If you're playing a bari, the body mechanics involved in doing that are awful, and you're just begging for hand and wrist problems if you do a lot of it.
3. Baris don't like being knocked around, which comes with the territory in a marching band. And believe me, there's nothing more exasperating than discovering that some idiot banged your horn and rendered it unplayable when you're on your way to an event.
4. Most school-owned baris have been to hell and back, and as a result are not much fun to play.
5. Rental baris aren't much better than school baris. And don't even DREAM of using your own horn for this... just trust me on that one.
6. Baritone sax parts in marching bands range from almost-okay, to astonishingly boring. If you're just going to double a tuba part, you might as well learn to play tuba at at least be heard. One guy here on the forum, Saxplayer1004, does this and seems to enjoy it.
7. Given all of the above, tenor will probably have a much easier learning curve, which is going to make it more fun to play. And if you're not AT LEAST having fun, there is no earthly reason to put yourself through marching band to begin with.

Don't get me wrong--I am, first and foremost, a bari fanatic, and I think it would be an awesome horn for you if you already like low reeds. But it's the kind of instrument you can learn to hate in a BIG hurry if your first experience is in a marching band and playing a balky horn. If you want to learn the big horn, do it right... get your hands on an instrument in good repair, and make sure you'll have interesting parts to play. A good strategy for doing this, by the way, would be to march with the tenor (which gets you over the hump of basic sax proficiency), and then audition for your school's jazz band on baritone. My guess is that most high school band directors would practically salivate over the idea of a bari player who could double well on bass clarinet--that's not even taken for granted at the college level.

Anyhow, it sounds like you're already headed toward tenor, but just in case you were on the fence I thought I'd better chime in. Have fun! :mrgreen:

 

[bari_sax_diva]

Oh, one more thing....

You probably already know this from playing bass clarinet, but saxophones are similar in that the bigger the horn, the better you need that horn to play, and if it's out of adjustment, you're in trouble. This is especially true for baritone sax, because your "money" notes are all at the bottom, and if your horn is misbehaving, those notes don't happen, or they're out of tune.

So... if your options are a school horn, or a rental that isn't absolutely amazing, I'd stick to something smaller. You shouldn't play ANY horn that's not in good mechanical condition, but it's usually less of a problem on the smaller saxes because they aren't asked to play down low as much as bari players are, and it's generally easier (for me, anyway) to blow through minor leaks. On bari, that can be a REALLY miserable experience.

 

[69193]

Go with a tenor. I can't imagine why someone would want to march with a bari. I did it for less than a week (egged on by my new band instructor). There's just something...not fun...about walking around with a baritone sax in August heat in Virginia. That and listening to people *clink* instruments (mine was brand new) put me off pretty quick. I stuck to concert band after that brief experience. There's absolutely no upside (that I can think of) to marching with a bari over a tenor.

As the others have said...a marching instrument is going to see some dents/dings. I wouldn't rent a horn, as you'll likely end up paying for dent removal at the end of your term. Go buy a cheapie Bundy II or a not so pretty vintage horn (~$400) to march with. You'll flush that amount of money down the toilet on a rental in one year anyways.

 

[dropd]

What are you guys talking about? I marched with a bari for years. No problem, but be sure to get a decent harness. It wasn't really bad for my back, but my neck got really sore before getting a good harness. Also, a bari (or two) gives a marching band the required oomph.

 

[Steve Stockham]

Okay, I gotta chime in again (just because marching with a Bari isn't the trip through H*LL that everybody is making it out to be!) I enjoyed playing Bari (and yes, I was built like a linebacker) and never thought that it was too much to handle. Don't let people fool you! The Bari can be heard just as easily as any tenor (people seem to have forgotten that low notes carry better than higher ones.) Marching Band is almost never about having a "cool" part to play but about playing your heart out while executing complex maneuvers designed to integrate with the whole forming an extravaganza of musical and visual halftime entertainment (here endeth the sermon.) Baritone sax, in this regard, is just as interesting as tenor.

Physically, the bari will weigh you down if you're not used to it! I used a simple neckstrap all the years I played and never had a problem but I was allowed to hold the sax to my side! A band director that would have required me to hold the bari sax straight out would have been looking for another bari sax player! Also, I played a Beuscher 400 Bb bari in high school and college (outside) while playing a Selmer MkVI low A (inside.) Never take your personal horn (or the school's concert horn) outside for marching band!! I can only think of a couple of ways your horn will get screwed up faster!

Now, that being said, I still believe you would best be served going the tenor route! It's sufficiently different from the bass clarinet that you shouldn't have embouchure problems. The weight reduction will be the greatest benefit and who knows? You may just get "converted" to sax (just kidding!)

 

[Sasquatch]

Sousaphone. There is nothing more worthless in a marching band than woodwinds. EDIT: Ok, cellos are maybe of lesser value.