I started on alto sax the summer before I got into eighth grade. Once I arrived there the section "voted" me out (it's a long story). So I went over to the baritone with only about a month of sax playing behind me. I did have two years of clarinet already under my belt, and seven years of piano before I started sax.

I remember cleaning out the loop of that Buescher 400 and pulling what seemed to be live creatures out of it! The following semester, I switched to tenor, as I had gotten brand spanking new Bundy II for my 14th birthday.

I messed with bari a couple times in high school, but did not return to it until my senior year of college when I bought my own horn. As it turned out, bari sax was the one saxophone that came naturally to me.

 

First, and only...since 1975.

 

i played tenrorfor a year before i tried bari, but only because the grade 7s weren't allowed to touch the bari yet. when grade 8 rolled around... whooie, i love the bari. but i also spent grade 9 on tuba because "grade 9's can't use the bari. you habve to be in grade 10". I'm now in grade 11, with my own Bari sax.

 

The first wind instrument that I started out with was the bari sax. I joined a college band as an absolute beginner hoping to learn how to play the sax and the seniors threw this monster at me. They said that the parts are much easier and and I will get to play lots of looooooooooooonnng tones.

 

ACK! marching band+bari=PAINFUL!

as for me, I started on *sigh* the alto. 6th grade and half of 7th I did alto sax, altho at the beginning of 7th my teach moved me over to bari parts. It was because I was so dang loud I guess before I heard the word "blend"... well that word didn't help much, did it? rofl

actually I still have my bundy II right next to my bed which means it's within reaching distance right now... it's fun learning 5 instruments at the same time, but bari's my baby and my best =)

 

Started out on clarinet in grade school, moved to bass clarinet in jr. high. played contrabass clarinet in high school, but couldn't march with it. So after my freshman year marching a licorice stick, I switched to bari. The band director needed someone on bari and with my preference for low winds, I was a natural...

gotcha beat DocRocket...that was 1972...

 

joshuski; my story is nearly identical to yours, but goes back to 1957. As the worst clarinet player in school, I begged to play the new bari we were getting. They had nothing to lose, so I got it - a brand new Martin. To shorten the story, I went on to become section leader and went to All-State band. I got a used King Super 20 tenor for Christmas when I was 16, and the local sax pro took me under his wing. No real lessons, but he gave me a 90/2 Berg that was a sweetie, and taught me about chords. After all those years since the '50s, I now have my own Martin bari which is just like the one from school, and is just as 'mean'. I have been gigging since 1963, and it's great to be able to take the bari out once in awhile.

 

1saxman; thats wild the similarities. Different timeline ('74). My sophomore year Dad bought me a (don't laugh) Bundy/Selmer with a Berg mpc 105/0 SMS. Still have the horn and mpc; although the mpc is used on my Keilwerth. Played the Bundy/Berg all through HS and while in the Air Force. Stopped playing for 19 years.

Just started playing a couple years ago and bought a Martin Committe Bari. Played in university band and some light gigging. Had to sell the Martin last year due to money issues. But playing alto and tenor at the university. Gonna scout around for another bari soon, kinda miss the big lug.

 

Let's hear it for the 50's! September '59, Friday auditions for jazz band, and me a 9th grade flute player. Director says, here kid, our bari player moved over the summer and we need one for Monday rehearsal. Take this home over the weekend and we'll see you Monday. Hefted that old beaten up Conn home 1.5 miles across the Allegheny River bridge, and about 20 hours of practice and minor adjustments later he says at the end of rehearsal "How'd you learn to play that way so fast?" Gigged with him throughout my high school years (mostly tenor).
I still play bari (12M or Yam 61) along with S,A &T on my small group jazz gigs and alto or tenor in the Dave Stevens big band with Bruce Johnstone on bari. (He started on clar.) I may even drag one to tonights gig in Erie for old times sake.

 

Different route - but Bari is it.

Started on Clarinet in 5th grade - hated it - kept for a year or so then quit.
Then got an alto - 7th grade - that was OK.

In 8th Grade I was "receuited' to plat the HighSchool Bari sax and was immediately placed in the Jazz band - in 8th grade - so 5 years of Bari.

Once I TOUCHED the Bari - I was hooked for life - no other horn mattered.

Now I find out I had a FANTASTIC horn - and I just got one to 'start over' after over 20 years. It was a "The Martin Baritone" in great shape. I marched with it for 4 years. big old heavy-duty leather strap. The worst was 92deg heat - winter black wool uniform (all we had) in the Orange Blossom Festival in Florida. We were a New England Band.

Amazing what things you can get away with when you are younger.

 

I first started on alto but I made the switch to bari and I haven't looked back since.

 

I played tenor starting and then went to bari for school. I still love my tenor but play bari at school so I don't have to lug instruments out all the time. You may hate em for saying this in a bari forum but Tenor is my baby. Mind you if had the money for a bri I would get one.

 

GibsonLesPaul:
Ditto - my Keilwerth tenor is my baby but playing bari is still a sentimental favorite. It seems there are alot of tenor players out there. I got more gig offers with my old bari. I'd love to find an old bari - Keilwerth, New King or H Couf got hooked on that German stuff.

 

I agree with you. Bari sax players are rare (compared to lets say a drummer or guitarist) So people want them for bass in a lot of situations. Go Bari!!!!!

 

Amen brother! We are a rare breed, yet beautiful in our own way.

 

i guess you could say that I "started" out on bari because I never really got any good on alto. Once I began playing bari, I was hooked.

 

Seeing people march bari! It makes me cringe! Everything about it! The horn carriage looks terrible, how can you get air in it properly when you hold it like that!? I marched tenor and that was good for me. My school doesn't march bari's, thank god. I am the only bari sax player and I'd be asked to play it! Anyway, here's my bari story.
I played clarinet in 6th grade, after giving up on the piano and viola. We didn't get chairs yet but my director, an amazing sax player who had told me playing clarinet first will make you a good sax player, told me I had a better sound than most high school students he taught. But the next year i threw my clarinet out of mind and started sax. It was alto. That's all you play in 7th grade. At my school at least. The beginning of the year came and i got 5th chair out of 10. Not bad for a beginner I thought. But not something I am going to accept. I practiced and challenged, working my way up. I was 3rd chair when the next test came, and got 1st chair. I stayed first chair the rest of that year. In 8th grade i decided to join jazz band. Since it started at the begining of the year and only had 7th and 8th grade there, no one was playing anything but alto. So I barely knew how big the bari was, but agreed to try out to play it. I won and have been playing bari in concert and jazz band since then. (I am a senior now). Except for marching band and my spurts of bordom when I decide to play bass clarinet for a semester only to find out why I love bari sax so much all over again. :lol:

 

Marching is really not so bad if you have a harness. I've marched the bari for four years because all of our tuba/euphonium/bass tbone players would flake out and I was the closest thing to a bass instrument. It is really not so bad, unless you live where you have to march in a X-Mas parade abd the temp is in the teens. Then your reed freezes. I would actually love to march the bari in college but they won't let me! So it just takes some getting used to that's all.

 

Marching is really not so bad if you have a harness. I've marched the bari for four years because all of our tuba/euphonium/bass tbone players would flake out and I was the closest thing to a bass instrument. It is really not so bad, unless you live where you have to march in a X-Mas parade abd the temp is in the teens. Then your reed freezes. I would actually love to march the bari in college but they won't let me! So it just takes some getting used to that's all.

well in my marching band we don't use tbones. But we had a huge baritone section and tenor saxes usually had the same as the baritones. But most every person I have seen march bari sax, looks ridiculous. I am talking about BOA Grand Nationals, Finals in Indy and St. Louis that I see these people. Even bass clarinets look better. How much they contribute to the sound is another thing.

 

I've been playing clarinet since 5th grade (junior in college now) and it will always be my primary instrument. When I was a freshman in high school, my teacher recruited me to play bari for jazz band, since the bari player was graduating. Plus I already knew by that point that I was going to be a music teacher, so I wanted to get as many different experiences as possible. Played half-heartedly through high school in jazz band. I never thought I was any good so I didn't plan on playing in college. Went to college and didn't play until October of my freshman year, where I tried out for our pep band and beat out a junior. Then I got recruited to play in the jazz II program. That year was the last year for our jazz I bari in school, so I've been in jazz I now for a year and a half. My school's jazz program is excellent, so I've really developed my technique and sight-reading abilities since then. I finally took lessons last summer, and all I learned about was how to use the bis key. :shock:

First love is still clarinet though 8)

 

I switched from Tuba to Baritone Sax when I was 17 (a senior in high school). So, I guess I too started on Bari!

 

How much they contribute to the sound is another thing.

Well, the sound contibution depends on how much air you can put through the horn.

 

Bari is tha best!

Yeah I played alto for one year and then switched to bari and have been playin it for 13 years. When people ask what I play I dont tell them that I am a sax player, I tell them I am a BARITONE Sax player. I think that it is the most versatile sax in the whole family, and when played well can be one of the most beautiful sounds on earth. My hat goes off to all other bari players in our brotherhood. Keep playin'......... LOW!

Tranejam

 

I started on alto,soon switched to tenor which I've played for 20 yrs,the only horn I've been really serious about,played some alto,flute and sop. too.Couple of years back I had a chance to buy a good bari on a decent price.Since then,I've spent 98% of my practising time on it,bari is the only horn besides tenor I've been really serious about,or obsessed might the right word.Great instrument,the process of trying to get the sound I hear in my head out of it is really interesting and challenging.

 

Re: Bari is tha best!

When people ask what I play I dont tell them that I am a sax player, I tell them I am a BARITONE Sax player. I think that it is the most versatile sax in the whole family, and when played well can be one of the most beautiful sounds on earth.Tranejam

AMEN Brother! Amen!