The Alphasax by Trevor James
You may have a small child who just cannot wait to begin playing! As well as the clarinet, which is a good instrument for smaller hands to begin on, we have the Alphasax.
The Alphasax is made by Trevor James. It has fewer notes at the top and bottom, retaining just over two octaves from low C up to top D (plenty to be going on with for a learner). The reduction in metal keywork makes the instrument 33% lighter as well as needing less hand stretch to reach the lowest notes, and fewer palm keys at the top to avoid catching with your left hand. It also has the fantastic advantage of sounding just like a standard alto sax.
Differences between a standard alto sax, and the Alphasax
The Alphasax weighs just 1.86 kg (an average alto weighs about 2.19kg) which is significantly lighter. The case supplied with an Alphasax is also lightweight, which is an ergonomic backpack design, weighing just 3.34kg complete with instrument.
As well as small children, some adults prefer to go for the the Alphasax too if they experience neck pain or suffer rheumatic pains in the hands. This is good news indeed for those of us wanting to keep playing into a ripe old age, as playing music is a fabulous way of helping to maintain both physical and mental well-being.
We always have them in stock. The standard Alpha comes in gold lacquer. For the little princess in your family there is the baby pink version with lovely silver keywork, which we also carry in stock. Or, for a very stylish alternative, we have Alphasaxes in black with gold keywork.
Curved Soprano Saxophones
Instruments in stock:
Here are some saxes typically held in stock, please note our stock level fluctuates daily so just drop us a line if you have a particular sax in mind and we will check our stock for you.
Artemis or Bauhaus soprano (curved to look like an alto sax) saxophone
New pro Yanagisawa SC991 soprano (curved to look like an alto sax) saxophone
These saxophones are ideal for children too small to play an Alphasax or alto sax. As you can see from the photograph, the look is the same with the curve both in the neck and the bell. However with the size difference, the weight is significantly reduced.
Though the positioning of the keys is identical to a standard alto sax, most small hands can reach to play the notes. Those in the furthest position, and therefore the most difficult to reach (typically bottom B and B flat) these are rarely used in entry-level music books so this doesn't tend to be a problem at an early stage.
