Cheap childs saxophone?

montymud

My DD really wants a saxophone for her 7th birthday. As I have just forked out £130 for a DSi XL for her I need to find the cheapest sax as possible. I have had a look about on google but I thought maybe some of the more experienced Music MSE'rs might know where I can find a good deal. Thank you in advance.

aloiseb

Won't she be a bit small, at 7? They are very heavy, even alto saxes. (Sopranos are smaller but are not usually thought to be best for beginners, as they are harder to play). They are easy to damage too, especially for someone small and young, and pricey to repair!

It might be a good idea to visit your local music shop with her and actually try one out, before committing yourself.

It's not a good idea to buy a very cheap one - expect to pay around £350 + (new) for an alto. Second hand good makes would be Earlham, Elkhart, Yamaha etc. You could get a bargain on Ebay but you could also end up with something needing £100 of work doing.....

Don't go to Argos et al unless you don't mind having a pretty poor instrument - it will probably cost you in repairs what you save in original outlay (believe me, I work in a music shop and we see some!). there's a lot of engineering in a sax and if it's done badly with cheap metals, it won't work properly.

Alcmene

How about starting her off on another reed instrument so she can then move to the sax, maybe the clarinet?

fordmax

...Just a thought....Have you enquired at your childs school about music lessons? These usually include instrument rental and tuition for roughly £50 term? Not all schools offer sax, but most have a selection of instruments for the child to learn. Learning with a group of friends is a lot more fun than learning on your own, especially when you first start out.
Alternatively, lots of stores both internet and high-street offer private instrument rental; there's usually a minium hire period, but if you child has lost interest after a few months, then you can simply return it; some only have a minium term of 3 months, some up to 6 months. The most important thing isn't actually the instrument, it's finding the right teacher who can encourage and motivate them through the 'beginner period' when they realise that it takes slightly longer than two weeks to become a world master and they become frustrated at how hard it is to learn.
It's lovely you would encourage your child to have an interest in music; it's becoming a rarety these days.x

montymud

Thank you all for your replys, some great advice there which I have taken in. She is due to move to her new school in September as we are moving and I will enquire at the school.

I will also start looking around for good deals on an Alto saxophone for new. I did speak to her about different possible choices but she seems to be set on the sax.

Thank you for your kind words Fordmax - I always wanted to learn an instrument when I was younger but was never allowed so I feel it important to encourage my children to try something out that they show an interest in. I am also currently looking around for dance and drama lessons for my youngest DD as she is always flouncing around so it would be best to direct her energy towards actual lessons lol x

andyrules

Yes, the clarinet is the most popular instrument to move to sax from. I would hesitate to buy a really cheapo sax as they can be quite unresponsive. You would be better with a decent 2nd hand one. Yamaha are excellent for student saxes. Take care on ebay, there are many cheap ones from China - avoid.

Advice here is good, enquire at school for hire of one with lessons, plus starting with a clarinet is good idea. Some schools now offer 'Wider opportunities'. Where in the UK are you based?

Just an aside - it is an expensive activity but very worth while.

montymud

Hiya andyrules, I am based in Hampshire. Thanks for the advice about the not buying ebay items from china!

jamesperrett

Since you are in Hampshire, it might be worth making a visit to Hayes Music (http://www.hayesmusic.co.uk/) who used to be in Wickham but now seem to have moved to Totton. Not the cheapest place around but the service seemed good when my wife had her sax repaired there.

James.

taliesin

Allow me to offer a few thoughts based on my own experience.

Both my sons took up the saxophone and are accomplished players. Subsequently, I also learned to play them, so I have bought quite a few saxes, including a couple of "beginner's" ones.

There are several reasons why very young players struggle with standard saxophones.

* Unlike earlier instruments such as the clarinet, oboe or early flutes, where the player's fingers close holes in the body directly, saxes employ a relatively complex system of levers operating pads. Adolphe Sax intended that players should be able to choose from any of a large family of instruments (there are a dozen or so models, although only four or five are regularly seen) and that they would all handle similarly. The keywork and springs on all the saxophones, large or small, are designed to the same layout for adult hands and most youngsters struggle with this. Playing the keys involving the little finger can be particularly awkward.

* The standard instruments - most beginners start on the alto but there are good reasons to favour the tenor -- are relatively heavy. A neck strap is essential to provide support but the position of the support point and indeed the overall geometry of the standard instruments is not optimal for smaller people. Youngsters can easily tire with the weight and holding position, shortening practice sessions and potentially becoming a source of discouragement.

* All instruments involve compromises. The relatively easy fingering system on the sax brings with it a tendency for certain notes to be "off pitch" ("intonation") which can be very frustrating during the early to middle stages of learning. This is a particularly severe problem with the smaller saxes (soprano, sopranino) and is why learners are usually discouraged from purchasing these.

I'll suggest an alternative below, but if you do decide to buy a traditional saxophone, do read through Stephen Howard's excellent web site at http://www.shwoodwind.co.uk/ thoroughly. The traditional advice has been to go for a well-built beginner's saxophone from one of the major manufacturers (most commonly the Yamaha YAS23) and to avoid anything cheaper. These saxes provided such obviously good quality at their price point that nothing cheaper made sense. Friends in the music instrument business have often told me horror stories of being offered horrible cheap instruments that were unplayable and with keys that would bend on handling. Some retailers out there are for sure still selling these dreadful instruments to unsuspecting parents. Howard, a skilled saxophone technician and author of the Haynes Saxophone Manual, is of the view that some of the current wave of Chinese-made imports are excellent instruments, and offers some specific recommendations. For sure, go to a reputable dealer -- do not buy an instrument direct from China over the internet as the chances of receiving something playable in return for your money look pretty slim. If you can persuade an experienced player to go with you to check out the specific instrument you are considering buying, most definitely do so.

However, enthusiastic as I am about the sax, may I suggest that you and your daughter consider an alternative first step?

A few years ago I had the great pleasure of spending a few days playing with Graham Lyons, a charming man, composer of many lovely easy pieces for learners, author of some widely-used beginners' method books, and an accomplished player on several instruments in many styles. Graham was concerned about the issues faced by young beginners and their parents and was working with engineers and instrument designers to develop a new instrument that was better suited for them. It is a simplified clarinet made of a tough plastic material; its pads are made of rubber and in the event of breakage, components are easily replaced by the player or parent. It is pitched in C, a little higher than the standard B-flat clarinet, which has two advantages; firstly, the holes are a little closer together so that much easier for smaller hands to play; secondly, unlike most saxophones and clarinets, the player can read off standard music without having to "transpose" so can join in with almost any music group. Make no mistake, the Lyons clarinet is a totally serious instrument capable of playing much of the standard clarinet repertoire, but far more robust and easier to play than a standard clarinet or saxophone. Moving on to a standard saxophone or clarinet will present no problem when the time is right. I really think this is the ideal instrument for your daughter or any beginner of similar age.

I see that Graham and others have put up web pages, sound clips and youtube videos about his clarinet, and it seems that a new version is out under the name "Nuvo Clarineo". http://www.clarineo.co.uk/ They seem to sell in the £100 to £150 bracket depending on the retailer and the package of extras included. The list of retailers includes the most respected woodwind dealers in the country (Howarth's, Myatt's, Trevor Jones, etc.) which provides some further assurance of its quality.

I guess I should add that, apart from having met Graham some time ago in a social music-making context, I have absolutely no connection with him or his instrument. I just think it's great!

*onlyme*

I enquired about renting a flute from http://www.themusiccellar.co.uk/rentals.asp and they are very helpful. My daughter will be getting flute lessons in school from September. She has been doing steelpans and now wants to do this on top. Can't seem to hire a steelpan anywhere for her to practice LOL.

We live in Hampshire to and we don't drive so sorting out a rental scheme online/over the phone, which you can do with musiccellar, is much easier for us.

blue_monkey_2

Our school music service loans all instruments for free but we have to pay £30 a year for Insurance which covers the instrument, and all other instruments we own, in case of breakages. The kids then pay for their music lessons. If you are on a low wage you can get these at a reduced cost or free. Great for beginners as if they get bored or do not like it/cannot play it you have not outlayed all of that money.

We bought my daughter a violin but the guy in the shop sold us one that was too big so we rented a 1/4 size for her and now my son will have the 1/4 size and my DD the one we originally bought her.