This is one of the smallest saxophones made. The soprano sax is pitched in the key of Bb. It is about 26” long and weighs about 2.5 lbs. Some of the people that play this instrument are Grover Washington, Jr., Kenny G, Dave Liebman, Sidney Bechet, John Coltrane, Jane Ira Bloom, Brandford Marsalis & Wayne Shorter, to name but a few. This sax gets used less often than some of the other saxes in the Saxophone Family.

The alto sax is pitched in the key of Eb. It is also about 26” long. Obviously if it was not curved in a couple spots it would be significantly longer than the soprano sax. Plus, it weighs about twice as much as the soprano, 5 lbs. Some of the people that play this instrument are David Sanborn, Charlie Parker, Cannonball Adderley, Paul Desmond, Gerald Albright, Phil Woods and a plethora of other people. This is one of the most common saxes in the Saxophone Family.

This alto sax has an additional feature that the one shown above doesn’t have. Notice the keys on the bell section of the horn, underneath the key guard. The alto shown above has 2 large keys under the key guard. However, this unique alto has 3 keys under the key guard on the bell. On this horn the bell has been extended and a low “A” key has been added. This is commonly seen on baritone saxes but rarely see on altos. This is a 1971 Selmer Mark VI alto sax. Even after 52 years of repairing I have only seen a couple of these.