Origins Of

The Saxophone

The Saxophone as we know it today was developed by a Belgian called Adolphe Sax. He lived between 1814 and 1894. His ideas came from the bass clarinet, if you are familiar with this you can see the basis for the saxophone. It has a long straight body with an upward turning bell at the bottom, at the top is a crook which is similar to what we see today. Belgium is aware of the significance of the man as they have him on their 200 Franc note;

The reverse of the note is below.

There are still genuine Adolphe Sax saxophones available today. I was recently offered a Baritone, it was a fantastic instrument; brightly polished silver, with case, accessories and all the history to go with it, [it played well too considering that it was a vintage sax] for a mere £1200. I nearly bought it that day but my bank balance wouldn't let me. There has been many an article written about Adolphe Sax, so I am not going to add to them, just to show the Belgian Bank notes is enough.