I am consistently surprised at how many people talk about the saxophone as being a brass instrument. This is because they are commonly made of brass. However, it is actually the the mouthpiece that determines the family to which an instrument belongs. Brass instruments generally have a mouthpiece that looks something like this:
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| www.musvil.com |
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| Brass Mouthpieces |
Both lips will need to be place together and inside, or rather, against the rim of the mouthpiece. The lips need to buzz together in order to produce the desired sound. Different mouthpiece sizes and shapes are used for different brass instruments and players.
The saxophone is part of the woodwind family due to the use of a reed and the fact that the lips are not placed in mouthpiece in any way. The mouthpiece is place in the mouth and the reed will vibrate against the mouthpiece in order to produce a sound. Reed instruments can also be called 'reed pipes' Flutes are also part of this family.
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| Alto and Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece, Reeds and Ligature |
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