The woodwind instruments, clarinet, flute and sax, are popular for classical, jazz, blues, world music and rock.
Many kids start by learning a woodwind instrument at school, playing in school bands and ensembles and eventually maturing into top professional musicians and educators.

The clarinet and sax both produce their original sounds from the vibration of a wooden (normally cane) reed attached to the mouthpiece, thus the term “woodwind“.  Although the flute no longer has a reed as in earlier times, it retains it’s membership to the woodwind family on historical grounds. Sound in a modern flute is produced by the vibration of air provided by the mouth and lips of the player blowing across the hole located in the lip plate of the mouthpiece.

The clarinet, prominent in much classical, jazz, big band and other styles such as Klezmer and even rock and pop (e.g. Supertramp), is hugely popular with beginners because, like the flute, it is easily portable and is a very expressive instrument. The standard instrument is the Bb (soprano) clarinet and there are also the alto and bass clarinets.
The flute is also popular in all musical styles, with typical examples being the late Eric Dolphy in jazz and Jethro Tull in rock. Many orchestral players also play the tiny piccolo, which has the appearance of a miniature flute and is pitched higher.

The saxophone is probably the most widely heard woodwind instrument in jazz and rock music. Associated with legendary jazz players such as the late John Coltrane and Charlie “Bird” Parker and in rock with the likes of the late Clarence Clemons (Bruce Springsteen, Jackson Brown) and who can forget that famous “Baker Street” (Gerry Rafferty) solo played by Raphael Ravenscroft?

No orchestra or big band is complete without the saxophone, often featuring all variations of the instrument.

Since the early 1930′s, manufacturers have produced  mainly four variants of the saxophone, being the soprano, the alto (most popular for beginners and rock and jazz), the tenor (also popular in rock and jazz) and the baritone.  Saxophones vary greatly in quality, tone and playability and can sometimes be rather expensive, so it is always a good idea to go with a reputable brand and a reputable dealer.

A rarer model is the C melody saxophone, which was largely dropped by the major saxophone companies after the Depression years . Although somewhat rarely used these days, there has been a small revival in the manufacturing and playing of this model. The modern C sax no longer suffers from the muted tone of the pre war models and has the advantage of  not needing transposition from standard keys,  so the player can read from the same music as the piano and guitar. Because the C saxophone is non standard in music education and most playing situations and is not easily obtained, we don’t stock them at The Music Spot.  However, we’ll keep an eye on the progress of this interesting little revival.

At The Music Spot you’ll find a great range of clarinets, flutes and saxes to suit every player  with major brands like Jupiter, Suzuki and Yamaha. You’ll also find accessories, Rico, Rico Royal and Vandoren reeds and more.

New price drop on Jupiter instruments As the headline says, Jupiter have now significantly reduced their retail prices on their great range of student and professional instruments. Always recommended by experienced teachers and musicians, there is now every reason to choose a new instrument from the fine Jupiter stable. We at The Music Spot carry a range of this great brand and always have access to the latest Jupiter products.

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