Have you ever played a sopranino saxophone?
I’ve genuinely never played sopranino sax before. And if I’m honest with you, I’m a little bit nervous because I know that these things are traditionally really difficult to play.
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Sopranino size difference
It looks kind of normal in my hands here. But let me show you how it compares to a soprano sax and then you’ll understand what I’m talking about.
So let’s look at the sopranino sax next to the soprano. Look at the difference. It’s two-thirds the size of a soprano.
So this is the P. Mauriat gold plated sopranino sax, and it’s a beautifully made instrument. P Mauriat made the whole range of saxophones from sopranino down through to bass saxophone.
Testing the sopranino
And when I was down at sax.co.uk the other day, I saw the sopranino sax and I just had to give it a go.
So I ordered myself some reeds. Look at how small this mouthpiece is, and even the reeds are tiny. Again, it’s when you compare it to a soprano mouthpiece that you can see just how much smaller it is.
Now, of course, a really small mouthpiece means that it’s going to be very difficult to control and to keep in tune. That’s the challenge.
I wanted to check out the sopranino sax for our Sax School members. Because we’ve got members in there playing the whole range of saxophones, from bari saxophone right through to soprano, and we do get a lot of questions about the sopranino too.
By the way, if you’d like to check out what our members are doing inside Sax School, we’ve got a 14-day trial running right now.
The play test
Here we go. The first sound ever on a sopranino sax. Wish me luck.
Man, the keys are so close together, it’s really hard to get your fingers around it.
So what do you think of the sound of it? I love the sound. It’s so beautiful and sweet. It’s obviously a lot higher.
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The sopranino saxophone is in the key of E flat, like an alto saxophone, whereas the soprano is in B flat. So it’s quite a bit higher, but it’s so sweet and smooth.
And this is the stock mouthpiece that came with it – the P. Mauriat mouthpiece. There are lots of different options of course, but for me, that one sounds good. I’m using a size three Vandoren reed with it.
Challenges with the sopranino sax
What are the challenges of this instrument?
Well, obviously it’s small. And as I said at the start, that means the intonation is a real problem. But playing along there, I had a guide track on, so I was able to adjust my tuning as I went through, and that made it a lot easier.
The hardest notes for me on this are right up in the palm Keys. I find the palm keys quite low on this saxophone, so I’m struggling to pick them out as I’m working my way up to High D, Eb, and E, and F.
And actually, for E and F, it’s a real struggle for me to keep those notes in tune. So if I was playing this in an orchestral setting, I’d have to do a whole lot of practice to dial in my intonation.
But when you are working on the middle range of the saxophone, it’s pretty easy to keep in tune, particularly when you’re listening to a guide track or you’re playing with other musicians.
The build of the sopranino
I love the way that this sopranino sax has been put together too. The keywork feels fantastic. There are loads of extra adjustment screws that have been included on this saxophone. It’s one of the things I commented on in my alto review of the P. Mauriat Le Bravo sax. But you can see on this soprano, there are just loads of adjustment screws that’ll make it easy to keep this in tiptop shape.
Also, there’s some beautiful engraving around the bell here. And I think it looks fantastic in the gold lacquer. There are some nice metal key touches on the F sharp trill key and the rather optimistic high F sharp key.
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Are you ready to play the sopranino?
So who might buy a sopranino sax like this?
Well, of course, there’ll be some pro players that might be using it for a West End show or a Broadway show, or perhaps an orchestral call. But I think most people will be buying this simply to add it to their collection, because it’s just such a lovely sound to add to the suite of other saxophones.
And I like the way P. Mauriat goes from bass saxophone through to baritone tenor, alto soprano, and of course, sopranino. Could you imagine having the whole set on your wall?
I’m a massive fan of the sopranino sax, but I’d love to know what you think about it. Is this a saxophone that you could imagine having some fun on too?
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