The sopranino saxophone is the second-smallest member of the

saxophone The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed on a mouthpiece vibrates to pr ...

family. It is tuned in the key of E, and sounds an

octave In music, an octave ( la, octavus: eighth) or perfect octave (sometimes called the diapason) is the interval between one musical pitch and another with double its frequency. The octave relationship is a natural phenomenon that has been refer ...

higher than the

alto saxophone The alto saxophone is a member of the saxophone family of woodwind instruments. Saxophones were invented by Belgian instrument designer Adolphe Sax in the 1840s and patented in 1846. The alto saxophone is pitched in E, smaller than the B tenor ...

. An F sopranino (an octave above the F alto (also called mezzo-soprano) saxophone) were described in Adolphe Sax's patent, but no known examples have ever been built. The sopranino saxophone has a sweet sound and although it is one of the least common of the saxophones in regular use today, it is still being produced by several of the major musical manufacturing companies. Due to their small size, sopraninos are not usually curved like other saxophones. Orsi, however, does make curved sopranino saxophones. SopraninoSax2

The original patented saxophone family, as developed by

Adolphe Sax Antoine-Joseph "Adolphe" Sax (; 6 November 1814 – 4 February 1894) was a Belgian inventor and musician who invented the saxophone in the early 1840s, patenting it in 1846. He also invented the saxotromba, saxhorn and saxtuba. He played the f ...

, included Eb and Bb saxophones in the voices of sopranino,

soprano A soprano () is a type of classical female singing voice and has the highest vocal range of all voice types. The soprano's vocal range (using scientific pitch notation) is from approximately middle C (C4) = 261 Hz to "high A" (A5) = 880&n ...

alto The musical term alto, meaning "high" in Italian (Latin: ''altus''), historically refers to the contrapuntal part higher than the tenor and its associated vocal range. In 4-part voice leading alto is the second-highest part, sung in choruses by ...

tenor A tenor is a type of classical music, classical male singing human voice, voice whose vocal range lies between the countertenor and baritone voice types. It is the highest male chest voice type. The tenor's vocal range extends up to C5. The lo ...

baritone A baritone is a type of classical male singing voice whose vocal range lies between the bass and the tenor voice-types. The term originates from the Greek (), meaning "heavy sounding". Composers typically write music for this voice in the r ...

, bass,

contrabass Contrabass (from it, contrabbasso) refers to several musical instruments of very low pitch—generally one octave below bass register instruments. While the term most commonly refers to the double bass (which is the bass instrument in the orchest ...

, and subcontrabass instruments (although he never built the last), as well as the same seven in C and F though only the soprano, alto, and tenor were ever made. Since the late 20th century, however, a B piccolo, or

sopranissimo Sopranissimo (from Italian ''Sopra'' "above" and ''-issimo'' "extremely") is any pitch higher than soprano. One example is the sopranissimo saxophone in B♭. This instrument is pitched an octave above the normal soprano saxophone, and is currently ...

saxophone (called

soprillo The sopranissimo saxophone (also known as the piccolo or soprillo saxophone) is the smallest member of the Saxophone#Members of the saxophone family, saxophone family. It is pitched in B, one octave above the soprano saxophone. Because of the dif ...

, and tuned a fifth above the sopranino) and a B subcontrabass instrument (called

tubax The tubax is a modified contrabass saxophone developed in 1999 by the German instrument maker Benedikt Eppelsheim. Although it has the same fingering as the saxophone, it has a narrower bore, smaller mouthpiece, and more compactly folded tubing ...

, also made in C) have been developed by the German instrument maker

Benedikt Eppelsheim Benedikt Eppelsheim is a German instrument maker of extreme high- and low-voiced woodwind instruments. He is the inventor and exclusive manufacturer of the ''soprillo'', a piccolo saxophone an octave above the B♭ soprano saxophone, as well as i ...

. The most notable use of the sopranino is in the orchestral work '' Boléro'' by

Maurice Ravel Joseph Maurice Ravel (7 March 1875 – 28 December 1937) was a French composer, pianist and conductor. He is often associated with Impressionism along with his elder contemporary Claude Debussy, although both composers rejected the term. In ...

(although Ravel called for a "soprano saxophone in F", the part is usually performed on E sopranino). In recent years, rock band

Violent Femmes Violent Femmes are an American folk punk band from Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The band consists of founding members Gordon Gano (guitar, lead vocals) and Brian Ritchie (bass, backing vocals), joined by multi-instrumentalist Blaise Garza (joined 200 ...

have incorporated sopranino saxophone into the band's live performances as well as their newest albums. Saxophonist

Blaise Garza Blaise Garrett Garza (born February 10, 1989) is an American actor and musician. Acting career From 1994 to 1996, Garza played the role of Gregory Hudson, the son of John ( David Forsyth) and Sharlene Hudson ( Anna Kathryn Holbrook), on '' Ano ...

plays a curved sopranino saxophone in the

' 2019 song "I'm Not Gonna Cry". Outside of classical and rock music, notable jazz and improvising musicians using this instrument include Carla Marciano, James Carter,

Anthony Braxton Anthony Braxton (born June 4, 1945) is an American experimental composer, educator, music theorist, improviser and multi-instrumentalist who is best known for playing saxophones, particularly the alto. Braxton grew up on the South Side of Chica ...

La Monte Young La Monte Thornton Young (born October 14, 1935) is an American composer, musician, and performance artist recognized as one of the first American minimalist composers and a central figure in Fluxus and post-war avant-garde music. He is best kno ...

Roscoe Mitchell Roscoe Mitchell (born August 3, 1940) is an American composer, jazz instrumentalist, and educator, known for being "a technically superb – if idiosyncratic – saxophonist". ''The Penguin Guide to Jazz'' described him as "one of the key figures ...

Christophe Monniot Christophe may refer to: People * Christophe (given name), list of people with this name * Christophe (singer) (1945–2020), French singer * Cristophe (hairstylist) (born 1958), Belgian hairstylist * Georges Colomb (1856–1945), French comic str ...

Joseph Jarman Joseph Jarman (September 14, 1937 – January 9, 2019) was an American jazz musician, composer, poet, and Shinshu Buddhist priest. He was one of the first members of the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians and a member of the ...

Paul McCandless Paul Brownlee McCandless Jr. (born March 24, 1947) is an American multi-instrumentalist and founding member of the American jazz group Oregon. He is one of the few jazz oboists. He also plays bass clarinet, English horn, flute and soprano saxoph ...

Lol Coxhill George Lowen Coxhill (19 September 1932 – 10 July 2012) known professionally as Lol Coxhill, was an English free improvising saxophonist. He played soprano and sopranino saxophone. Biography Coxhill was born to George Compton Coxhill ...

Roger Frampton Roger Frampton (20 May 1948 – 4 January 2000) was an Australian jazz pianist, saxophonist, composer, and educator. Based in Sydney, he played a major role in shaping the evolution of Australian jazz. He taught at the Jazz Studies course at t ...

Hans Koller Antonio Hans Cyrill Koller (12 February 1921 in Vienna – 21 December 2003 in Vienna) was an Austrian jazz tenor saxophonist and bandleader. Koller attended the University of Vienna from 1936 to 1939 and served in the armed forces from 1940 to 1 ...

, Wolfgang Fuchs,

Douglas Ewart Douglas R. Ewart (born 13 September 1946 in Kingston, Jamaica) is a Jamaican multi-instrumentalist and instrument builder. He plays sopranino and alto saxophones, clarinets, bassoon, flute, bamboo flutes ('' shakuhachi'', ''ney'', and panpipe ...

, Larry Ochs,

Vinny Golia Vinny Golia (born March 1, 1946) is an American composer and multi-instrumentalist specializing in woodwind instruments. He performs in the genres of contemporary music, jazz, free jazz, and free improvisation. Career As a composer, Golia fuse ...

Thomas Chapin Thomas Chapin (March 9, 1957 – February 13, 1998) was an American composer and saxophonist/multi-instrumentalist. Though primarily an alto saxophonist, he also played sopranino, as well as soprano, tenor, baritone saxes and flute. Many o ...

, Martin Archer,

Jon Irabagon Jon Irabagon is a Filipino-American saxophonist, composer, and founder of Irabbagast Records. Winner of the 2008 Thelonious Monk Jazz Competition and one of '' Time Outs "25 essential New York City jazz icons", Irabagon is known for the breadth ...

, Massimo Falascone, Gianni Gebbia, and Ian Anderson (credited with having played the instrument on the Jethro Tull albums ''

A Passion Play ''A Passion Play'' is the sixth studio album by British progressive rock band Jethro Tull, released in July 1973 in both the UK and US. Following in the same style as the band's previous album ''Thick as a Brick'' (1972), ''A Passion Play'' is ...

'' and '' War Child''). The sopranino saxophone is also used in the six-member

Nuclear Whales Saxophone Orchestra The Nuclear Whales Saxophone Orchestra were a group of six American saxophonists who played as a saxophone ensemble in recordings and live performance. "Nuclear Whales Saxophone Orchestra" Ron Wynn, Allmusic They were based in Santa Cruz, Californi ...

, currently played by Kelley Hart Jenkins.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Soprano Saxophone Saxophones E-flat instruments