The Saxophone Section

Marisa Brown

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Named after Adolphe Sax, the saxophone is a single-reed woodwind instrument that is usually made of brass. The sound is produced when a reed on a mouthpiece vibrates to produce a sound wave. This sound can be described as a sine wave. A sine wave is "a curve representing periodic oscillations of constant amplitude as given by a sine function." The saxophone is a well-known instrument, and there are many people who are famous due to their skills. These people include Charlie Parker (1920-1955), John Coltrane (1926-1967), Stan Getz (1927-1991), and many others.

In a band, there are natural section leaders. The leader of the saxophone players in Powell High School's band is Cecilia Holden, a senior who plays alto and soprano saxophone. Cecilia's favorite part about the band is the connection between those in the band, "a little family" in her words. One of the hardest parts about the band is learning to coexist with everyone around because people are going to play differently based on their moods. Concert band helps build the abilities of the musicians, but marching band is more about the performing aspect of it. Advice from Cecilia is to not listen to what anyone has to say about the saxophone because many people have a negative attitude towards the instrument and do what they want to do.