Saxaphone Day Celebration is November 6

November 6 is celebrated for Saxaphone Day.

The saxophone was developed in 1846 by Adolphe Sax, a Belgian instrument maker, flautist, and clarinetist born in Dinant and originally based in Brussels, he later moved to Paris to establish his musical instrument business. Prior to his work on the saxophone, he had made several improvements to the bass clarinet by improving its keywork and acoustics and extending its lower range. Sax was also a maker of the then-popular ophicleide, a large conical brass instrument in the bass register with keys similar to a woodwind instrument. His experience with these two instruments allowed him to develop the skills and technologies needed to make the first saxophones. As an outgrowth of his work improving the bass clarinet, Sax began developing an instrument with the projection of a brass instrument and the agility of a woodwind. He wanted it to overblow at the octave, unlike the clarinet, which rises in pitch by a twelfth when overblown. An instrument that overblew at the octave, would have identical fingering for both registers.

Sax created an instrument with a single-reed mouthpiece like a clarinet, conical brass body like an ophicleide, and the acoustic properties of both the horn and the clarinet.

The saxophone is used in classical music (such as concert bands, chamber music, and solo repertoire), military bands (such as military concert bands, marching bands, etc.), marching bands, and jazz (such as big bands, jazz combos, etc.). Saxophone players are called saxophonists.