A saxophone is a musical instrument. It is a woodwind instrument despite being made from brass. It is played by blowing through a mouthpiece with a reed attached.

There are four main different types of saxophone. From smallest to biggest they are; soprano, alto (the most common), tenor and baritone. There are a few other types of saxophone, plastic, alpha, C melody but they are not widely used.

Back in the day saxophones were made from wood. They arguably sound as if they could still be made from wood. As with instruments like the flute that are in the woodwind family, they were all made from wood but over time have been developed with different materials which is all down to our modern world and progress.

Little children can learn the saxophone, but they need to be able to hold the instrument and be able to press down the keys to make the different notes. There are plastic Nuvo instruments that probably even 5-year olds could try. Then the alpha sax was developed by Trevor James which is basically a mini alto sax. It is probably manageable from the age of around 7. The alto saxophone is the most common, but it is a fair size and weight. An average 10-year-old could probably handle an alto sax. The other saxophones are generally not learned on but are learned by a more accomplished sax player who needs a higher or lower pitched instrument.

Adolphe Sax created the first saxophone in Belgium in 1840. He wanted to create a powerful woodwind instrument that sat between the woodwind section and brass section of an orchestra.