Is a Buescher Tenor Saxophone a Good Instrument to March With?

Asked by RyanS123 (75) February 20th, 2018 from iPhone

Hey there, Fluther, I was wondering if anyone on here is or has been in the marching world. In a little over a month, I will be starting my 4th out of 5 seasons with my high school marching band and there’s a lot to be excited about. We will be under a new direction, sponsored by an almost completely new board of volunteers, and will also be marching in Disney World this season, so having that with all these new changes excites me and this season is definitely gonna be something really special. With that said, I’ve also been considering starting somewhat all over again by switching my instrument. I have been playing alto saxophone for the past three seasons, but have considered switching the instrument I march with these past couple years. I own a 1950’s Buescher big-bell tenor saxophone that hasn’t came to my use in far too long. I only own it because at the beginning of my freshman year, I played tenor saxophone in my wind ensemble class while looking to be promoted to alto saxophone. I was never been a very good tenor saxophonist, and the teacher made me switch positions with a baritone saxophonist that was struggling on his instrument. It ended up working out perfectly, I found a passion in baritone saxophone that I never would have found otherwise, and he turned out to be very good on tenor saxophone. Alto saxophone was still my main instrument, though, and play baritone saxophone all the time affected my alto saxophone playing in a way I didn’t see coming. Although I really enjoyed playing baritone saxophone (and still do – I play it in jazz band which is only once a week), I was offered a promotion to alto saxophone in February or March of that year and took it up gladly.

Since switching to baritone saxophone that year, I haven’t really played tenor saxophone except for a few songs as a pit member of one of my school’s musicals last year. Even then, I was borrowing a friend’s instrument because my Buescher broke at the first or second rehearsal and was being repaired for most of the rehearsals leading up to the show. But saying that I’m now thinking of playing tenor saxophone in marching band, I pulled the Buescher out for the first time in ten months. When I played it, I definitely could tell that my alto saxophone and baritone saxophone playing was much better as much as I could tell that over a year ago. The thing that really hit me, however, was that the Buescher didn’t seem like the type of instrument I would want to march with. It’s such an old and rusty instrument and you can tell that it was made for classical music. Not to mention how large it seems with the size of the bell. What also stood out to me is that it doesn’t appear to have a spot to put a lyre in, which I’m gonna need for any local parade events we do during the off-season. I know that my district does have tenor saxophones that marching band members are able to borrow, but before I look into that, I was wondering if there was anyone here in the music and/or marching field that was able to tell me if a Buescher is marchable. If so, it isn’t a big deal if it has no spot for a lyre; I can just use my alto saxophone when that situation arises.