On the 7th day of the 2 weeks before winter break, my band director gave to me...

Seven saxes swinging!
Six cool band trips,
Five golden means,
Four pep band games,
Three French horns,
A two-headed turtle,
And a piccolo in the key of C.

Ah yes, the glorious saxophone which comes in so many different sizes, the best known of which are:

1. Eb Sopranino
   
2. Bb Soprano
   
3. Eb Alto
   
4. Bb Tenor
   
5. Eb Baritone
   
6. Bb Bass
   
7. Eb Contrabass

That's seven to go along with the seventh day, but let's not neglect the C melody sax. In between an alto and a tenor, it's a concert key instrument and doesn't transpose. It was created so that it could read off of piano sheet music. I inherited one from a family member, and I took it to my high school sax teacher, Casper Boghosian (the original Mr. B) who was also a top-notch repairman. I asked him if we could fix it up. His response was, "We'll make it into a lamp." Thinking he was joking, I said, "No, really, can we do it?" Again he said, "No, we'll make it into a lamp." I guess he had little respect for this obsolete member of the sax family. I still have it in my basement, and no, it's not a lamp.

But we're still missing some other members of the clan. Besides altos in F, curved sopranos, and straight altos, tenors, and baris, there's a tiny Bb soprillo sax, also known as a piccolo sax. On the other end of the spectrum, there's the granddaddy of them all, the Bb subcontrabass, also called the tubax. You can learn about all of these wonderful, esoteric instruments at the Sax Family Gallery. Check out the pictures and soundclips, especially the one of the tubax playing the bass line on "The Entertainer." Mercy!