Are there any flautists in here who took up saxophone as a second instrument after learning the flute??

I know it's much easier for saxists to turn to flute, and not damage their tone / embouchure, but I've heard that it's far harder for flautists to turn to saxophone because it changes the embouchure and messes it up ....

Any advice on this?

*flautist contemplating learning sax*

hmm dunno about that but the girl i see that teaches me music is a flute player and she has 5 students who play the flute and me playing the sax...odd really aren't I !!!!!!!!!

Apparently flute+sax is a better combo than your typical clarinet+sax. Or so I've heard. I wouldn't really know.

But I do know a multi-instrumentalist, he started out with flute, then took up sax. He also learned clarinet so he could teach it, but he says he's much more comfortable with flute and sax.

I've heard flute+sax is better than flute+clarinet because of the different (not as tight?) embouchure for sax. Generally I think it's reckoned that the embouchure for sax and clarinet will interfere to some extent, but that with practice it can be minimalised. If you want to be a top notch flautist then it's probably not recommended, but if you just want to be pretty good and are willing to work on swapping over then you might find it's ok. Whether it's a flautist picking up sax, or a saxist picking up flute, it's the flute's tone that will most likely suffer, I think.

edit: some people do seem to have fewer problems than others, so if you can borrow or rent a sax till you're certain either way that might be a good idea

This old question of embouchures interfering with each other has been discussed for possibly hundreds of years.
The take home message seems to be that, while you wouldn't want to be working on your sax/flute embouchure just before an important clarinet exam
they don't do any harm whatsoever.
Quite the contrary. Think of it as a whole body workout instead of just working on your biceps. Your lip muscles are being exercised and stretched in slightly different ways and I think that can only benefit lip flexibility and muscle tone.

As for clarinet/sax, the embouchure is very similar, but, the clarinet embouchure is by far the hardest. If you can play the clarinet, learning the sax seems very easy!
'Flat' being a pretty good description of my tone!

Steve

Im having the same problem with the bassoon! I want to start playiing the bassoon after i have done my grade 6 sax but my teacher says it might damage my embr.... embre.... mouth position thingy. Does anybody know if this is true?

Hi I play flute and sax and I don't have a problem! (and I went flute to sax)

A friend of mine who plays 1st saxophone in jazz band with me is a flautist..but she doesn't play sax too much in order not to damage her flute embouchure in the early stages.

A double reed instrument after a single? Good luck!

Learning to play the bassoon will strengthen your lip muscles and certainly won't harm your sax embouchure.

No more than sucking a thick milk shake through a straw.

Steve

Cheers for the advice - Im studying music with picc/flute as my main, perc as my second and piano as my third, however I think that having a 'jazz' instrument would open up ALOT more doors for me aswell ....

But, flute is my main and I intend to go places on it, so I woudlnt want to risk mucking it up ... we'll see I guess.

May be worth renting one, I would think you and your teacher will notice pretty quickly if it affects your embouchure, as whatever is said about "of course it won't" for some people it does and that's all there is to it. At least if you rent it then you haven't wasted £100s of pounds if it won't work out for you. I'm sure that even if you find that you cannot play both and keep your flute tone up to the highest standards, there will be no permanent loss.

I think it might in the early stages, however once you get used to the new embouchure you should go "back to normal" with both of them.

I've also heard that if embouchures are different enough, i can be easier to switch between them because there's not way you can get confused. I've also heard that it makes life more difficult, but I suppose it depends on the player! Everyone has a different embouchure, etc. Some people can do amazing things like play both flute and oboe and some just can't (although they might be able to do another combination).

I started on flute at 9, took up alto sax at 13. My flute tone wasn't really affected much and when i decided to specialise in jazz it actually worked to my advantage

I have a frend who plays both flute and sax. Who started on Flute frist. She seems to be doing fine, however she only plays sax for fun. So maybe that makes a difference. I'm sure you will be fine. Try borrowing one from a frend for a while and discuss it with your teacher,
Amy

I cant get the bottom octave on the flute after ive been playng my sax.... sooooooooooo annoying

im jay im from wales and i play da clarinet, saxaphone and flute.
it woz quite easy 2 go from one 2 another for me.
exept for da flute im finding it hard especially going up da octave.

I play flute , clarinet and sax. Flute is my main instrument. Because the flute embouchure is so different from clarinet and sax, I think it is easier to distinquish between the two. When I play the sax, I have my lips in a sax way, etc. As long as you do the right thing for the right instrument it's ok. The only problem I have with clarinet and and sax is that I can't smile when I play, as I've frowned playing the flute for years!!!

Hope I don't offend anyone here, but I generally find flute players make better sax doublers than sax players make flute doublers. Making a good sound out of the flute is much harder than the sax (in my opinion). I know sax players who play for shows, sound fabulous, then change to flute in the middle of a piece and sound naff! Obviously I'm generalising here, but I think you'll ge thte gist!

I think I'll give up on flute then.

I didn't say it was impossible nat!!!! It just takes work to get a good sound on the flute. If you're ever in Manchester let me know and I'll give you a flute lesson!

Lol, I'm awful on flute.

Cheers for that advice - I've made up my mind and I'm going to rent an alto sax for three months for just 80euro for hte entire time, see how that goes and then *maybe* buy one at the end of it

Excellent!

I played flute then sax then clarinet and i didnt find it a problem with the different embouchures. The only problem i have is i used to play the oboe for about 4 months and i got grade 4 but now i play the sax i cant get a note out of an oboe anymore!! so the certificate means nothing!

Well years ago (many now!) I started by playing the flute! But i decided it was boring (no offence to flautists) So I swapped to sax. So far as I remember I had no trouble!



Wow Grade 8 Sax i wish i was good as you I love the instument hence my name!