Is "horns" a common term to describe saxophones?
Im attending a jazz performance that promoted a horn section. It is two saxophones. I was expecting trumpets or related siblings. Did I misunderstand the use of the term?
(4)4 Comments
Sorted by latest first Latest Oldest Best
No, as a horn player, and by horn player I mean a classical French horn and a jazz trumpet player. To someone like me, when you hear horn section, you think brass. Sax is so limited in what style music they play, and knowing that they always double for a French horn makes me want to say that when you hear a horn player it is always brass. Jazz is the only circumstance that saxophones is considered brass.
Yes. Every band I've played in calls all the wind instruments the 'horn section'. I guess if it's blown, and has a funnel or bell at the end (most do!) then it's a horn - of some sort.Flutes don't open out at their ends, but will still be part of the 'horn section'. Even one of the clarinet family is called a horn - the basset horn. And the (alto) oboe is a cor anglais - an English horn, odd, because a French horn is another instrument entirely - but still a horn.
In big band and jazz band situations, I surmise that it's a bit of slang to refer to everyone not in the rhythm section, certainly including the expected brass section - trumpet, trombone, euphonium, sousaphone, tuba et al, but also the saxes, the players of which usually also play clarinet and flute.
Yes, you did. But you shouldn't feel bad about it — the term "horns" is commonly used to mean a variety of overlapping things. For example:
Horns, meaning wind instruments, as opposed to the rhythm section in a jazz combo.
Horns, meaning brass instruments, as opposed to the reeds (i.e. woodwind) instruments. (Somewhat less common — more typical to say brass/reeds.)
Horns, meaning french horns, as opposed to every other instrument in an orchestra or concert band.
Anyway, it's very reasonable for a small jazz combo to describe two saxes as a horn section.
This is just a technicality I suppose, but a horn is a device intended to acoustically amplify a sound using a column of air and it's inherent resonance. The air column has an expansion characteristic starting at the throat of the horn and expanding at a calculated rate until it reaches the mouth of the horn. A horn can be fabricated from metal, plastic, or almost anything malleable. Sax meets that definition.
Terms of Use Privacy policy Contact About Cancellation policy © freshhoot.com2025 All Rights reserved.