saxophone

[milepost13]

we don't have anything right now, but I'll let you know when we do.

Nate

[Leonidas1994]

Before I became a christian I used to play the saxophone profesionaly. I am a saxophone teacher in a music school in Greece. But, I rarely play it in service, because I play the keyboards, sing and lead, and also because I am not sure when it is the best to play. I mean I prefer the people to focus to the Lord and not to the musicians, and use their time in worship to deal with Him. I am saying this because I think it is better to eliminate the distractions and the sudden sound of the saxophone (or any other sudden sound) when the people have their eyes closed and communicate with the God, it ofter disrupts their worship.

But, sometimes (very rarely) we have a song played by saxophone and the whole church is singing with it and worship the Lord.

[bradpabst]

Hi Dave,
I play the alto and saprano sax for our worship team at Garris Chapel Church in NC. What kind of info are you looking for. This has been a great experience. So far we have been very successful in including the saxaphone in most styles of music including contemporary. Let me know how I can help. Cheers. Brad.

[Don_Z]

Before I became a WL, I toured as a pro sax player. I was called many times to come in and play an obligato line above high energy choir pieces a la Sanborn or Albright. I found the alto worked best for this sort of thing as it fit better with the human voice and also had a more 'pop' sound rather than that traditional jazz sound that the tenor leans too. My tenor, though big sounding, blended better and I used it on musical numbers where I wanted to keep the energy a little more subdued.

You can energize your choirs and praise teams with the right touch, Too much and you take away from the worshipfulness of the moment. It is a balancing act that needs careful consideration every week.

Here is an example of something I did in '06. I do not play much anymore as I lead from keys and B3 now. No choir. Just a special for offertory.

[Thayer]

I played solo horn on worship teams from about '95 to '08. Only thing I see now is full horn sections playing what used to be played by the 2nd keyboard. Man I miss it. Tenor didn't really add much, but the soprano in the last couple of tunes was typically very powerful.

Any instrument can get in the way of the Spirit, or make way for the Spirit. The horn just makes that statement more apparent.