I played a wedding on Saturday night with a band I’m in. During the first break, I saw a group of people go over to where we were playing, where all the instruments were…….

Sometimes people go over to the microphones to make speeches, announcements, etc. Usually that’s fine. I try to make sure my saxophone is out of the way so it won’t get bumped. You want to be aware of that possibility, especially if people somewhere are drinking.

However, this time, there were a LOT of people where the band was playing. And then…. I saw a girl pick up my saxophone, the wrong way, and hand it to another girl. I instantly went over to them, grabbed my saxophone. And then I began telling them why you NEVER pick up someone’s instrument without their permission. Apparently, the same group was picking up some guitars and other things. I was focused on my instrument. Partly because it can be one of the most delicate if you handle it the wrong way.

The group had picked up the trumpet, I told them to put it down as well. The trumpet player actually saw the people picking up the guitars and told them they should not be doing that. Apparently the group wanted to take a ‘funny’ picture…… without realizing the damage they could do. After that, I carried my saxophone outside for the rest of the break. Checked the neck, seemed like it wasn’t damaged. But that was a situation where it could have been.

The unexpected

That had never happened to me, so I wasn’t really expecting it. But reminded me that I should be aware of my instrument at all times when it’s out. Would have been much safer in the case, but you wouldn’t think you would need to do that.

It’s important to handle your saxophone with care.

Picking up/setting down

You want to pick it up and set it down the right way especially. Picking it up by the neck, grabbing the metal rods in the wrong way, all things that can harm your instrument.

I pick it up either by the bell, which is a large solid piece of metal or with the thumb rest and holding the keys like you would normally hold the saxophone.

How you pick up and put down your saxophone is an important part of maintaining your saxophone. I wrote about maintaining your saxophone a bit the other day in a different post, but thought I would share this story as well.

Heard another story about how a wall fell on a really nice baritone saxophone one time.

Bottom line is that your saxophone will be safer if it’s out the way. And even though it takes a minute, you may want to put it away in the case during a break if you leave the stage.