Keyless Saxophones


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It all started with three guys sitting around a table, kicking around ideas after a trade show in Texas.

"We already make saxophones," reasoned one of them. "Why not do what Buescher did for Rascher in the thirties? You make a body tube and the next step is to stop!" And so the Hollywoodwinds Keyless Saxophone was born.

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Why a keyless saxophone? Because every saxophone, and every saxophone player, lives in a world of overtones. With a keyless saxophone, all you've got is an overtone.

From the fundamental, you've got an entire overtone series to play, without any keys to distract you from your purpose. Remember your teacher telling you to do long tones every day? In a way, using the tonal sandwich that is the overtone series on a single note, the student will benefit from playing long tones more on a Hollywoodwinds Keyless Saxophone than from any other saxophone you can buy. In time, the student will be able to control the entire overtone series, infinitely projected from the fundamental low Bb.

Leo Potts, saxophone professor emeritus at California State University, Long Beach:

"In addition to practicing the overtone series, the keyless saxophone allows the student to focus on the concept of filling the saxophone with air which allows the bell of the instrument to ring."


Dick Oatts, professor of Jazz Studies at the Boyer School of Music at Temple University:

“I use the keyless saxophone to get my students to concentrate on the timbre of their sound and flexibility between registers. I use it as a great tool in making my students aware of how little effort it should take and the importance of diaphragm support instead of mouth over-kill. This also allow students to see just how the reed should vibrate in each register and if done correctly, see just how a big mouthpiece is not the answer to finding a full and even sound. I've always told my students that the keys are nothing but a distraction and a crutch when it comes to finding the right sound.”


No saxophone teaching studio should be without a Hollywoodwinds Keyless Alto Saxophone or Tenor Saxophone. Keyless Baritones Saxophones are available on special order.