Having started with rock music, proving that the sax is not be limited to jazz music, the Syos team are here to show you how diversified your sax game could be, and today we’ll be focusing on a very different genre: pop music! Are you in love with colourful looks, love songs and crazy crimped hair? Go with the flow, pick up a Coral Neon mouthpiece, here we go to discover the sax's place in this dancing genre.
Quick history of the pop genre
Let’s start with a brief overview of the movement: the name « pop music » actually stands for « popular music », to qualify what sells well, what is popular in a population. The genre begins at the end of the sixties, alongside the beginning of rock music. Pop is built for a media, the radio, and leans towards commercial success : dancing melodies made to party, heartbeat-like tempo, joyful lyrics… But pop also brings its share of innovations, and gives an important place to more « classical » instruments (think about all the violin parts in "Viva la Vida" by Coldplay… what would it be without it?). For those of you who enjoy wild solos and love to make people dance to your music, this is your chance!
What to play?
A few songs to try
If you are into pop music, there sure is a wide selection of songs that include saxophone parts. Here are a few where you'll find saxophone solos:
- Lady GaGa, “The Edge of Glory” (sax by Clarence Clemons)
- Katy Pery, “Last Friday Night”
- George Michael, “Careless Whisper”
- Sade, “Smooth Operator”
- Whitney Houston, “I Will Always Love You”
- Gerry Rafferty, “Baker Street”
- Men at work, ”Who can it be now ?”
- Elton John, “Club at the End of the Street”
- David Bowie, “Let’s Dance”
- Boy Meets Girl, “Waiting for a Star to Fall”
