If you’re reading this blog you’re most likely either a) A saxophone player; or b) Someone who at least has more than a passing interesting in one of the most versatile and popular instruments invented in the last 200 years. If either of these statements applies to you, then you know that playing a saxophone requires—among other things—the use of both hands.
However, what happens if a player loses his or her ability to use both hands? Do they have to give up playing the instrument that they love? Well that may depend on which hand they lose.
If the player loses the function of their left hand—or loses the left hand or arm altogether—then there may still be an option for them to continue playing sax. Enter The UNK One-Handed Woodwinds Program, founded by Dr. David Nabb, Professor of Music at the University of Nebraska. Nabb is a performing saxophonist who—after having a stroke in 2000—partnered with Jeff Stelling, the owner of Stelling Brass & Winds, an instrument repair and custom horn building shop, in Kearney, Nebraska.
Partnering with Stelling allowed Nabb’s visionary toggle-key system—which allows woodwinds to be played with only one hand—to be realized. This patent pending design:
…allows one index, middle, or ring finger to perform the functions normally executed by the same fingers on both hands. The right hand index finger operates the B key, bis B flat, and F keys. The middle finger operates the C key and F sharp. The ring finger operates the G and D keys….
Source: Toggle Sax.pdf
To see how this toggle system is laid out, what a one-handed saxophone looks like, and for a full fingering chart, check out the PDF file I linked to in the above quote source.
If you’d like to see and hear a one-handed, toggle-key saxophone in action, here is a performance of Blue Caprice by David Nabb.
Blue Caprice is a difficult piece to perform with two hands, let alone one. This is truly quite remarkable, when you consider someone would have to learn their instrument all over again. The fingering system is completely new.
For something traditionally classical, Nabb also provides this sample: Diversion by Bernhard Heiden.
The saxophone that Nabb uses is a Yamaha Custom, which was adapted by Stelling Brass & Winds.
I would be curious how they adapt an instrument to right hand loss. Have they done this yet? Would they have to start from scratch?
I think this is an incredible advancement for persons with disabilities. As someone with a neuro problem, I hope to never need adaptations like this. However, it is great to know that there are people who are making such a difference in the lives of musicians.
If you’d like to support the program, or learn how to apply for an instrument, you can find out how to do so through the The UNK One-Handed Woodwinds Program website.
Rahsaan Roland Kirk did this over 40 years ago for either hand. He had developed it originally to extend his ability to play several saxes at once, but it helped him continue to perform after his first stroke left him partially paralyzed.
I’m not a fan of Rahsaan’s, so I’ve never followed up how he managed how he played his multiple saxes. I also didn’t realize that he’d had a stroke at one time. It makes sense that he used an early version of this type of system.
I knew there have been others before this—as a matter of fact, Conn even built a F Mezzo Soprano that can be played with only the right hand.
What I think is really interesting about the UNK One-Handed Woodwinds Program, is that to my knowledge, this is the first time these type of modifications have been done in conjunction with a rehab school, and are being offered for those in need.
The list of supporters is encouraging. I hope that together with the solicitation of donations, enough resources can be combined together to allow some deserving musicians a second chance at engaging in their passion.
Yes, kudos to UNK for their support. I was merely responding to your question “I would be curious how they adapt an instrument to right hand loss. Have they done this yet?”, and not commenting on the originality nor ingenuity of the Nabb-Stelling system.
Kirk’s system was, as I noted, more ad hoc and not so thoroughly thought out. It involved running a set of levers up the side of the body tube that allowed the left hand to actuate the lower stack. What was quite clever about it was that he had them laid out so that not only could he use them like an extended set of palm keys with the left hand, he caould also grab the upper stack with the right hand, operating the standard keys with the second knuckles and the levers with his finger tips.
I’m sure, in time, Nabb-Stelling will produce an equally brilliant system for the upper stack based on the toggle key. In the mean time, I wonder how viable it would be to produce a mirror image “left handed” saxophone with the current technology?
It sounds like Kirk’s system for the left hand—actually for the whole horn—was quite ingenious. I wonder who thought it all out, and designed it for him?
Do you know what ever happened to his horns Paul? I would think these should be in a museum somewhere.
Those are very good questions. Thanks to your blog you have me thinking about them again after all these years. I’ve just been “investigoogling” a bit and have found little to corroborate my recollections, yet if you don’t mind, I’d like to share them here, with the caveat that they require suitable amounts of salt, to taste, and probably a significant amount of tequila to wash them down. 😉
AFAIK, Kirk designed the mechanism himself. IIRC, in “Bright Moments : The Life and Legacy of Rahsaan Roland Kirk”, biographer John Kruth mentions a music store in Columbus, OH where Kirk “discovered” the manzello and stritch . It is not unreasonable to conclude that the same technician who facilitated these discoveries also facilitated their fabrication, as well as the implementation of some of Kirk’s other ideas about musical instruments. I’ll keep digging until I can find better evidence, but of course I welcome any and all substantiated corrections to what I admittedly feebly recall.
Regarding the disposition of his personal instruments, I have no idea at all. It is equally plausible that they were buried with his remains, cherished by the inheritors of his estate, collected somewhere in a museum, or sold off to cover his debts. In retrospect, I wish I had been more attentive to the details at the time.
This suggests a whole other blog: Whatever became of X’s (insert name_of_musician) instruments?
Peace,
paul
That’s a good point — since the heavy lifting has already been done, it might be cheaper to build instruments as a mirror image of the right-hand model than it would be to re-engineer one for the left. This would also facilitate use by those who with to do the two-sax thing, as both horns would use the same fingering pattern.
Where can I find a model designed for a one handed right handed player?
Jeff Stelling just recently completed his first left-handed toggle sax which he was just starting the brainstorming process for when My selmer was completed in early 2012. I have not seen any publicly released photos of the horn only photos posted by David Nabb and the young man for whom the sax was converted on Facebook. It appears to be every bit as capable ans efficientas the right-handed model that I and David play. I’m sure there might be some modifications down the line to improve the left-handed adaptation, as Jeff is a perfectionist and I’m sure will find something that bugs him enough that he wants to make a change.