The bass saxophone is the third lowest instrument in the saxophone family. It is larger and produces lower sounds than the more common baritone saxophone. It was likely the first saxophone created by Adolphe Sax, as noted by Berlioz in 1842. The bass saxophone is a transposing instrument tuned to B♭, which is one octave below the tenor saxophone and a perfect fourth below the baritone saxophone. Adolphe Sax also patented a bass saxophone in C for use in orchestras, but few were made. The bass saxophone is not widely used, but it appears in some 1920s jazz recordings, free jazz performances, saxophone choirs and sextets, and occasionally in concert bands and rock music.

Music for the bass saxophone is written in treble clef, like other saxophones. However, the notes sound two octaves and a major second lower than written. The lowest note written for the bass saxophone is the B♭ below the staff, which sounds as a concert A♭1.

Construction

The bass saxophone was one of only two early working models created before Sax's 1846 patent. The other model was called an "E♭ tenor," which is now known as the baritone saxophone. The bass saxophone was designed to replace the ophicleide, an instrument it was based on, and had a similar upright shape. Later, Sax changed the design to its current curved, S-shaped form. This new design first appeared in a sales brochure in 1850.

German instrument maker Benedikt Eppelsheim and Brazilian maker J'Élle Stainer both created bass saxophones with an extra low A key, similar to the one on the baritone saxophone. This addition allows the bass saxophone to play a note one semitone lower, reaching concert G1 (~49 Hz). Before the 1980s, most bass saxophones were tuned to a higher note called E♭. However, most modern models are now tuned to a higher note called F♯.

In jazz

The bass saxophone was popular in jazz ensembles and dance bands between World War I and World War II. It was mainly used to play low-pitched notes, though some players occasionally performed melodic solos. Famous musicians from this time include Billy Fowler, Coleman Hawkins, Otto Hardwicke (of the Duke Ellington orchestra), Adrian Rollini (a pioneer of bass sax solos in the 1920s and 1930s), Min Leibrook, Spencer Clark, Charlie Ventura, and Vern Brown of the Six Brown Brothers. Sheet music and photographs from the era show many bands included a bass saxophone. The instrument became rare in the 1930s, possibly because of its large size, complex mechanics, and high cost. The invention of the electric bass guitar in the 1950s led to less use of other bass instruments in popular music.

American bandleader Boyd Raeburn (1913–1966) directed an innovative big band in the 1940s and sometimes played the bass saxophone. In Britain, Oscar Rabin used the instrument in his band. Harry Gold, a member of Rabin’s band, later played bass saxophone in his own group, Pieces of Eight. American bandleader Stan Kenton’s Mellophonium Band (1960–1963) included fourteen brass players and used a saxophone section with one alto, two tenors, a baritone, and a bass saxophone in many Grammy-winning compositions by Johnny Richards (with Joel Kaye playing both baritone and bass saxophones). The Lawrence Welk Band featured Bill Page playing bass saxophone solos on several radio broadcasts in the 1960s. Shorty Rogers’s Swingin’ Nutcracker (recorded for RCA Victor in 1960) included a bass saxophone (played by Bill Hood) in four of the movements.

Today, Vince Giordano is a well-known bass saxophonist who performs in the style of the 1920s–1930s. Modern musicians who use the instrument in contemporary styles include Roscoe Mitchell, Anthony Braxton, Peter Brötzmann, J. D. Parran, Hamiet Bluiett, James Carter, Stefan Zeniuk, Michael Marcus, Vinny Golia, Joseph Jarman, Brian Landrus, Urs Leimgruber, and Scott Robinson. None of these musicians use the bass saxophone as their main instrument. Jan Garbarek played a bass saxophone on the 1973 album Red Lanta.

In rock

Bass saxophonists in rock music include:

• Angelo Moore from the American band Fishbone
• Rodney Slater in the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band during the 1960s
• Ralph Carney from the avant-garde rock band Tin Huey in the 1970s
• John Linnell from They Might Be Giants, formed in 1982
• Dana Colley from Morphine, formed in 1989
• Kurt McGettrick in Frank Zappa’s band during the late 1980s
• Alto Reed of Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet Band, who often played bass sax at live shows in songs without a prominent sax part
• Colin Stetson, who has performed and recorded with Arcade Fire, Bell Orchestre, Tom Waits, TV on the Radio, Bon Iver, Feist, and LCD Soundsystem. He also plays and records his own music
• Blaise Garza, a touring member of Violent Femmes since 2004
• Kellie Everett, a member of The Hooten Hallers since 2014
• Michael Wilbur, a member of Moon Hooch

In classical music

Hector Berlioz arranged Hymne, possibly inspired by his Chant Sacré, for three saxhorns, clarinet, bass clarinet, and saxophone. This piece was performed in Adolphe Sax’s workshop in February 1844 to display his instruments. It is likely that Adolphe Sax himself played the saxophone part on his early prototype, a bass saxophone shaped like an ophicleide. In the same year, Georges Kastner included a bass saxophone in C in his opera Le Dernier Roi de Juda, treating it similarly to an ophicleide part with brass instruments.

The bass saxophone is rarely used in orchestral music, but some examples exist. The earliest known orchestral work to include it is William Henry Fry’s "sacred symphony" Hagar In the Wilderness (1853), which also features a soprano saxophone. This piece was written for Louis-Antoine Jullien’s orchestra during its American tour. Richard Strauss included four saxophone parts in his Sinfonia Domestica (1904), one for a bass saxophone in C. Arnold Schoenberg used the bass saxophone in his one-act opera Von heute auf morgen (1929), and Karlheinz Stockhausen included it in the saxophone section of Lucifer's Dance, part of his opera Samstag aus Licht (1983).

In the 1950s and 1960s, the bass saxophone was briefly used in musical theatre orchestrations. The orchestras for Sandy Wilson’s The Boy Friend (1953) and Meredith Willson’s The Music Man (1957) included it, as did Leonard Bernstein’s original score for the 1957 premiere of West Side Story.

The bass saxophone is occasionally used in concert bands, usually in arrangements from before 1950. Australian composer Percy Grainger and American composer Warren Benson are notable for writing music specifically for it.

In chamber music, the bass saxophone may appear in saxophone ensembles, especially larger saxophone choirs. The saxophone is rarely used in small mixed chamber groups, but the bass saxophone can play parts written for other instruments.