Brian Wansink

Sunday, March 30, PASQ Memorial, 11:00am - 12:00pm

Anatomy of Crowd-sourced Favorite Rock and Pop Saxophone Solos and Where Have All the Saxophones Gone? Tracing 65 Years of Saxophone Solos in Top 40 Music

Solos in popular songs can motive music students, and it is referred to as the Baker Street phenomenon. For music educators, knowing the most common keys, tempos, durations, and types of solos in favorite Top-40 solos could a useful tool to keep students motivated. An analysis of 158 different crowd-sourced favorite instrumental (i.e., saxophone) solos showed that seven out of ten (72.8%) were in the Concert keys of C, A, G, E, D, and B (sharp keys) and three-quarters were in Major modes.

Half of these solos (51.9%) lasted under 30 seconds, were eight to sixteen measures long, started just past the midpoint of the song, and were played at tempos ranging from 100-140 beats per minute. Interestingly, 13% of these songs were interpreted as saxophone solos, but they were instead played by trumpets, flutes, or in one case, a kazoo. Among saxophones, the tenor was most mentioned, but the alto solos were the most iconically popular.

This research offers useful generalizations to help music educators motivate pop music-focused students as to which scales to focus on, when to improvise in a song, and what instrument to consider playing. In short, a favorite solo in a Top-40 song usually lasts less than 30 seconds (8-16 measures), yet they can be the most memorable part of a song 60 years later. For students and beginning improvisors: be ready to play 8-16 bars in Concert C or in sharp keys (like E or A) at 100-140 BPM – then remember, “It’s the solo, not the instrument.”

Where have all the saxophones gone in pop music? An analysis was conducted of 1081 Top 40 tracks (1955-2020) with sax solos. A rollercoaster of popularity was found with two dramatic peaks in the early 1960s and again 20 years later in the early 1980s. By 1990, the number of sax solos has dropped to almost zero where it remains today. The tenor saxophone comprised 63.2% of the solos in this time period (alto 34.1%, baritone 8.7%, soprano 4.4%). This general trend corresponds with numerous factors, including changes in technology (the prevalence of synthesizers), economics (the cost of saxophone players), and music genres (rap), and it has implications for influencing musical tastes.

Where have all the saxophones gone in pop music? An analysis was conducted of 1081 Top 40 tracks (1955-2020) with sax solos. A rollercoaster of popularity was found with two dramatic peaks in the early 1960s and again 20 years later in the early 1980s. By 1990, the number of sax solos has dropped to almost zero where it remains today. The tenor saxophone comprised 63.2% of the solos in this time period (alto 34.1%, baritone 8.7%, soprano 4.4%). This general trend corresponds with numerous factors, including changes in technology (the prevalence of synthesizers), economics (the cost of saxophone players), and music genres (rap), and it has implications for influencing musical tastes.

My name is Brian Wansink and I am retired Cornell professor who spends about every hour either playing the saxophone or wishing I was playing the saxophone. I was a tenured professor for 30 years, and I’ve published 5 books and over 200 academic journal articles (in a different field).

Now that I'm retired I have been doing academic research on the role of saxophones in pop music, and I have a number of articles under review at music journals This past year I have been given a NASA grant for some of these different projects.

I play a Martin Indianan tenor sax and a 30-lb. Conn bass sax in a Motown band in the Finger Lakes Region. One of my other hobbies is conducting research on how to use popular music to encourage young students to join band or orchestra and to continue with it into adult-hood. I’ve been a member of NASA since learning about it three or four years ago.