A return to professional musical life made possible by the adapted saxophoneThe story of David Nabb
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David Nabb is an acclaimed professional saxophonist and Professor of Music at the University of Nebraska at Kearney where he teaches Woodwind Instruments and Music History. Despite having a stroke in 2000, David has been able to continue his fulfilling career as teacher and performer – all thanks to the one-handed saxophone.
David Nabb
It was 1986 when David Nabb immersed himself full-time in the world of music. His friends were musicians, he met his wife through music, and it played a big part at home where, at the end of the working day, he would accompany his children whilst they played violin.
The seismic impact of a stroke
A stroke really is life changing for anyone who encounters it – not only the person in question but their family and wider circle. For David, having a stroke led to “a crisis, both personally and professionally”. Aged only 37, he was a professional musician and a provider for a wife and two children. “I took it hard, both psychologically and physically. But love is a powerful force and even an illness can’t shake it! If you have a passion for music, it really does burn inside.”
There was never any question that his love for music would overcome the challenges that would lie ahead. He simply needed to find the right people to help him with those endeavours.
Returning to professional musical life after disability
Jeff Stelling, instrument repair technician and owner of Stelling Brass & Winds, was instrumental in facilitating David’s return to professional musical life.
The pair got their heads together to identify if the saxophone could be adapted for one-handed playing. The partnership proved to be an entirely complementary one: Jeff concentrated on the mechanics and David on the performance, feeding back his thoughts as a musician. “Fortunately for me, Jeff is both a talented and very hard-headed individual” David describes, “with an unshakeable determination that the instrument would do virtually anything that a conventional one could do.”
It took a year to get a prototype. The saxophone body wasn’t necessarily a good one, but it worked exceptionally well. The next twelve months were dedicated to undertaking revisions. Quite a few were needed as many guesses had to be made in the first place; a real process of trial and error!
A real boost to the development came in 2002 when Yamaha donated a professional saxophone for adaptation. A year later, the professional adapted horn was created, covering the entire range of the conventional saxophone from low B flat to high F sharp, and using extended techniques such as multiphonics and replicating virtually any fingering. It is the instrument that David still plays to this day, and which allowed him to return to teaching full-time and participating in professional musical life.
As he points out: “The majority of my day I live as a person with a disability. When I’m playing my saxophone, the disability essentially disappears, and I can simply return to be a person again.”
Support to other disabled musicians
At the point David’s professional adapted instrument found life, so too did the UNK One-Handed Woodwinds Program which he founded with the support of the University of Nebraska Kearney. The program makes one-handed woodwind instruments available to individuals with permanent disabilities.
Enquiries are received on a weekly basis but, with only two adapted saxophones available for hire, there is an endless list of people who are unnecessarily prohibited from music-making because of their health.
David’s aim is to make that list much shorter – a vision he shares with The OHMI Trust.
Joining forces with OHMI
David was introduced to OHMI’s Founder Dr Stephen Hetherington MBE and co-founder Martin Dyke in 2012. “It was clear that our philosophies of music aligned very closely” David reflects, “and when it came to learning about OHMI’s first international competition for one-handed acoustic instruments in 2013, I knew I needed to get involved!” David’s entry of the Toggle-Key Saxophone, so painstakingly created with Jeff Stelling, was to be crowned an OHMI Competition winner that year. So began a long-standing friendship and collaboration with the team at the charity.
Fast forward five years to the charity’s first international conference in 2018 and David was included in the line-up of influential speakers; a role he was happy to undertake again at the OHMI Conference & Awards 2025.
As he reflects: “I try to keep up with the latest developments for disabled musicians but at the OHMI conferences I learn of things I have no idea about! At the first conference, I met people from the UK and across Europe but also the US. By bringing people together in this way, OHMI has allowed me to foster connections with others in my own country who care about these things.”
Those connections include Deborah Amend and Jennifer Petry who, together with David, are the co-organisers of the Cincinnati-based Adaptive Music Project that hosts a week-long music camp specifically for adults and children with limb differences to empower them to play music.
The OHMI Conference 2025 was equally as fruitful as David explains: “I was able to meet many more interesting people, including an academic and engineer from Japan and a woman who plays the one-handed flute. It makes me consider what else is happening in the world that we simply don’t know about!”
“OHMI is critically important as it’s the only organisation in the world doing this work. To some people, it is THE most important thing in the world. Some in the music community simply can’t believe or visualise what’s possible which is what makes the OHMI community even more special. There are some extraordinary people at OHMI and associated with OHMI who are simply on fire – Rachel Wolffsohn, OHMI’s General Manager, Stephen and the rest of the board, and master instrument makers like Peter Worrell – and they certainly all have a place in my heart.”
The possibilities of 3D printing
Reflecting on the work Peter Worrell has undertaken to create a 3D-printed one-handed recorder, David comments: “The recorder is a great place to start but the business model of an affordable kit can possibly be equally applied to the sax. When Jeff and I started the process of creating the adapted saxophone, we had little idea what was possible. The same applies to 3D printing – it’s impossible to know beforehand if it will work! Peter has the vision and confidence, and passing on his ideas in the way he is, gives others a much greater chance of creating adapted instruments that can be created at moderate cost and constructed remotely.
“I believe we should aim for a reality where adapted instruments are as available and accessible as conventional instruments. The in-roads into 3D printing could be earthshattering, and I’m thrilled at the prospect!”
David’s ‘Learning a New Way to Play’ presentation at the OHMI Conference 2025 can be accessed on the OHMI YouTube channel as follows:
George Theodos and his One-Handed Saxophones (Dr David Nabb, University of Nebraska at Kearney, USA)
The seismic impact of a stroke
A stroke really is life changing for anyone who encounters it – not only the person in question but their family and wider circle. For David, having a stroke led to “a crisis, both personally and professionally”. Aged only 37, he was a professional musician and a provider for a wife and two children. “I took it hard, both psychologically and physically. But love is a powerful force and even an illness can’t shake it! If you have a passion for music, it really does burn inside.”
There was never any question that his love for music would overcome the challenges that would lie ahead. He simply needed to find the right people to help him with those endeavours.
Returning to professional musical life after disability
Jeff Stelling, instrument repair technician and owner of Stelling Brass & Winds, was instrumental in facilitating David’s return to professional musical life.
The pair got their heads together to identify if the saxophone could be adapted for one-handed playing. The partnership proved to be an entirely complementary one: Jeff concentrated on the mechanics and David on the performance, feeding back his thoughts as a musician. “Fortunately for me, Jeff is both a talented and very hard-headed individual” David describes, “with an unshakeable determination that the instrument would do virtually anything that a conventional one could do.”
It took a year to get a prototype. The saxophone body wasn’t necessarily a good one, but it worked exceptionally well. The next twelve months were dedicated to undertaking revisions. Quite a few were needed as many guesses had to be made in the first place; a real process of trial and error!
A real boost to the development came in 2002 when Yamaha donated a professional saxophone for adaptation. A year later, the professional adapted horn was created, covering the entire range of the conventional saxophone from low B flat to high F sharp, and using extended techniques such as multiphonics and replicating virtually any fingering. It is the instrument that David still plays to this day, and which allowed him to return to teaching full-time and participating in professional musical life.
As he points out: “The majority of my day I live as a person with a disability. When I’m playing my saxophone, the disability essentially disappears, and I can simply return to be a person again.”
Support to other disabled musicians
At the point David’s professional adapted instrument found life, so too did the UNK One-Handed Woodwinds Program which he founded with the support of the University of Nebraska Kearney. The program makes one-handed woodwind instruments available to individuals with permanent disabilities.
Enquiries are received on a weekly basis but, with only two adapted saxophones available for hire, there is an endless list of people who are unnecessarily prohibited from music-making because of their health.
David’s aim is to make that list much shorter – a vision he shares with The OHMI Trust.
Joining forces with OHMI
David was introduced to OHMI’s Founder Dr Stephen Hetherington MBE and co-founder Martin Dyke in 2012. “It was clear that our philosophies of music aligned very closely” David reflects, “and when it came to learning about OHMI’s first international competition for one-handed acoustic instruments in 2013, I knew I needed to get involved!” David’s entry of the Toggle-Key Saxophone, so painstakingly created with Jeff Stelling, was to be crowned an OHMI Competition winner that year. So began a long-standing friendship and collaboration with the team at the charity.
Fast forward five years to the charity’s first international conference in 2018 and David was included in the line-up of influential speakers; a role he was happy to undertake again at the OHMI Conference & Awards 2025.
As he reflects: “I try to keep up with the latest developments for disabled musicians but at the OHMI conferences I learn of things I have no idea about! At the first conference, I met people from the UK and across Europe but also the US. By bringing people together in this way, OHMI has allowed me to foster connections with others in my own country who care about these things.”
Those connections include Deborah Amend and Jennifer Petry who, together with David, are the co-organisers of the Cincinnati-based Adaptive Music Project that hosts a week-long music camp specifically for adults and children with limb differences to empower them to play music.
The OHMI Conference 2025 was equally as fruitful as David explains: “I was able to meet many more interesting people, including an academic and engineer from Japan and a woman who plays the one-handed flute. It makes me consider what else is happening in the world that we simply don’t know about!”
“OHMI is critically important as it’s the only organisation in the world doing this work. To some people, it is THE most important thing in the world. Some in the music community simply can’t believe or visualise what’s possible which is what makes the OHMI community even more special. There are some extraordinary people at OHMI and associated with OHMI who are simply on fire – Rachel Wolffsohn, OHMI’s General Manager, Stephen and the rest of the board, and master instrument makers like Peter Worrell – and they certainly all have a place in my heart.”
The possibilities of 3D printing
Reflecting on the work Peter Worrell has undertaken to create a 3D-printed one-handed recorder, David comments: “The recorder is a great place to start but the business model of an affordable kit can possibly be equally applied to the sax. When Jeff and I started the process of creating the adapted saxophone, we had little idea what was possible. The same applies to 3D printing – it’s impossible to know beforehand if it will work! Peter has the vision and confidence, and passing on his ideas in the way he is, gives others a much greater chance of creating adapted instruments that can be created at moderate cost and constructed remotely.
“I believe we should aim for a reality where adapted instruments are as available and accessible as conventional instruments. The in-roads into 3D printing could be earthshattering, and I’m thrilled at the prospect!”
David’s ‘Learning a New Way to Play’ presentation at the OHMI Conference 2025 can be accessed on the OHMI YouTube channel as follows:
George Theodos and his One-Handed Saxophones (Dr David Nabb, University of Nebraska at Kearney, USA)
"The majority of my day I live as a person with a disability. When I'm playing my saxophone, the disability essentially disappears, and I can simply return to be a person again."
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The OHMI Trust is a registered charity (Registered in England and Wales Charity No. 1143623, Scotland Charity No. SC052047).
Registered office: 29 Woodbourne Road, Harborne, Birmingham, B17 8BY
All content © OHMI - Enabling Music-Making for Physically Disabled People
The OHMI Trust is a registered charity (Registered in England and Wales Charity No. 1143623, Scotland Charity No. SC052047).
Registered office: 29 Woodbourne Road, Harborne, Birmingham, B17 8BY