Next is E 123 12 plus the octave key followed by F 123 1 plus the octave key and then G 123 plus octave key. Starting on D with the octave key, (otherwise known as middle D) We are going to play our way up the alphabet. And on the saxophone by adding the octave key, my low D jumps back up to where we started.Īnd I know you have probably figured this out already, this trick works for all of the the other notes I showed you. So from my low D to high D the distance or interval is an octave. In case you don’t know, an octave is the distance between 2 notes that share the same name. In fact, the saxophone is the only instrument in the band or orchestra with a button that makes whatever note you play jump up an octave. It’s one of the reasons why the saxophone is a very well designed instrument. Hence the reason for the name octave key. It’s just like the first D we learned but it’s played without the octave key and sounds lower. If you add the third finger in your right hand you get what we call low D. 123 1 is the fingering for F.īig breath good finger position and posture, firm yet relaxed embouchure. Our next note is F as I’m sure you expected and we just add another finger this time in our right hand. So get in the habit of filling your air tank up completely with each breath you take. We just add another finger again.Ĭheck your posture make sure you are not tensing up.Īs our notes get lower, the amount of air required to play each note increases slightly so you may find it more difficult to hold these lower notes out for as long. We’ve come to the end of our 7 letter alphabet, so when we go down from A we get G and G is played 123 in the left hand. So A is 1 2 in the left hand.ĭeep breath, don’t bite down on the reed. we just add the next finger our middle finger. B is played with our index finger or 1 in the left hand.Īgain, make sure your other fingers are resting lightly on the key pearls. Check yourself in the mirror to make sure. When playing C or any note that has a lot of open keys, be sure to rest your fingertips lightly on the pearls of the keys you are not pressing down.ĭon’t leave those fingers up in the air. So lift up everything else including the octave key. Moving down the alphabet, our next note is going to be C.Ĭ is played with one finger, our middle finger in the left hand or 2. Let’s play and hold each note for 4 beats. You’ve got to use enough air to get a good sound, but you don’t want to over-blow either. Remember, take a deep breath, set your firm yet relaxed embouchure and then blow the note. We already know D so let’s start with that one, and work our way down the alphabet.ĭ is 123 123 and the octave key which is this one here that gets played by pivoting the tip of the thumb. These correspond to the white keys on the piano. Notes in music follow the the first 7 letters of the alphabet A B C D E F G. It’s important to note that the fingerings and note names are identical for all saxophones. In the video I demonstrate everything on the alto first and then tenor so you can play along with either of those. That is because different saxophones transpose differently.įor now, don’t worry about that let’s focus on one thing at a time. You may also notice that a D on the alto saxophone does not sound the same as a D on a tenor or soprano saxophone. That’s because the saxophone is a transposing instrument. You may notice that when you play a D on your saxophone it is not the same note as a D on a piano or guitar. Which is 1 2 3 | 1 2 3 and the octave keyįor these saxophone fingerings, I refer to index, middle, and ring finger as 1 2 and 3 respectively in both hands starting with your left hand which is on top. In the previous lesson we left off playing the note D. If you haven’t gone through those lessons yet, I recommend you do so now. So far we’ve learned how to set up our reed and mouthpiece properly in Lesson 1, How to form a good saxophone embouchure and get our first sounds in lesson 2, and how to setup the instrument and play with a good posture and hand position in lesson 3. In this lesson I’m going to show you the saxophone fingerings for a bunch of notes to get you started playing the saxophone.
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