First time on Sax Station? Then start here and learn more about my saxophone lessons.

SaxStation

Speak Saxophone

Saxophone for Beginners – Three Bb’s

By 6 Comments

There are three fingerings for Bb on saxophone.  Depending on the situation (key signature, notes before and after) a particular fingering may be easier in that context.  What happens is that a certain Bb fingering lets you move less and be less likely to have a messy connection.

It’s good to have the ability to play all of them.  Relying on only one will limit your saxophone technique.

“Side Bb”
 “Bb with ‘bis’ key”
 “Bb with F fingering”

Thanks to Bret Pimentel for his fingering software.

Comments

  1. A couple more, less-common options:
    1) using “1 and 5”. That is a “B” fingering in left hand, F# fingering in right hand. Useful in a quick passage between Bb and F#. Like the “1 & 4” fingering, it’s not totally in tune and has a fairly weak tone, especially compared to the 1st two fingerings listed (side Bb & bis).

    (2) using a low Bb with the octave key. Useful when you want a different timbre on this note. Swing era sax players (Ben Webster, Lester Young, etc) would use this (and a low C with octave key) for effect, alternating between this fingering and the “normal” mid-register fingering. I’ve heard Sonny Stitt use it, too.

    Happy B-flatting!

    ~ Rick

    Reply

    • Thanks Rick, those two will both work fine in passing. Convenient depending on the notes before and after. Probably wouldn’t want to hold the note with the F# Bb fingering. The low Bb with octave key can get you a cool sound though. I use a similar technique with D alternating with side D for a change in sound sometimes.
      -Neal

      Reply

Trackbacks

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *