Would it be easy  going from tenor to Bari(sax)?

(playing nine months)

-Destin, Alabama

My response:

It won’t be too hard. Biggest difference is probably that bari sax requires a bit more air. Your fingers go in the same places.

Depending on the two brands/models of saxophones you are switching between, it may feel more or less the same. And it’s possible you’ll have one or two more keys or one or two less keys, but that isn’t a major difference.

The parts you will play in a band can be a bit different.

Overall, I would say go with the one you like better. Or possibly the one that is more needed in your group. You can switch between them without too much difficulty if you want.

Question:
Explain please how to transpose using the bass clef.

I know to add 3 sharps but could you give me examples?

I want to play more in my church.   I realize they are playing in concert c…. I can transpose my alto up major 6th and write out the music.  I heard of playing the bass clef notes but adding 3 sharps… I’m not quite i understand exactly how… Was wondering if you could give me examples….

Played through high school and college.. but haven’t really played in several years just picking it back up.

Practices, ” not very often….”

Likes to play gospel… soft jazz… contemporary praise

-Cheryl, Florida

My response:

You have a lot of the information that you need, so you’re actually very close to understanding how to transpose from bass clef to what you would read on alto sax I think.

Theoretically, you could read the note in bass clef and then take it up a major sixth or down a minor third, but that ends up being more work. Requires a bit of thinking, especially if you do not read in bass clef too much.

However, there is a simpler way to do it that works especially well if you would usually read music in treble clef.

(You may still want to go up or down an octave or two.)

The difference between reading bass clef and reading treble clef is where the notes are placed on the staff. The ‘C’ in bass clef looks like an ‘A’ on the treble clef. So the notes for bass clef are placed on the staff a space or a line below relatively.

We see here a middle C in Treble Clef. Next, we have the same note written in bass clef, it looks like an altissimo A on saxophone. If we take it down one octave, it looks like the A above the staff, and if we take it down another octave, it looks like an A in the middle of the staff. It’s the connection between the first note in treble clef and the final note in bass clef that we want to focus on. The C in treble clef looks like an A in bass clef.

We could write the note in bass clef first and see that in the opposite order.

Notice that we did not worry about any key signatures yet. We did not have to since C and A are already a minor third apart.

Here is the more practical way to look at it though, and we’ll also look at the effect of the key signature

Here we see what looks like a ‘C’ on the left and what looks like a ‘C’ on the right. It’s actually an Eb though on the left since there are three flats in the key signature.

If we simply read the bass clef music it’s almost right, we just need to change the key signature.

So what you do is add three sharps to the key signature. If there are no flats or sharps, that means you have three sharps. If you have some flats, then the sharps ‘cancel out’ some of the flats. So if you started with three flats in the bass clef music, you would end up with zero flats, if you started off with two flats, you would end up with one sharp, ec.

So you can almost just read the bass clef part on alto sax, you just change the key signature a bit.

Question:
How can I make my tone be smoother?

On Day 1, “Kind of horrible, because I started out on bari and those low notes wouldn’t come out at first.”

Playing five years, “I try to practice at least twice a week”

One challenge:
Making my sound come out smooth and crisp %100 of the time.
-Taliyah

My response:

The first detail I noticed about how you describe your playing was how much you practice.

Increasing twice a week to every day or every day except one will probably be the biggest thing you can do to make your tone better. And you can do that by decreasing the amount you practice on a given day. Fifteen minutes seven days a week is much better than an hour twice a week.

You can also focus on your tone more during practice with long tones and ballads.

Received a simple and clear question, answer is fairly short, but direct.

Hi,

I have a question: can I use a Alto Sax Sheet when I have a Soprano Sax?
-Avañielle

My response:

You could play it by yourself without much of a problem, it will be in a different key, that would become a problem if you play it with more musicians.

I just have one question. Do you have any info on the Dixon Alto Saxophone? I just bought my daughter a second hand one through Long and MaCquarie with a warranty but I can’t find any info about this brand online anywhere. Thank you.

-Gail

My response

“the middle D (on saxophone) frequently comes out High, very high, most often during a slur”

Playing tenor sax “About 9 years, but as a novice… and I’ve had that same issue since I began.”

(practices 5 or 6  days/week)

-Pam, California

My response:

The likely reason for that happening is your fingers not being perfectly synchronized. I imagine that if you play from the E right above the middle D to the D or from F, which is also close by, you do not have this problem. From E to D you only move one finger.

However, from C to D for example, you move many fingers at once. If some are early or late (also depends on which fingers), you may get a very high pitch.

A lot of what we play and sound like depends on our fingers on saxophone.

If you would like to work more on your fingers and technique to fix things like this, check out Saxophone Tribe.

There was never the emphasis on altissimo as there is today.

What is a good method for gaining proficiency in the altissimo registers?

Because of my disability I am confined to slower music and do play a lot of worship music

(practices 2-3 days a week)

I used to be a professional player but sustained a hand injury. Lost Thumb and index finger on my right hand. I had a toe to hand transfer and have an easier time holding my horn but I can not hold it in a conventional manner.

In addition trying to control the f key is a challenge. I have re-engineered the f key with an extension so I can roll the topside of my middle finger to close the f key but it is awkward. My biggest problem is knowing what I used to be able to do and accepting the limitations I now have. .

I guess I should be thankful I can still play. I was injured when I was 37, I am now 70 I did not play for about 25 years and once again picked up a horn and found I still had it.

I worked on my embouchure and tone and have been playing and teaching but still get frustrated with my handicap, and inability to play in all keys and being restricted to slow an less demanding up tempo music. ( some keys present a problem).

I learned using the universal method and was a student of Bill Shiner who instructed Stan Getz

-Joe

My response:

Quite a story you have there! Sorry to hear about the injury, sounds like that does make things more difficult.

One of the first steps to getting altissimo is to work on the harmonic series and overtones.

You can check out this post to hear some examples

How to Get Started with Saxophone Overtones and Harmonics – Video Sax Lesson

When you can play four notes using the low Bb fingering, you’ll be on your way to being able to play altissimo.

To actually get into the altissimo, you’ll want to find a fingering chart. And basically, the fingerings for altissimo are not standard like the other notes. Certain fingerings will work on one horn, but not so well on another. Your mouthpiece and reed can also change how easy it is to get the altissimo to play.

So it will take some experimentation with fingerings. I highly recommend working on the overtones as well as experimenting with the fingerings. It will also take time and likely sound pretty ugly at first.

-Neal

How can I learn to control my breath better?
(Question asked on his first day of playing)
-Mark

In what ways do you think you do not control your breath well?
Not enough air?
Not controlled as you play notes?
-Neal

Hey Neal,

Certainly not controlled as I play notes. The first quarter to half second from de-tongueing the reed, the pitch varies generally (from a half tone sharp), then settles on the note, then after 4-5 seconds the pitch starts to wander. Through out the note the timbre wanders around too. From sounding like a goose-duck to a cow and briefly passing through a sound, thankfully, similar to a Sax… 🙂

Cheers

You can practice ballads or long tones, sustaining notes and trying to keep them steady. They will not be at first, but will get better as you practice and pay attention.
-Neal

” How do I figure out the fingerings (on saxophone)?”

-Richard

My response:

You don’t have to figure them out. You can just look them up and learn them on a saxophone fingering chart.

Start learning a few notes at a time. It will take some practice to learn them all, but soon you will not need to think about the fingerings.