Ab or G# has a lot of options. There’s the main G# key, but you can use any of those table keys in its place. Makes going between the low notes and G#/Ab a bit easier.
Saxophone Finger Chart – All the notes and fingerings on saxophone.
Saxophone Fingering Chart G# or Ab on the Staff
Sergio Flores – some footage that you haven’t seen yet from the infamous serenades of Los Angeles.
Watch Sergio bravely enter the biology classroom and more.
Warning: playing saxophone like this can get you arrested or at least very close to it.
B on the staff or ‘middle B’ for saxophone.
Saxophone Finger Chart – All the notes and fingerings on saxophone.
Saxophone Fingering Chart - Middle B
Galopus posted a question on Sax Station earlier, he’s been playing sax for six months.
Asking about how playing piano can help with sight reading, music theory, and his ear.
The short answer, is playing and learning music will help you be a better musician.
Doesn’t matter if it’s on sax, piano, banjo, harmonica, or a shoe string (if you know that reference, you’re awesome, haha).
When a friend of mine in college was learning a little guitar, I helped him with music theory by showing him some examples on a piano keyboard diagram. How everything arranged ‘makes sense’.
There are some great saxophone players who actually made records on which they played piano, one example being Joe Henderson.
A suggestion I hear consistently from musicians, to play more piano…. I play a little, to which they respond, “play a little more”.
A huge advantage of the piano is that everything is laid out in front of you.
The notes ‘look’ like the notes an octave below them – very unlike a saxophone where things have some consistency because of the octave key, but not that much.
On a piano, notes always increase by a half step if you go to the next key up. Saxophone has all sorts of crazy ways to get notes out.
You can also play harmony on a piano or a bass line and a melody at the same time or any number of combination of things.
There’s not as much control over the actual ‘sound’ of the piano relative to the saxophone. That’s a degree of freedom that we enjoy as saxophone players.
There is the issue of focus, think about what you really want to play and play that instrument more.
But playing the piano won’t tire out your embouchure, so you could play sax, then play piano, and be ready to play sax again. Like switching between muscle groups in the gym.
It’s all music!
Asked some Sax Station readers about their experiences with piano:
Sterling – I play sax and piano and i tend to play and practice piano more it seems
Nicole- I started out on the piano.. Then a year later moved to Saxophone in grade school. To this day, my first year in college, I still play both, plus guitar! 🙂
Jasmine – I hardly play piano which is comparable to how much I play my saxophone. Haha. but I know that playing piano is essential to becoming a better musician because it helps you focus in on chords and harmonies which if necessary in becoming a great improviser, unless you just memorized what you need to know. Also you can get better familiarize with different keys and pitches. 🙂
Ron – I can pick out chords and slowly play progressions. Progressions, it seems to me, is what the saxophonist needs to hear, and he/she can’t do that simultaneity on a sax. I am sure that I will never be able to say “I play piano,” but it doesn’t matter.
John – When I’m not playing my sax. I’m on my digital piano!
Michael – Nice thing about piano is that you can see a lot of note relationships between chords in a progression, which can also show you that sometimes you don’t have to keep playing a lot of notes. Miles Davis was great for that in his soloing. No lack of meaning in his playing.
Ron – I agree with Michael. Also, Louis “Pops” Armstrong, the virtuoso jazz trumpet player and vocalist never played a lot of notes. I was fortunate in hearing Louis Armstrong and His All Stars when I was nineteen. Louis Armstrong (trumpet), Barney Bigard (clarinet), Jack Teagarden (trombone), Arvil Shaw (bass), Billy Kyle (piano), Barrett Deems (drums)! Unforgettable!
Rachel – I played piano for years before I started playing sax, and it has definitely helped with my improvisation. Also, having “piano knowledge was great when I was first learning scales on the saxophone- I could just picture the piano!
A is known as ‘A’, the notes G double sharp and B double flat would sound the same, but they’re not too common.
Saxophone Finger Chart – All the notes and fingerings on saxophone.
Saxophone Fingering Chart A on the Staff
A good saxophone fingering chart is very useful, especially early on in playing the sax.
Saxophone Finger Chart – All the notes and fingerings on saxophone.
It can also be helpful when you need the best way to play a certain pattern of music, alternate fingerings can make your life a bit easier. Sometimes we get in habits of only using a particular fingering for a note…..
Saxophone Finger Chart Bb
Usually fingering charts for sax are written on one page – they’re portable that way, but on a screen, you don’t have to worry about killing trees and the diagrams can be big enough to see very clearly with tips about the different fingerings right next to the diagrams. For example – whether the alternate fingering for F# sounds as good as the normal fingering.
So I made one of my own. Thanks to Bret Pimentel for making the software that enabled it.
Check out the finger chart in a video:
The entire chart will be available to view on the site for free if you’re on the Sax Station email list.
A high resolution downloadable version with notes and tips is available.
Download the high resolution saxophone fingering chart.
$1 for now
G on the staff on saxophone is actually one of the easier notes to play. The whole middle change comes out a little easier than the very low or very high notes.
Saxophone Finger Chart – All the notes and fingerings on saxophone.
Saxophone Fingering Chart G on the Staff
Low F# has two possible fingerings on saxophone, but the first sounds a lot better. The other one should only be used if it makes your execution of the music cleaner. For faster tempos, it becomes more useful and the sound that isn’t quite as good becomes less noticeable.
Saxophone Finger Chart Low F# or Gb
Thought I would get a few questions and comments on Sax Station out in the open. I’m taking another look at some some and thinking about them some more. If you have an idea to add, please leave a comment!
Hi Neal , i,m 57 years old no musical training at all bought a alto sax .a play along sax
book. that was 3 mths ago,getting the embouchure ,notes breathe
playing scales from the book. i just cant play a melody or tune just yet
found your site by accident , but it is just what i needed , so thanks
keep on writing
-Mike Payne
Hey Mike, good to hear from you. Sounds like you have enthusiasm, that goes a long way.
You should start learning melodies with a simple song that you like hearing. Just take it one piece at a time, let me know if if you get stuck with it.
A saxophone method book will also help get you in the habit of practicing consistently and progressively.
-Neal
F is also commonly known as ‘F’, occasionally you’ll see it as E#.
Saxophone Finger Chart – All the notes and fingerings on saxophone.
Saxophone Fingering Chart - Low F
E is generally known as ‘E’, but E and F are a half step apart and you’ll occasionally see Fb.
Saxophone Finger Chart – All the notes and fingerings on saxophone.
Saxophone Finger Chart Low E (Fb)
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