Careless Whisper line on alto sax. So if you’re looking for the ‘sexy sax man sheet music’ this is basically it plus you can hear it and play along in pieces. (It’s also in this book)
Don’t terrorize too many people with this!
First note is C# with the octave key on alto sax. If you want to play it on tenor, that note is an F# at the top of the horn.
Playing it here in a similar way to how Sergio played. In the original version there’s a sixteenth run (D major scale on alto) going into it and the last part in this lesson starts on the low F# instead of leading in with the G.
Have fun! And don’t get arrested!
Makes me feel like I’m back in the 80s.
haha, the song has been revitalized it seems.
hey Neal i’m want to play the careless whisper, but i’m kinda a beginner and is there and easy way i can learn.
Did you watch this video lesson?
yes i did and was amazed at it
HEy , i’m a new mate here 🙂 great site you have there man . it helped me a lot getting confidence . BTW i like the vibes of this song it just feels nice..
Hey Hamza,
Thanks. Glad you like it. Talk to you later.
-Neal
Thanks Neal.
Thanks for sharing it.
I always did like the sax in this piece.
Keep rocking!
You’re welcome Tim. It’s probably the most memorable part of the song (to me anyway)
I’ve always wondered what the name of that tune was. Wow. I really love the sax.
haha, now you know. There seem to be a number of songs (many from the 80s anyway) where the sax line is more recognizable than the rest of the tune.
i think this tune sounds awesome on tenor sax too. and flute.
Yep, the instrument you play it on doesn’t matter as much as how you play it. And the tenor sax is my preference for most things. Flute can get a great sound too.
what are the notes for flute??
Everything would move up by a minor third. If the first note on alto sax is a C#, the first note on flute is an E, etc.
Hey Neal,
Your website is great, and thanks for this fun lesson.
Turns out that guy Sergios Flores taught me sax in high school, and when I saw your video, I couldn’t stop cracking up!
Thanks for everything.
Hey Cary,
Thanks, you’re welcome. That’s funny that you took lessons from Sergio, was this taught in lessons back then? 😉
Hey man, great lesson. Do you think you could post some sheet music so me and a couple friends could play it?
Hey Spencer, you should be able to get it without reading the line. It’s not really that complicated and I give you all the notes and even the fingerings. How long have you been playing?
Thanks Neal. My son (28) has been at me to learn this piece after seeing it on YouTube. Now I can surprise him at work! (might keep the shirt on).
Can you help me learn the Night Train solo (alto) featured on Back to the Future?
Hey Rob,
Cool, let me know how it goes.
In back to the future, they don’t play it on alto, it’s on tenor. In the original key, it wouldn’t work very well on alto since it goes down to low C on tenor. You would have to jump around in octaves. Or you could just play it another key. Maybe I’ll do a lesson teaching it.
Yes please!
hi thanks so much for sharing this song with me am now playing the sax so understanding the notes are a little hard thanks for breaking it down for me.
Hey Keeba, you’re welcome.
Hey i love ur sax man video and i wanted to know if you had a form of sheet music you could send me cuz i only have internet on my phone and ipod touch so its hard to follow a video on those things
Thanks
Jon
Hey Jon,
Try and learn it by ear if you can. That’s how I learned it. Otherwise, you could buy the music in a book.
hi can u tell me how to play a low d and d sharp i know the buttons but every time i pay it it squeeks or turns to high d please can u give me some advice
Yep, what Olaf is saying is good. More air can help. Does your reed feel too hard? That’s another possibility.
Are the notes below low D and D# okay?
try using more air and loosen your jaw a little. if that doesnt work, check the octve keys.
I first saw this video after a bunch of my friends told me about it, it was hilarious and I wanted to try it out. GREAT!!
Hey Calvin,
Cool, glad I could help you play it.
-Neal
Hi again Neal,
Having trouble with that first note in careless Whisper, the high C#, then after listening to the George Michael version perhaps it isn’t the first note?! I just can’t work out what note precedes the C#, or whether it is just a lower C# that bends into the higher. What do you think?
Hey Rob, so on the original version there’s a run including some sixteenth notes going up to the high C#. It’s definitely leading to the C#. I have played it before. Starts on a low E. So fingering individual notes, rather than just bending.
So my sister and her asian friend play sax and learned this song, and i thought it would be pretty cool if me and a few other people learned it too! I play the baritone, and was wondering if you knew the notes on bass clef?
Hey Maddie, do you play baritone saxophone or baritone horn? Alto/bari sax are in Eb, so they’re a minor third away from concert key. Going between treble clef and bass clef is the difference of a space or a line on the staff. If you’re playing bari sax, you can read the notes written for alto and it will work fine (will be an octave lower). But I’m not quite sure what instrument you’re playing.
Sorry i took so long to reply, i have a bad habit of forgetting things! lol but I play the baritone horn. And thanks for the rest of the info!
No worries, thanks. Baritone horn or bari sax? Baritone horn is in Bb and could play the same notes as tenor sax/soprano
Thanks a lot!!
This song is awesome!
Especially when you played it! I also like it the song when Sergio Flores is playing it. Never heard of him? Check him up on youtube. Sexy sax man Sergio Flores. Over 9 million views. And what was that song that you played at the end of the video, it gives you a nice feeling when you listen to it.
Wait……….. You know who sergio is….. saw it top of page.:P
Hey Alec, you’re welcome. Yep, I know Sergio, we’ve talked before. Posted his video on Sax Station a bit before it went super viral, haha. Glad you like what I’m playing at the end, it’s just a groove over the changes to Work Song. Got it from one of my teachers (Kris) a couple years ago. I teach how to play it in my improvisation class.
Hey,just wanted to say that this wuz really neat! i’m only in middle school and only in beginning band, but my friends say i’m the best of the class, and just wanted to say this video really helped!! cuz i can’t learn by hearing i played the notes my band teacher gave me but,it turned out terrible!!! so any ways thnx for the vid!
Hey Leila,
Thanks, glad it helped you. Learning by ear can be challenging if you mostly read music, that’s how I was for a while, you might want to try it out though, a small piece at a time.
-Neal
Very helpful, I am a beginner if you can send me songs that I can play on the Saxophone. Thank you
Dude keep up the good work. Lack of teacher here and I just found your site, you just taught me a tune within 30 minutes. Keep um coming 🙂 Much appreciated!
Thanks, glad you got it.
thanks so much for this! Now I can play it and dance to it in the stands and where ever else It takes me!
Don’t worry, I’ll try not to get arrested.
haha, you’re welcome, have fun.
Awesome! I’m only in the 8ith grade, so I don’t think I can try this in public lol.XD
hi there i like to play this music sheet called careless whisper and i have been trying to find the music sheet.
You can buy it here
Great video. But how come when I played the first note on my Alto Sax and it came as another note. Weird? Please reply!
Thanks Jensen, what note came out? You’re talking about the fingering for C#?
Yes!Just dont know why?!
thank you for the great video! i have some trouble with the first note. do you maybe have some tips for me?
thank you 🙂
Hey Leigh,
You’re welcome. What exactly is the issue? Not coming out? Not in tune?
Neal thanks so much for the lesson, I’m just beggining alto sax and this was still easy to play
Hey Nevyn, you’re welcome.
Neal thanks so much, im just starting alto sax and this was still easy, do u know the words to Who Can it Be Now by Men at Work
The words? Nope.
Thanks neal
i have relly enjoyed your lessons an this is the best
This was awesome!!!
For bending notes…. you can start with an exaggerated movement of the jaw. This is something you don’t want to overdo though.
The moment I saw the sexy sax man video I realized that I HAD to learn this. 😀 thank ya very much, and awesome sax website!!
haha, you’re welcome. Thanks for saying so.
hey neal! justin here.. ive memorized the keys.. is there any other keys to complete the song careless whisper?
Hey Justin,
That’s the sax line for the song. You could learn the melody that’s sung if you want, that would be different.
Thanks Neal ur beast this is my first time and I love it
Thank u
Thanks for saying so Aiki, you’re welcome
How might I transpose this to make it sound GOOD on a flute?
Sounds like two different questions. To transpose it, there’s a difference of a minor third. So all the notes listed for alto sax taken up a minor third will be the notes for flute. So a C on alto sax becomes an Eb on flute, a D on alto sax becomes an F on flute, etc.
HEy…thanks mAN,,,your WEBSITE is GREAT and AWESOME!!!…
🙂
can you teach me how to play “MY ALL” on alto saxophone??? 🙂
Possibly.
Hi Neal, You’ve really helped me gain confidence in playing the sax. Do you think you could post a YouTube video (with fingering chart) on how to play the chorus to, “Got My Mind Set On You”, by George Harrison? Thanks again, and if you can’t, no hard feelings. Bye!
P.S., it on alto sax, and not the chorus, but the solo.
Maybe, I’ll check it out. Thanks for the specifics.
Hey Neal, i just want to personally thank you for putting these free lessons on here. It is so hard to find any good fingering charts of song online (your the only one ive found so far). I just got an Alto sax for Christmas and this is actually the first song that ive learned to play. I would really appreciate it if theres anyway you can send me some some good stuff to learn that you would suggest to a beginner. Or possibly chart out a certain song for me. I am a very quick learner though. thanks!
Have you learned all the songs I have posted? Check out Saxophone Tribe http://saxophonetribe.com if you want personal help.
Hi Neal,
I started my own Sax group “The Scarborough Open Band” as I was fed up playing to the bedroom wall. I started it in May 2012, and it is still going on.
I would also like to sit in on jam sessions but lack of be able to play by ear inhibits me.
I would therefore be interested in some lessons which would speed the process up.
I’m 73 so no pressure!!
Hi Bob,
That’s good you’re getting out and playing.
Check out http://saxophonetribe.com if you want some lessons which will help you speed up things a bit.
Thanks
-Neal
Hi neal great site, looking for sounds of silence on alto sax, fingering positions any help would be great thanks.
Hey Peter,
Might be one I’ll do a lesson on at some point. Have you tried learning it by ear?
Does anyone know the bass clef notes for Careless Whispers? For Trombone, specifically? Been looking all over the place and no one seems to have what i’m looking for.
E D A F C Bb F D Bb A F D Bb Bb A Bb C D E F G A
If you learn how to transpose, you can figure stuff like this out if the music isn’t written for your instrument.
I made a little ‘chart’ / list – for transposing from concert to Eb. With Concert at top of left side and Eb (alto) for the right side of list. Start with Concert C = A (alto) so then it’s easy to work up the scale : C# = A# (Bb) then D = B and so on. Can do for Tenor same thing. Find it easier to use the Concert as the baseline. Then just keep the ‘list’ handy when you’re practicing until you can do it in your head. I picture a piano/keyboard as a mental ‘graphic’ – that seems to help too. Just suggestion. 🙂
What do you do without the chart?
and yes, i do realize this is a saxaphone website.
my friend and i are going to play careless whisper and I was wondering if you have the music notes for careless whisper on the alto saxophone for kenny g
The notes for Careless Whisper are in the video on this page, I don’t understand your question. And what does it have to do with Kenny G?
Um hi I was just wondering how to play that thing at the end of the video because it sounded really cool, and I’d love to know how to play it. If you can tell me that’d be great thanks. 🙂
It’s improvisation on top of something like a bass line played on saxophone over the changes for work song. I teach how to play that in a class that you can purchase, http://mastery.saxstation.com
Hey, I was just wondering, but what size is your saxophone reed?
I recorded this video a few years back, probably a 2.5 with an 8 tip opening on the mouthpiece.
Why did you want to know?
Thank you. I live in Brazil and I tried to play this song several times now got thanks to you. I’ll do the other lessons you placed. Congratulations.
Ps. sorry for the bad english, is the google translation.
Obrigado!
I understand what you mean by a 2.5 reed, but whats an 8 tip opening. Also, I got a new gold jazz mouthpiece but to make it work I have to almost swallow the whole thing, is there a better way? David
do you have sheet music
to print out
No, sorry. Link to buy it above.
How do you do the rest of the song? I have a big show tomorrow and I want to learn the whole thing! Also I love your website and it is so helpful and is the only one that actually teaches me! Thanks!
I just learned the sax line. Try learning it by ear, good luck.
I like your tutorial so much, very helpful for newbie like me. What’s the rest of this song? I’m practising like what you’ve guided, but it’s just the begining
This is all of the saxophone line. You can try learning the rest (vocals) by ear, check out my paid classes if you want my help with that. Or you could try buying the sheet music.
This helped a ton! I am a new player and i am already getting the hang of it!