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Saxophone Scales – Ab Major Scale

By 16 Comments

Here’s the Ab major scale for saxophone.Saxophone scale - Ab major

Ab sounds the same as G# and it’s sometimes more convenient to think about it as G#, but generally you want to think about it as Ab.

There are four flats in the key of Ab.

All of the major scales are on Saxophone Tribe.

Here’s a link to my class on scales for saxophone.

And here’s a post about how the notes with letters compare with do re mi fa so la ti do,

“How to play do re mi fa sol la and ti on saxophone”

 

 

Comments

  1. Isn’t Ab Major Scale (Ab, Bb, Eb, & Db)?
    I believe you showed Db Major (Ab, Bb, Eb, Db, & Gb).
    Thanks

    Reply

    • Hey Ray,
      Correct you are. Thanks for pointing that out, just fixed it. Should have double checked that. The major seventh is a half step below the root….. There are four flats in Ab major, not five. Db has five flats.

      Was curious if a chart like this would be useful for sax players, I actually made charts for all the major scales. Could make them full range too, but wasn’t sure if that’s something people are looking for.

      -Neal

      Reply

  2. I find it better to play the B flat the way its indicated in the diagram.Thanks also for notes of careless whisper,I have been hoping one day I will be able to play the song.

    Reply

    • Hey Patrick,
      You’re welcome.

      That Bb fingering is the one I use most of the time, but I’ll use the alternates when it makes more sense.

      -Neal

      Reply

  3. Neal, Is the Bb in the diagram called the “side key” Bb?
    For this Ab scale, what is the best Bb fingering for this?
    Thanks, Rudy

    Reply

    • Hey Rudy,
      Yep, it’s called that. It’s the one I tend to use most, I think it sounds best. Even if it’s not the easiest I’ll tend to use it, especially if the Bb is held out. For faster parts, the alternate fingerings can be more convenient.
      -Neal

      Reply

  4. Hi Neal,
    I would like the fingerings from high D on to the highest registry of the tenor.

    Thanks Neal

    Reply

  5. Hey Neal,

    I’m from belgium and learning to play the saxophone via musicschool i made myself a member at your website as an addition to my musicschool but we don’t use Ab Bb …… we use do re mi fa……..
    doesn’t make it easy to understand witch not you’re talknig about have to try to figure that one out

    Thanks Sven

    Reply

    • Hello Sven,
      I think you’ll basically have to translate between your system and the one I use. You might want to learn the system with letters too since it’s used a lot.

      I think usually, Do = C, Re = D, Mi = E, Fa = F, So = G, La = A, Ti = B. And there are variations of the syllables to raise them or lower them by a half step. Do you read these notes on the staff? And if you and a piano player both play ‘do’ is it the same note?

      Thanks

      -Neal

      Reply

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