I'm loving my time with this sax and am just trying to get to know her after 5 months together. I have been playing Tenor for about 2 years and to be fair I have stayed away from the palm keys.. Until now.... needs must one step beyond and all that... I play a 10m fan showtime ebonite or a morgan fry vintage 7* metal with a vandoren green 2 reed. I couldn't get a high note out after c#. I upgraded the reed to a 2 1/2 and can now get the bottom notes and I'm ok up to palm e. Is there an alternative fingering for a high F and F# that may be easier or is it just time and practice... as I suspect I'm still a bit ropey on going from any note a,b or G to low C.
Beginner Enjoying my conn 10m
- Thread starter eb424
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There are two standard fingerings for high F:
All three left palm keys plus octave key and maybe side E key. (i.e. E fingering plus the palm F key)
Front F key (the one at the top) plus C key plus octave key. (And if you put one more LH finger down you should get high E.)
For a Conn 10M I'm guessing the F# fingering is the front F fingering plus side Bb. On my Grassi, it needs G# as well to raise the pitch.
All three left palm keys plus octave key and maybe side E key. (i.e. E fingering plus the palm F key)
Front F key (the one at the top) plus C key plus octave key. (And if you put one more LH finger down you should get high E.)
For a Conn 10M I'm guessing the F# fingering is the front F fingering plus side Bb. On my Grassi, it needs G# as well to raise the pitch.
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A tip I learned is to play the note on your "airstream". First get the pitch which in the case of F3 on the tenor is Eb on the piano an octave plus a minor 3rd above middle C. Sing the pitch on a "La" (use falsetto if necessary). Blow that pitch on just an airstream like an airy sounding whistle. Then play the note on the tenor using the same airstream and shape inside the mouth. If a "palm E" comes out but F doesn't, just blow faster air when you add the F palm key to go to high F.
For low C, play G with a full tone and lots of air and quickly slur down to low C and hold the note as long as you can. Do this repeatedly to learn the "taste" of the low C. Next practice starting on low C. Tongue the note with a "Tah" or "Dah" syllable to keep the back of the tongue down. Blowing "lots of air" is the key. Starting on a higher note and making an interval leap down to low C, mentally play the low C while still on the higher note before changing the fingers.
For low C, play G with a full tone and lots of air and quickly slur down to low C and hold the note as long as you can. Do this repeatedly to learn the "taste" of the low C. Next practice starting on low C. Tongue the note with a "Tah" or "Dah" syllable to keep the back of the tongue down. Blowing "lots of air" is the key. Starting on a higher note and making an interval leap down to low C, mentally play the low C while still on the higher note before changing the fingers.
Didn't understand a word of it but thanks...
i'm ok on the second paragraph..whats F3
Greg Strange
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Didn't understand a word of it but thanks...
Third octave F - should be the highest note on your Conn 10M tenor within the "normal" range of the sax - Bb1 to F3 or F#3 (if you have a high F# key of course for more modern saxes)...
Greg S.
