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Beginner Finally played altissimo!

ptg

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After 2 years I'm happy (and slightly embarrassed) to say I finally hit the first inkling of an altissimo note!

My wife always laughs because when I am practicing improv and know I need to hit a high G, I stop in the middle of the run and yell "G" because I know that's the note I need to hit but it is out of my reach.

After another episode of yelling "G" I once again went to work on the higher register. I decided to peruse some more You Tube videos and found one I had never seen before.

At first he offered the standard fingering which I could never do. Then he said that he has an alternate that is cumbersome but always works and is a good fingering to crack the surface with. It was a fingering I have (in my limited time playing) never seen: First finger on B and right hand on F, Bb side key and the F# key. He called it "The Claw."

I tried it and lo and behold...softly...out came a G!!!!! Obviously I will have to build it up so I can hit it strongly and hit it every time but I am overjoyed that now I know I can do it!

Not sure why I am posting this but you folks are the only people I know who can appreciate this...So thanks for reading!
 
Excellent news well done :)

So satisfying when you finally crack something you have been working on :)

Jx
 
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@ptg - I presume you're referring to an alto sax here, but the following comments relate to other saxophones as well.

When it comes to the altissimo register, all saxophones differ from each other due to placing of the tone-holes (which is never quite the same between 2 different manufacturers), and this affects both intonation and altissimo. A difference of a few millimetres re. tone-hole placement on the upper stack can affect the outcome. Equally, damage to the neck of a sax will also affect (i.e. harm) the altissimo response, and I have personal experience of this.

The Yanagisawa A990 alto sax (dating from circa 1990) was slightly modified a few years after it came out and became the A990μ (mu symbol) to indicate a slight tweak to the tonehole placement. I played one and couldn't spot any differences, but I only borrowed it for a few minutes, which wasn't really long enough.

All saxophones will play altissimo notes, but... some make altissimo easier than other horns, and some horns "like" particular fingerings and won't "play ball" with standard fingerings. Any top-flight professional-grade horn such as a Selmer Mk VI, Conn 6M, or Yanagisawa A992 (or insert your own favourite here!) will have good altissimo because that's part of what you pay for. In any case, you can download altissimo fingering charts from the web and there are various alternative fingerings for the same note. If one particular fingering doesn't work then try another and see what happens.

I obviously can't comment on horns I haven't played, but in my experience Yamahas have dead easy altissimo. You'd expect the YAS-62 to be "friendly" re. altissimo and indeed it is. However, oddly enough I found altissimo much easier on the YAS-23 than on the YAS-62, if I remember correctly. Bear in mind that the cone-shaped tube of a YAS-23 is different to the bore on a YAS-62. Ditto subtleties in tone-hole placement, so this only is to be expected. Another "friendly" horn re. altissimo is the Buescher Truetone Series 4 alto from circa 1929, particularly with the #1 neck. The Buescher is surprisingly good in that respect - the people who designed it really hit the sweet spot re. its altissimo capability. Pretty much any professional-grade horn will have excellent altissimo. Equally, even down at the lower end of the sax-market it can be pretty good. For example, a couple of weeks ago I acquired an SMS Academy "Jericho Horn" alto (a present for my gorgeous girlie to learn on) and was pleasantly surprised at just how easily the altissimo range popped out. I reached up for it, and there it was at first try - a full chromatic octave above high-F. I found ths shocking in a good sort of way. I'm not sure what lesson you can draw from this, other than that some chinese-makers have really raised their game. Still, there it is...

Incidentally, I'm always wryly amused when some people (invariably beginners) criticise a saxophone (e.g. a YAS-23) for not having a high-F# key and advise others not to buy it but instead ensure they get a sax which does have a high-F# e.g. a YAS-25.. They don't seem to realise that with a front-F key (which all saxophones manufactured after about 1950 have) you can easily access the altissimo register from high-F# upwards. It's worth noting that most Selmer Mk VIs don't have a high-F# key, though of course some do. No Conn 6Ms have a high-F#, and Charlie Parker seemed to cope OK.

Of course there are some arguments re. whether having a high F# helps (or hinders) intonation. Some claim it does and some claim it doesn't. I've never noticed any major problems (or benefits) re. the horns I've played, so I'm completely neutral when it comes to having (or not having) a high-F# key. Ultimately, I suppose that if your horn doesn't have a high-F# then it's one less moving part to worry about.
 
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@ptg - I presume you're referring to an alto sax here, but the following comments relate to other saxophones as well.

When it comes to the altissimo register, all saxophones differ from each other due to placing of the tone-holes (which is never quite the same between 2 different manufacturers), and this affects both intonation and altissimo. A difference of a few millimetres re. tone-hole placement on the upper stack can effect the outcome. Equally, damage to the neck of a sax will also affect (i.e. harm) the altissimo response, and I have personal experience of this.

The Yanagisawa A990 alto sax (dating from circa 1990) was slightly modified a few years after it came out and became the A990μ (mu symbol) to indicate a slight tweak to the tonehole placement. I played one and couldn't spot any differences, but I only borrowed it for a few minutes, which wasn't really long enough.

All saxophones will play altissimo notes, but... some make altissimo easier than other horns, and some horns "like" particular fingerings and won't "play ball" with standard fingerings. Any top-flight professional-grade horn such as a Selmer Mk VI, Conn 6M, or Yanagisawa A992 (or insert your own favourite here!) will have good altissimo because that's part of what you pay for. In any case, you can download altissimo fingering charts from the web and there are various alternative fingerings for the same note. If one particular fingering doesn't work then try another and see what happens.

I obviously can't comment on horns I haven't played, but in my experience Yamahas have dead easy altissimo. You'd expect the YAS-62 to be "friendly" re. altissimo and indeed it is. However, oddly enough I found altissimo much easier on the YAS-23 than on the YAS-62, if I remember correctly. Bear in mind that the cone-shaped tube of a YAS-23 is different to the bore on a YAS-62. Ditto subtleties in tone-hole placement, so this only is to be expected. Another "friendly" horn re. altissimo is the Buescher Truetone Series 4 alto from circa 1929, particularly with the #1 neck. The Buescher is surprisingly good in that respect - the people who designed it really hit the sweet spot re. its altissimo capability. Pretty much any professional-grade horn will have excellent altissimo. Equally, even down at the lower end of the sax-market it can be pretty good. For example, a couple of weeks ago I acquired an SMS Academy "Jericho Horn" alto (a present for my gorgeous girlie to learn on) and was pleasantly surprised at just how easily the altissimo range popped out. I reached up for it, and there it was at first try - a full chromatic octave above high-F. I found ths shocking in a good sort of way. I'm not sure what lesson you can draw from this, other than that some chinese-makers have really raised their game. Still, there it is...

Incidentally, I'm always wryly amused when some people (invariably beginners) criticise a saxophone (e.g. a YAS-23) for not having a high-F# key and advise others not to buy it but instead ensure they get a sax which does have a high-F# e.g. a YAS-25.. They don't seem to realise that with a front-F key (which all saxophones manufactured after about 1950 have) you can easily access the altissimo register from high-F# upwards. It's worth noting that most Selmer Mk VIs don't have a high-F# key, though of course some do. No Conn 6Ms have a high-F#, and Charlie Parker seemed to cope OK.

Of course there are some arguments re. whether having a high F# helps (or hinders) intonation. Some claim it does and some claim it doesn't. I've never noticed any major problems (or benefits) re. the horns I've played, so I'm completely neutral when it comes to having (or not having) a high-F# key. Ultimately, I suppose that if your horn doesn't have a high-F# then it's one less moving part to worry about.

Thanks for the info! Funny you mentioned the F# key as the gentleman in the video said something to the effect of, 'Well, this won't work if you don't have an F# key...get yourself a new horn!"
 
Excellent news well done :)

So satisfying when you finally crack something you have been working on :)

Jx

Thanks, Jeanette! I can barely hit it but now that I know I can it's a big weight off of my shoulders!
 
Thanks, Jeanette! I can barely hit it but now that I know I can it's a big weight off of my shoulders!

I was like that with palm key notes on sop. I remember the feeling when they first popped out, then didn't but keep at it and it will be more consistent :)

Jx
 
Just a quick follow up...Last night I hit the G and sustained it for quite some time. As I was holding it I thought to myself, 'What am I doing differently?'

I did a check on the multitude of factors that can affect efficiency when playing altissimo: diaphragm control, open throat, embouchure (including lip and jaw placement), air stream placement in the mouth, tongue positioning and...I couldn't find a thing that I was doing differently than I did before!! :confused::headscratch::confused: LOL! What a wacky instrument!
 
Check the tuning when you hit it. Sometimes the note in your head that you're aiming at is a little off so that you're stifling it with your embouchure and sometimes an altissimo note pops out better a little flat or sharp and can be corrected once it sings. (or whistles)
 
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