how do I get higher than the high F

[darrell]

I'm looking at a cool song... (Europa by Santana)

I have the sheet music for my tenor sax, but there are a few notes that are quite high with a high A being the highest in the song.


0 (A)
--
--
--
--
-----------------
-----------------
-----------------
-----------------
-----------------

According to my little beginner chart, my saxophone doesn't go this high.. The highest note I can get is the F using the left hand palm keys. This "A" is a "whole step" above this.

How does one get there? Do you stretch the note by varying the embouchure? Is there some other "trick" that I am missing?

Thanks for the help guys.

 

[philthd]

there are lots of threads about harmonics or altissimo playing - look around

or theres a good section elsewhere on petes site

 

[Linky Lee]

It's actually 2 tones above your F.

You use a mixture of alternate fingerings and lots and lots of harmonic practise, and embouchure development to get it.

A is about the highest I can hit first time, I normally have to rise up chromatically if I am to go higher. It would be a lot easier to bring it down the octave. Learning to play in the altissimo register is rather hard and takes a lot of time to get it in tune and find the fingerings that work for your sax and you.

It's a good thing to learn though and you should be practising the harmonics anyway.

 

[darrell]

Copy all... thanks for the words.

I think the "take it down an octave" will work for me for now. I eventually will want to master the altissimo register though.

As a beginner, I should walk before I decide to run a little.

Got any good pointers for the alternate fingerings?

Also, I've scaled up and down my sax as far as the charts will allow, yet there are keys that I've never pressed. Namely 2 side keys underneath the right hand side keys.

I've got a feeling the are useful somehow, I just haven't found out where.

 

[darrell]

Yes... you are right also about the "2 tones" I'm counting each tone as a "half step" thus the difference in terminology...

F-F#-A

 

[Greywolf]

Buy an Alto

 

[Saxlicker]

Fingerings for altisimo are less regimented than those up to top F.
meaning that trail and error with alternative fingering combinations can get the same note. The tuning will vary from each finger pattern on a horn by horn basis hence you end up trading :-

Ease of tone production,
Tuning
Ease of finger pattern to memorise.

A book that illustrates this well (to sound like a stuck record) is Larry Teals's Art of saxophone playing.

 

[Bobby G]

Who was that man who said buy an alto? Not seen round these parts for a while, I believe, but wise words anyway!


Lee's advice about playing the tune an octave lower sounds pretty good to me - I've been playing 3 years and still haven't tried the dreaded altissimo range, although I can quite readily get certain harmonics. Apart from anything else, I just prefer the tone and feel of the lower end of my horn anyway.

Darrell, I suspect the two right hand keys, near the side keys, that you haven't used yet are the F# and high F# keys. The regular F# key is useful when you are playing in either octave to make it easier to play F to F#, rather than removing your first finger from the F key then using your second finger to get the F# - it's faster and easier to play. The high F# key will give you the F# above the F which is the highest you are currently able to get.

Hope this helps, and also that it's not a 'teach your granny to suck eggs' answer to your question

Cheers, Bob

 

[darrell]

thanks for the help guys!

- as I am working through this song, I thought to myself, "why didn't they just write this song for an alto sax?"

Anyway, I AM considering the alto! I really love this stuff, but I've got to learn a few tunes first before I throw down any more cash.. maybe in a few months.

I actually have a really cheap alto, that my Japanese instructor forbid me to play. After getting my new Custom Z and and trying to go back to the "made in China" saxophone, I can certainly see why.

I read somewhere in this forum, "Just because you are a beginner, doesn't mean you need to get a beginner sax."

This was probably the BEST advise I've taken up yet... A new guy wouldn't know the difference between a cheap sax and a good one. If someone gets a cheap saxophone, you're just going to end up frustrating yourself and probably give up.

- even more so, I would be considering the soprano. (same key as my tenor, still sounds good)

- SL, I actually have Larry Teal's book, I'll give it another look

- Bobby G, I'll be experimenting with those two keys! Thanks for the tip!

d