Normal Range of Alto Sax? & Music QUestion

[yoyojojo]

Hi y'all!

I hope some of you out there can help. I'm interested in "classical" (hate that word) music for alto saxophone- i.e. not just jazz/light music. I reckon I could probably tackle grade 5 or so pieces with some effort. Does anyone have any recommendations for good pieces to try?

I also wondered if you could tell me what is the usual comfortable range for an alto sax- in day to day repertoire. I can play up to the first D above the stave and wondered how much further I should try to go. I've googled it and found only info on the maximum range possible!

Thanks in advance

 

[AlbionLass]

I've books of collected 'classical' pieces that go up to top E and F fairly frequently.
Check out the ABRSM syllabus to get ideas for some classical pieces at various Grades of difficulty.

 

[Pjonah]

I'm not sure if you will find any "classical" pieces which venture into Altissimo. I've never come across any, I would say top f# (G some sops) is about as high as you'll need, screaming altissimo doesn't seem to figure in the Classical repetoire much!

Ditto above with the syllabus pieces, there are books dedicated to each years pieces also.

Simon

 

[yoyojojo]

AlbionLass wrote:
I've books of collected 'classical' pieces that go up to top E and F fairly frequently.

By top E and F you mean three lines and four spaces above the stave?

 

[TomMapfumo]

In ABRSM Jazz Grades they usually increase the range gradually both up and down, and usually in line with scales. At Grades 2 & 3 up to D occurs in the head, at Grade 4 Eb and E in Grade 5. most "Heads" are in the usual range up to C/C# with higher notes being of choice in the "Solos" section. On the lower side most pieces rarely go below C but the odd C#/B features, and they all can in Scales/Arpeggios.

Not sure what happens on Classical Grades, but notes outside the range C to C to C are at the discretion of the player, and can feature in Solos.

That's why it always amuses me how concerned some relative beginners seem to be to master Altissimo, Palm Keys & Side Keys.

Be useful to see some Grade 5 Classical pieces.
Kind regards
Tom 8)

 

[phil_edwards]

I've got various classical pieces I could dig out (no-idea what grade they'd be, they're from an old concert band pad).

Also a lot of flute studies that make excellent sightreading practice, as well as being good tunes.

PM your email address and I'll send some over.

Phil

 

[justin_chune]

For music you could check out www.music-scores.com

Their music is all graded 1-9 and they have some free stuff. I've just downloaded "O Holy Night" for the alto for free.

They only allow a few free downloads.

Best regards

Jim.

 

[yoyojojo]

Thanks for the ideas fellas. What I've found in my limited experience is that the free download sites are all transcriptions of popular "classical" pieces, and that more often than not the graded books that are available are jazz-based (whether they say so on the site or not). I bought a graded study book from Jonathan Myall online and it turned out to be jazz based- it's flippin great, but not quite what I was looking for! Does no-one write non-jazz based compositions for sax which are less than a grade 8?

I love this book I bought though- Apollo Saxophone Quartet Series, Solo Saxophone Grade 4-8. Fantastic.

 

[TomMapfumo]

Hi there!

Do look on www.musicroom.com who have several books with classical pieces for alto sax - one features music by Faure, and one features music by several Russian composers, at intermediate standard (Grade 4 - 6). They have a large selection of what you might be looking for. James Rae is a useful composer/arranger that you may want to follow up.

Kind regards
Tom 8)

 

[TomMapfumo]

80 Graded Studies for Saxophone Pt1 & Pt2 John Davies (Faber) contains all classical pieces and is used by several examining boards for up to grade 6. This might be a good one to investigate

 

[Mikec]

I have "The Classic Experience" from Cramer Music in London. It comes in two parts, one for Piano, so you can be accompanied, and an insert for alto sax. It has 25 well-known classical tunes including Barcarolle, Blue Danube, Jupiter, Largo, Pavane (Faure's), and Nessun Dorma. I can't tell you about grades but the difficulty varies from easy (Gymnopodie) to b****r me! (Sheherezade). www.musicroom.com has it.