Saxophone beginners Overtones (harmonics)

[Nick Wyver]

G6 is not ambiguous, after all.

G6:
Sop A3
Alto E4
Tenor A4
Bari E5
I wonder which one it is.

 

[lydian]

I'm getting the lowest altissimo G (sax, not concert) from the context.

 

[Pete Thomas]

I'm getting the lowest altissimo G (sax, not concert) from the context.

Which, unless I’m mistaken, is 3rd overtone or 4th harmonic/partial

 

[lydian]

Which, unless I’m mistaken, is 3rd overtone or 4th harmonic/partial

Of what? It's not in the Bb harmonic series.

 

[Pete Thomas]

Of what? It's not in the Bb harmonic series.

Of G (G1) fundamental.

 

[mizmar]

G6 is now part of my standard vocabulary

That's great.
Just a small terminology point.
Note naming like that can be doubly ambiguous - there's the full range 1 too 9ish range - but that kinda implies "concert pitch" at the same time. It's the tyranny of the piano. Tuner apps will happily show G1 to G6 transposed or concert if asked to!
Then sax people tend to use , eg C1 to be the lowest G in a horn as fingered regardless of how it transposes. Then G2 and G3 (your altissimo) etc.
Normally, and in this case, it's completely clear what you meant. But some colleagues can get upset, none the less....
... Music, as the product of dozens of generations of development by artists rather than engineers, is full of irregularities and ambiguities. Probably best just to live with it.

 

[lydian]

Of G (G1) fundamental.

So you recommend playing altissimo G using partials of the lower G? That simply doesn't work.

EDIT: I picked up my soprano and tried to finger low G and get altissimo G. As I expected, I couldn't do it. Then I duct taped a trumpet mouthpiece on it and I could do it. So overtones and reeds are not as straightforward as brass. I highly recommend people stick with known good altissimo fingerings.

 

[Pete Effamy]

I know some people would rather talk concert pitch, but when you look at a fingering diagram / chart, they are not in concert pitch. When being very instrument specific - talking about problems with certain notes with other same-afflicted instrumentalists - I think that it’s less likely to cause confusion if written pitch is referred to.

When playing / talking with a group of instrumentalists it has to be concert pitch.

As someone pointed out, this is a saxophone forum.

 

[Pete Thomas]

So you recommend playing altissimo G using partials of the lower G? That simply doesn't work.

No.

I use different fingerings for G altissimo depending on the instrument. But not normal G fingering 3rd overtone. Overtones in anything as high as that are extremely difficult IMO