Just purchased an Alto Sax to start learning and find that the sound of Note "B" according to the fingering chart corresponds to that of Note "D" on the piano. Why should there be a difference? Will appreciate any advice on this to enable me proceed further.
Thanks,
Rex
Ah, you must have purchased an Eb Also Saxophone.
The piano is in the key of C, your saxophone is in the key of Eb because of it's length. If it bothers you, you can locate a C melodia saxophone. But if it doesn't bother you then the reason is because the saxophone is in the key of Eb.
Hi John,
Thanks for your reply on this. Now I know that everything is right about the sax. Yes, it has to be an E-flat sax because the notes also match the CD of an E-flat Hal Leonard book that I bought. I can now continue my learning.
I'm really surprised to find this difference because I now know that reading music can be different for 2 different instruments in a band. I actually prepared a different fingering chart according to the piano. Thanks once again!
Yes, alto sax is in the key of Eb, as is baritone. tenor and soprano are in Bb. C-melodies are quite rare nowadays, though I think they are still made somewhere.
So, when a note is written as C for alto (or bari) sax, what actually sounds is a Eb.
It's very confusing at least in the beginning, as you can't use music written in C for sax without transposing, at least if you play together with a C instrument.
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