I thought that it was just left out of my book in the fingerings, but i took it to the music store and i figured out that there is no low G on the bari! i couldn`t believe it. They do make saxes with the extra fingering thing to make a low G. The lowest fingering on the bari is the low A. I tried to bend to note down to a G, but it didn`t really work. I guess they were right, there is no low G on some bari`s. i wonder how much the baris are that have that extra key thing. Just for those of you that don`t know, the low A is `123 123 the lowest pinky key for each pinky and the lower octave key.`

Not all baris have the extra octave key. For those that don`t, and you do want to play a low A, you could lift your leg and place it over the bell (as you play the low Bb). Listen to the pitch change, and use a tuner to figure out exactly where the A is.

I`ve never heard of a sax being made to play below low A. Most modern baris can only go that low, and I recently saw a picture of a King alto saxophone with that capability. As far as I know, nobody has ever attempted to produce a saxophone which goes lower than A; there really hasn`t been a reason to. There are saxophones lower than the bari (bass, contrabass, sub-contrabass) which can handle the extreme lower end of the note spectrum.

However, it is possible to play low G on a bari. I`ve done it, believe it or not. You have to use a combination of lowering the pitch with your embouchure and covering up part of the bell with something (there is a certain creative aspect to this portion). Each technique by itself will effectively lower the pitch by a semitone. I find that it is easier to bend the pitch on the bari, due to the lower amount of pressure you have to use on the mouthpiece.

Thomas

There is a company in Brazil that manufactures low G baritones and basses.

http://www.lopesinstrumentos.hpgvip.ig.com.br/fotos.htm

While Low G`s are currently rare, high G`s are coming around. I`m hopeing that my next alto will have a high G. any tips?

Selmer made a alto mark vi with a low a for awile.