ok, i just bought an alto sax...i play clarinet in high school band and i have two questions--1) i would like to play tenor sax in jazz and would playing alto make beginning the tenor easier at all, and two, i seem to be having trouble getting the low B and A...i think those are the notes...the bottom two on sax....please reply!

the only difference between the tenor and alto is the key and size. all the fingerings are the same. i too had trouble getting the low notes out (my primary instrument is clarinet) you just need to relax your embuchoure, with hardley and pressure from you bottom lip. be sure to maintain good support though. try sluring down from a B down to an A or D (one two three, one two/three) as you slur down, drop your jaw. don`t worry about being out of tune when doing this for now. once you can hit the low notes by slurring them down, then try to hit them without slurring. just keep at it and you will get it.

and us clarinet players have an advantage. when doing runs on the sax that require a fast change of octave, usually we can get the notes to come out without the octave key, just push the octave key when you have the chance. yay for clarinets

Yes I am there with you both also! I was originally a clarinet player and when I first moved to sax i used to think it was a clarinet and tense up my bottom lip as i would for clarinet - fab thing to do in a way as I never needed to use the octave key as the extra force pushed out the higher notes - as for low A and B - the trick with this is to relax & losen up your embouchre a little and use very little blow to get the notes out - not as easy as you think if you are so used to playing clarinet (where you would never have this problem) but like anything - dont lose patience with it - it will all come with time!

best of luck with it all!!


Wayne


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Kriss Mach rocks!

What kind of saxes do you guys play?! The lowest notes on Alto and Tenor`s are B and Bb not A. Only Baritones go down to A. Anyway, to get those low notes loosen up your embuchoure.

Hey guys, thanks for the help. I took home a tenor from school....first jazz band rehersal is supposedly this wednesday....i took your advice about dropping my jaw and loosening my embrochure...it works!! thanks

hi im two years into playing the alto saxophone and i need help with the fingering for the low "b" if someone could please help me it would be great coz i really need to no how to play it thanx!

i`m originally a clarinet player, and i play tenor. i also play some brass instruments. this all comes in handy when hitting the lower notes on the sax. depending on your mouth peice, you have to loosen you lips until you have a certain embrochure that will hit the lower notes correctly. if you develope the embrochure for lower notes then change to another mouth peice, then the embrochure you are use to using probably won`t work. stick with one mouth peice.