Melodic minor scales alto saxophone
Pam, I play on a worship team too! I always transpose down. You will then make the octave adjustment on your saxophone as necessary. However it is generally much easier to think of a minor 3rd down interval inversion when transposing on sight. So if the key is G minor concert, you will be playing in E minor on the alto saxophone.
You always transpose the interval of a major 6th up minor 3rd down. It never changes regardless of minor or major keys. Victor, Transposition for alto sax or any instrument is constant. I know on Major keys you go 3 half steps down, but when the Key is a Minor Key how do you do it.Ĭould you explain.
MELODIC MINOR SCALES ALTO SAXOPHONE HOW TO
Could you clarify how to transpose Minor Keys on the Alto Sax. I think I had someone explain it to me that way a long time ago and it was then clear. Interested in more practice tips? Also be sure to follow BetterSax on FacebookInstagramLinkedInand YouTube to stay up to date with us for news, giveaways, and other saxophone tips and tricks.Īfter reading you Saxophone Transposition Guide, I had it all figured out in five minutes. If the Concert key if F, what key will you be in if you play tenor saxophone? If the Concert key is Ab, what key will you be in if you play the baritone saxophone? Use this chart as a guide to transposing on your saxophone. Each hour position ascends a half-step as we progress clockwise and descends a half step in the counter-clockwise direction. They are arranged chromatically in a circle like a clock. The chart below represents each of the 12 notes or keys. As saxophone players, we need to be able to calculate this transposition instantly so that we can play with other instruments that are in concert key like piano and guitar.įor example, if you are playing with a group and they tell you the next song is Stand By Me in the key of A, you will need to transpose. So on our saxophone which is in the key of E-flat we need to transpose down a minor third which would put us in the key of E on our instrument. Baritone saxophones sound 2 octaves lower. This means that when you play a C on your alto or baritone saxophone the note that is heard is actually an E-flat. So on our B-flat saxophone we need to transpose up a whole step putting us in the key of A on our instrument. The interval between the note or key that you play in on a transposing instrument and the actual note or key being heard concert key is constant. So if you are playing along with other musicians or a backing track, and they are in the key of B-flat, you will want to play in the key of C on your tenor or soprano saxophone. The examples reflect how saxophone players typically visualize and think about transposing. This means that when you play the note C on a tenor or soprano saxophone, the note that is heard is actually a B-flat. This means that notes played on a saxophone will sound different from a note of the same name played on another instrument such as the piano or guitar.
MELODIC MINOR SCALES ALTO SAXOPHONE PDF
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