Does anyone know how to play the alto saxophone?

Question

I am trying to teach myself to play the sax and none of the notes willl come out right. For some reason the B sounds higher than a C. I played the flute for five years and I don't know what I'm doing wrong!! Help!!

any tips at all will help.

Answer 1

He he, I went from flute to sax too. What you're doing is getting the fingering mixed up. A 'C' on the saxophone is with your middle left finger down, and index up, and a 'B' is only your left index finger down. It's like the recorder in that sense. My suggestion would be to pick up a cheap beginner sax book with a fingering chart in it. Seems like you're getting an ok sound too if you can figure out something's wrong like that.
A quick talk with a saxophone teacher or experienced player to help you with youre embechure (mouth position) would be advantageous as well. Once you get in a good habit of how far down the mouth piece to be and find the right angle for your bottom lip & teeth you'll be fine. I had a bad teacher to start with & had to change my embechure twice to get it right several years later.
One more habit you'll need to change is how to tongue your notes. On the flute you sound the beginning of each note by touching your tongue on the roof of your mouth, but on the saxophone you need to just touch the tip of the reed. Again, I tongued each note like a flautist for years before learning how to do it right. It sounds pretty bad to start off with but once you get the hang of it, it sounds so much clearer.
Hope this helps, good luck!

Answer 2

The only difference is octave of the instrument, the same notes played on the baritone saxophone sounding the same as the alto but being in a lower register. Both the alto and baritone saxophone are E-flat instruments. They can play the same music. The notes/fingerings on the alto and baritone saxophone are exactly the same. Actually, if you can play one saxophone, you can play all of them because their fingerings/notes are the same. The only thing is that soprano and tenor saxophones are B-flat instruments, so even though they would read notes the same way as a baritone or alto sax, the sound would be different because the instruments are in different keys. I'm sorry my answer is so long...you can play alto sax. And since you've been playing the baritone saxophone, breathing into the alto will be easy because it is a much smaller instrument.

Answer 3

I do. I've played for about 4-5 years now. The best thing I can suggest is either taking lessons on beginning a new instrument or talking to someone you know who plays the alto saxophone and can show you what you're doing wrong. It's easier to see the problem, in this case, rather than explaining the problem. Make sure you have a moistened reed connected to the mouth-piece with a legisture. It should be screwed on tight and the top of the reed should be lined up with the top of the mouth-piece. Concentrate on blowing through the length of the horn and trying to get a nice clear sound. Also, make sure the reed is well-moistened and not ed; this could be the cause of your notes coming out high. E-mail me @ [e-mail] if you have more problems or questions.

Hope you get it working!!

Answer 4

I play alto. Get a private lesson teacher to teach you, even if only for a few months. When I learned to play the flute, I got a teacher to help me on it. Unfortunately I can't diagnose what the problem is because I can't see your hands, I can't tell what you are doing with your embouchure or anything.

Answer 5

I play all of the saxophones. It sounds like youre really sharp. Try pulling out your mouthpiece ALOT. And also, make sure your reed is very wet, and that you've got the right fingerings! ; ) Good luck. Please contact me if you need any help!