The Notes G, A, B and C - Fingering and Exercises

High Notes and Dynamics in Saxophone Playing

Now we come to high notes, focusing on G.

Introduction to Notes

We introduce:

• G
• A
• B
• C

These notes are fingered exactly the same as the low G, A, B, and C, plus the use of the octave key, which makes the low notes sound one octave higher.

Sound Comparison

You can hear that:

• They are the same notes, but one octave higher.

It's particularly important when you play upper notes on the sax to keep a relaxed throat position for maximum resonance. This is often referred to as the old yawning position, which gives you a nice ringing sound.

Alto Saxophone

This is an alto saxophone. The word alto means high, and composers often write for this instrument at the top of its register. It has a nice low register, but if a composer desires that sort of sound, they might opt for a tenor sax. However, the alto sax is generally used for its top register.

Understanding Dynamics

Now, we also talk about dynamics in this lesson. I've deliberately not mentioned them so far in the book because there's a lot of other material to concentrate on.

Levels of Sound

• The first dynamics we learn are:
  • Piano (P) - means soft
  • Forte (F) - means loud

Forte literally means strong in Italian, while piano means level. But in musical terms:

• Piano means soft
• Forte means loud

Crescendo and Diminuendo

There are also crescendo and diminuendo markings:

• Crescendo starts narrow and gets wider, indicating the sound gets louder.
• Diminuendo markings start wide and get narrower, meaning the sound gets softer.

Exercises

Exercise 1: Top of the Instrument

The first exercise takes us to the top of the instrument. We do the first four notes downstairs first, and then we press the octave key to go up.

Exercise 2: Introducing Dynamics

This exercise introduces the dynamics we discussed:

• Notes start soft (piano)
• Crescendo to forte
• Then diminuendo down again.

This exercise is great for developing your lip muscles and tone quality.

Aim to keep the notes as level as possible. Watch that you don't bite; biting will cause the pitch to go sharp, affecting the ringing sound.

Scale Preparation

The next section deals with scale preparation. The next scale we learn in the book is C major.

Major vs. Minor Scales

• Major scales are happy-sounding scales.
• Minor scales are sad-sounding scales.

We will come to those soon, but let's deal with the major ones first.

C Major Scale Preparation

So, for C major scale preparation, we put that together and we get a nice C major scale.

Now we have the arpeggio to deal with. First of all, we practice the preparation exercise, and then we put the arpeggio all together.