Major 6th or Minor 3rd?

[Gaijin-san]

I'm afraid of the anwers I might get here.... but is an Alto Saxophone down a major sixth or up a minor third from concert pitch?

[Dr. Love]

Isn't it up a major sixth or down a minor third?
G is a minor third below Bb, or a major sixth above.

[Gaijin-san]

I suppose it's how you look at it. A flute's Concert A is 440. When an Alto Saxophone plays an A, it is actually pitched a little ABOVE the flute, thus on music the saxophone has to compensate by playing a NOTE somewhere BELOW the flute.

Or vice versa if you take the sixth as opposed to minor third approach.

[max]

It's a major sixth up.

If you want to sound the Bb below the staff, you need to play the G on the second line.

If it's easier for you to think down a minor third, that's fine, but when you need to know what octave is going to be played (like for arranging), you've got to go up.

[beth]

when an alto plays a C it's really sounding the Eb below that....
so the horn is pitched a minor 6th below....
its just easier to transpose to concert pitch thinking up a minor 3rd (reading like bass clef +3 b's)

[Bootman]

Down a minor 3rd and up an octave is the transposition for Eb from concert. It is easier to transpose on sight this way.

[Dr. Love]

Seems to be quite a bit of controvercy in this thread :shock: Maybe I'm looking at it backwards, but this is how I see it.
Take concert Bb. Going up a minor third gives you Db, obviously the wrong key. Down a major sixth gives the same result. However, going down a minor third or up a major sixth give a G (the correct key). Thus, to go from concert pitch to alto pitch, you move either down a minor third, or up a major sixth.
However, if we start from alto sax pitch of G, going up a minor third, or down a major sixth, will give the concert pitch of Bb.

(As a note, at this point, the poll is tied three ways)

[Joe]

Gaijin-san, the inconsistencies of the answers you've gotten are because of the ambiguity of your question. IF you're asking what concert pitch the alto sounds compared to the note it's playing in its Eb music (which is what I think you're asking), then the correct answer is that it sounds the concert pitch a major 6th lower. BUT, to answer the question the way you've asked it, the alto sax note is up a major 6th from the concert pitch to sound the same note, thus neither of your options for answers are correct.

Don't feel bad, though. Good questions are often hard to construct (you can ask many of my college profs about that).

[Gaijin-san]

Well, at least I put that third poll option in there... :argue:

[jazzbluescat]

sounds down a major sixth, written up a major sixth

[mpavao]

a440=f#2...up a sixth!

[uilleann1]

When you play written c on the Eb alto saxophone it sounds a concert Eb. The sounding concert note is a Major 6 from the written c for the Eb alto Saxophone.

Simple: To transpose concert A to the alto saxophone, you will play the note which is Major 6 above A which is f#.

Now some individuals will make the task easy for transposing from a concert a pitch by thinking a minor 3rd down and then playing the note an octave which will place the Major 6 above the concert note.

Example: The piano plays concert A (440) and the alto player will easly look at the written A and think a minor 3rd down which is F# but to have the correct sounding note. He/she will play an octave up. This places the note a Major 6.

[gary]

Gee. How many answers do we need.

Jazzredcat said it all. Without saying it all.

[Rordog]

I'm afraid of the anwers I might get here.... but is an Alto Saxophone down a major sixth or up a minor third from concert pitch?

That was his question. the question was not about how do you transpose! Transposing will obviously be the opposite direction from the actual tuning of the instrument. If the instrument is tuned a major 6 lower than concert, then you would have to transpose a major 6 up to get to concert. So then, going back to his original question:
I'm afraid of the anwers I might get here.... but is an Alto Saxophone down a major sixth or up a minor third from concert pitch?
An alto is pitched a major 6 lower than concert pitch.

[michaelbaird]

I guess it is how you look at it, half full or half empty.

[gary]

edited: Never mind :?

[Minatar12]

I always think of it as down as minor third. Its easier to transpose on the fly that way then up a 6th.

[jazzbluescat]

I always think of it as down as minor third. Its easier to transpose on the fly that way then up a 6th.

Yeah. But, think how much more manly it'd be to think or it up a maj. 6th.
:twisted:

[werkinsnake]

My head hurts from reading this survey. :D

To go from Eb Alto to C concert pitch, you go up a minor third (b3rd)
G goes to concert Bb, E goes to concert G, B goes to concert D, ect.

To go from C Concert pitch to Eb Alto, go up a major 6th
G goes to E, E goes to C#, F# goes to Eb, ect.

Here is a mixup for this post. Comparing Bb tenor/soprano to Eb Alto/Bari

To go from Bb to Eb, you go up a 5th
C goes to G, G goes to D, D goes to A, ect

To go from Eb to Bb, you go up a 4th
G goes to C, C goes to F, F goes to Bb, ect

Here's some more. Comparing Bb to C

When going from Bb to C, go up a minor 7th (b7th)
A goes to G, D goes to C, E goes to D, ect

When going from C to Bb, go up a 2nd
C goes to D, D goes to E, E goes to F#, ect

Phew, that was a bit of work. I need a Tylenol.

[Merlin]

An alto saxophone SOUNDS a major 6th lower than it is written.

Alto saxophone music is NOTATED a major 6th higher than the resulting concert pitch.

Are we all clear now?

[Perfect Pitch]

:? If I say yes, can we all go home?

[werkinsnake]

:? If I say yes, can we all go home?

Advil!!!! ADVIL!!!! I have such a headache!!!

[Stencilman]

SO, if I understand correctly, the minor 6th of the note in question is transposed by the Eb intruments key in concert pitch when the interval is a minor 3rd, but only when transposing down to concert pitch from the major 6th in a minor key signature. If major 6ths are dominant, the transposition is a minor 3rd down from the concert pitch's relative minor key except when the key is major relative to the minor key. Then, add 3 flats or take away 6 sharps depending if the Eb to concert transposition is over a dominant key change in concert pitch. If more flats are present than sharps in the original concert key, the key signature in the transposed key should be relative to the interval of transposition, in most cases a minor 3rd but only when transposing down. If transposing up a major 6th, use the previous rule, otherwise none of the rules apply except if the minor 3rd is...

[jazzbluescat]

SO, if I understand correctly, the minor 6th of the ................................... If transposing up a major 6th, use the previous rule, otherwise none of the rules apply except if the minor 3rd is...

Yes. No, wait; we talkin' from bass to treble clef transposition, like for bari sax?

[altosaxnewby]

i agree with merlin, even though im a newbie:D
a concert middle C sounds the same as an alto sax's A(no octave key)

[altosaxnewby]

oops, merlin's post is on the first page...

[MartinMusicMan]

How is an Eb Alto Saxophone pitched? Underhand.

[stefank]

How is an Eb Alto Saxophone pitched? Underhand.

No. It's pitched with a pitchfork. This is done when tuning with a tuning fork fails.

[gary]

I don't understand any of this. Fork it!

[Harri Rautiainen]

An alto saxophone SOUNDS a major 6th lower than it is written.

Alto saxophone music is NOTATED a major 6th higher than the resulting concert pitch.

Are we all clear now?Yes,
this is not something to be decided by a poll.
There is only one truth about this.

BTW, Down a Major Sixth and Up a Minor Third are essentially the same thing one octave apart.

[sonnymobleytrane]

Maybe these threads should be locked after the Correct answer is given. :twisted:

[Harri Rautiainen]

Maybe these threads should be locked after the Correct answer is given. :twisted:
Too bad, I wanted to reply to "Perfect Pitch" but it is too late now.