altissimo beginner

[mister_bronson]

hi, i would like to start by getting the lowest altissimo note which i guess is the high G (i may be wrong 'cause i never used american writing)... by that i mean the first note that is For infoabove the saxophone's 'official' register which in my case would be the high F #. i have a tenor T991 : any fingerings that work for you are most welcome :)
i hope i made myself clear although i am quite certain what i have just written could be resumed in 1 sentence if only i knew the saxophone slang :lol:

[JL]

I'd suggest starting with the altissimo note A, since it "speaks" a bit easier than G or G#. Try this fingering on the tenor:

Left hand: octave key + fingers 2, 3 (middle & ring fingers)
Right hand: fingers 1, 2, 3

You may have to make subtle adjustments in your throat and tongue to get the note to sound, but with some experimentation you should get it. Once the A speaks clearly you can work down to the G & G#.

G: LH: ok, front f key, RH: side Bb
G#: LH: ok, 1, 3, RH: 1 + side C

Other fingerings are possible but I find these to work well on tenor. I don't have a high F# key, but there are some fingerings that utilize that key. If you haven't done any overtone practice, it would be a good idea to do that before trying too many altissimo notes.

[Paul Coats]

For the A, on many tenors, it is flat. So a better fingering for A is:

Octave key, LH2, LH3, G# key (or low C# key)

For soprano, alto, and tenor, adding the side C key to any of those A fingerings will add clarity and ease of response without affecting the pitch. The note is just more stable and easier to play.

Actually the lowest altissimo note is this high E:

Octave key, Front F key, LH2, LH3.

Next is F:

Octave key, Front F key, LH2

On TENOR, this is F#:

Octave key, Front F key, LH2, high F# key
or
Octave key, Front F key, LH2, Side Bb, RH1


A better high G on modern tenors:

Octave key, LH1, side Bb, high F# key

You REALLY need this book, which is published hn 5 languages:

Saxophone Altissimo: High Note Development for the Contemporary Player
by
Robert Luckey, PhD.

You can find this at www.wwandbw.com, www.runyonproducts.com, www.jazzbooks.com, and others. A search via Amazon on the SOTW store showed this to be out of stock, but I know the other places mentioned have it.

[mister_bronson]

wow ! thanks so much for the tips ! it's great i feel a whole new world opening it's doors to me : i can pull off the G3 now thanks to the great fingerings you suggested :D and it's the first altissimo 'above the range' note i have pulled off. Very exciting. I feel very enthusiastic about this new achievement ;-)
Funny how i 'cracked' the G3 as first altissimo note ever since i heard it was one of the hardest :?

cheers.