[Mad Matt]

Okay, so I have a problem, and it's been bugging me for quite a while now. I cannot expand my Baritone range past a G3. I have tried a good deal of fingerings, and still no avail. I can hit G3, and then from there my overtones hit the Alto altissimo range, skipping A3-C4 which is what I have been trying to get myself to. Any idea why this is? On my Alto, I can fly up to about an E4, and when I dabbled in Tenor, I had a similar range, but Bari (Which I consider to be my primary horn), I am somewhat limited.

I play on a Yanigasawa Professional, Low A. Otto Link 7 Hard Rubber, and 2.5 Java Red Cuts.

Any tips would be appreciated, sincerely, a disgruntled Bari player.

 

[LateNiteSax]

Take your horn to a good tech and make sure the stacks are not leaking... If you can "fly" up to E4 on alto then you should be fine on Bari, but for sure I find altissimo a great challenge on Bari, and I have good altissimo facility on Alto, tenor, and to a slightly lesser degree soprano. I also find baris to be resistant up there, more prone to the notes cracking, breaking up, shattering, or perhaps I should just say squeaking, which is what you state above. It takes a greater degree of finesse, and I never expect my altissimo bari playing to come near my alto or tenor. You will most definitely need to experiment with fingerings that make for greater stability when going for notes above G3, there are definite differences on bari. That mouthpiece is surely not helping the situation. find a decent Berg. Probably the reeds suck too... Get some decent cane, like Riggotis. Good luck

 

[maddenma]

Bari altissimo can have a lot to do with the palm keys. Frankly, most of the fingerings are just enough different to cause a problem and often a half step flat from what you might be used to on alto or tenor. This is particularly apparent on a low A horn, but also found on Bb horns too.

Take a look at this site. Might help a bit.

http://www.saxophoneman.com/index_files/BariSaxAltissimo.htm


Here's another chart with more options. You will have to experiment a bit to find what works on your horn.

http://www.wfg.woodwind.org/sax/sax_alt_4.html

 

[Mad Matt]

@LateNightSax Thank you. It's a school horn, so it really isn't in my hands. I was probably going to buy a Tenor moving into College because of the impracticality of the Baritone in the Jazz scene. My local music store has a Berg 95/2, and I played it for a short amount of time, do you think I should look back into it? Also, I have never heard of that brand, Ill check it out.

Also, I like your Sonny quote.

@maddenma I'll check that out tomorrow!

 

[maddenma]

@LateNightSax Thank you. It's a school horn, so it really isn't in my hands. I was probably going to buy a Tenor moving into College because of the impracticality of the Baritone in the Jazz scene. My local music store has a Berg 95/2, and I played it for a short amount of time, do you think I should look back into it? Also, I have never heard of that brand, Ill check it out.

Also, I like your Sonny quote.

@maddenma I'll check that out tomorrow!

There's nothing impractical about a baritone in the jazz scene. Frankly, if you play and own one, you'll find yourself more popular than you will on tenor. There's a zillion jazz tenor players out there. Not so many baris.