[DChalo]

Hey guys, i play bari and i have never played alto before. I was just wondering what exactly has to be done to achieve altissimo on bari because i have been reading a lot of online Alto guides to altissimo and none of them seem to work well. I dont understand how the shaping of the note should be and how your throat is included as a factor in altissimo. Is it just being very open with your throat, but letting little air go through the horn?

 

[Grumps]

You need to squeeze the airflow a bit by raising the back of your tongue towards the roof of your mouth when you blow. Otherwise all the altissimo fingerings in the world will do you no good. Bari is a tough beast to get up there though. Perhaps most of them just want to play low. :bluewink:

 

[edwin]

You need to squeeze the airflow a bit by raising the back of your tongue towards the roof of your mouth when you blow. Otherwise all the altissimo fingerings in the world will do you no good. Bari is a tough beast to get up there though. Perhaps most of them just want to play low. :bluewink:

That's interesting - I've been told the opposite (bigger the horn the easier it gets) and my own very limited experience supports what my teacher says about this. So far I can't get any altissimo on alto, I can sometimes get the G3 out but no higher on tenor, and on my first attempt with bari I got up to C4 without difficulty (although, frustratingly, it's been patchy since - but still easier than on the other horns).

 

[Grumps]

Well, I guess folks will have different experiences with each horn, but alto altissimo probably came easier to me than my other horns. May have had something to do with my alto not having a high F# key, and learning to finger and blow an altissimo F#3 is a bridge to the more difficult notes right above it. My tenor altissimo only caught up after I stopped using a tenor with the F# key. Now my bari is a vintage model only keyed up to Eb3, so it's even more difficult than others in this regard.

 

[Chris Peryagh]

I've found some of the altissimo notes on bari can tend to be around a quarter tone sharp when using some of the same fingerings for altissimo notes on alto (eg. altissimo A is sharp on bari with the 8ve oxx|xxx fingering), so you will have to experiment with fingerings that are better tuned.

Not bari saxes (or any other saxes) but talking clarinet here - the altissimo A fingering (Sp.Th. oxx|ooo F/C) on clarinet should really be Bb, but because it's so flat it makes for a very well-tuned altissimo A.

If you've got a bari to high F# it does make some things easier up top as it will bridge the gap on some of the altissimo notes. Starting with G, you play it as high B with the high F# key open (8ve xoo|o high F# oo). G#/Ab and A you'll have to experiment with as all baris will be slightly different.

I don't know if having the doubled lower speaker vents on Yamaha baris helps with the altissimo but you can creep up from Bb by keeping the speaker key and LH3 down and using the palm and high E and F# keys opening them in turn (and keeping them open as you go up) to go higher, so Bb is with the high D key, C is with the high D and Eb keys, C# is with high D, Eb and E keys, D is with high D, Eb, E and F keys and Eb is with high D, Eb, E, F and F# keys.

Then a change in embouchure (ie. tightening it up) and you can start on altissimo E with the high D key, F with the high D and Eb keys, F# with high D, Eb and E keys, G with high D, Eb, E and F keys and G with the high D to F# keys.

And then again with an even tighter change in embouchure starting on G#/Ab with the high D key, A with the high D and Eb keys, etc. etc.

 

[JoeHenderson]

Don't change your embouchere for altissimo. Its all in the voicing. Start out with overtone exercises and get proficient at them and hear the pitch before you play it and you'll eventually get to altissimo.

 

[soybean]

Chris Peryagh: a very helpful post.

 

[spike421]

It would be helpful to know what Bari and mouthpiece you are playing. For example many vintage Bari's are larger in bore and often require a larger chamber mouthpiece to play in tune. This results in fingerings that work on Alto or Tenor not working or producing a different note on Bari. For example oxx xxx + octave produces an altissimo A on both my VI alto and tenor, but an Ab on my SDA bari. Also my experience has been that even though it my be easier to produce the upper partials on Bari, they are harder to control, at least on my horn. Overtone practice is crucial.

 

[spike421]

"Saxophone Altissimo" by Robert Luckey shows separate fingerings for Bari. You may find this helpful. Amazon has it.

 

[DChalo]

It would be helpful to know what Bari and mouthpiece you are playing. For example many vintage Bari's are larger in bore and often require a larger chamber mouthpiece to play in tune. This results in fingerings that work on Alto or Tenor not working or producing a different note on Bari. For example oxx xxx + octave produces an altissimo A on both my VI alto and tenor, but an Ab on my SDA bari. Also my experience has been that even though it my be easier to produce the upper partials on Bari, they are harder to control, at least on my horn. Overtone practice is crucial.

I have both a Yamaha Low A bari and a Selmer Series 2 bari sax. I use a C## Selmer mouthpiece on both.

 

[NissanVintageSax]

It's going to be very difficult getting altissimo out of a Bari w/a mouthpiece that closed! I find the lower altissimo (G3 to F4) the hardest on Bari. My brain wants to think higher, like when I play altissimo on Soprano, Alto, and Tenor. I can hear the upper partials, but I don't practice Bari enough to "hear" the lower upper partials (G3 to F4)

 

[DChalo]

Well i have reached Altissimo Db, but it is a tad bit sharp. I find that it is harder on the yamaha horn than it is on my selmer.