Altissimo fingering chart ??

[jak Swift]

As soon as I get this new tenorsax, I’ll be hooking up to Johnny’s altissimo course. I’m already getting great results from bits on you tube ( check out ” saxbones ” I think they are called. I would begin now but the minor leaks are only going to make life harder. You would think there would be a chart. Sure, it varies from horn to horn, but at least its been tried and tested…. Hopefully !! If anybody has or knows of one, please could I get a link…info…etc. Thanks…jak

[Anonymous]

Hi jak (I wouldn’t try that greeting on a plane!)
Have a look at these three pages
http://wfg.woodwind.org/sax/sax_alt_4.html
http://wfg.woodwind.org/sax/sax_alt_5.html
http://wfg.woodwind.org/sax/sax_alt_6.html

[jak Swift]

Took me a second there Jeff….got it !! Funny man; imagine !!! LOL !! Thanks a million. Got to get ready for a gig, so I’ll check these later. Hope its all good !!…jak

[jak Swift]

At a glance they look great. Thank you. Do you use these ?

[Anonymous]

I recomend Johnny’s altissimo course, i started it 6 months after learning to play the sax, and within a couple of months i was hitting altissimo G.
Seriously forget about finger postions, get Johnny’s course, and learn to play all 7 overtones on low Bb, low B, low C , low C# and low D.

If you cant do play those 7 overtones, you haven’t got a cat in hells chance of playing altissimo notes. Once you can play the overtones, theres hundreds of altissimo fingering postions, on average about four or five different positions for each note. JF’s course is fantastic, as he provides fingering positions that allow you to play through a scale without tying your fingers in knotts.

[Anonymous]

This is one of the most comprehensive lists for altissimo I’ve seen so far. With each horn being tuned slightly different, it may be a good idea to see which of these fingering positions works best on your own horn?

I’m making very slow progress with the OT range, but I’ve noticed after practicing the OTs for a few minutes the tuning of the normal range notes generally improves as well.

I also bought Johnny’s course, but I’m still battling with the basic 7 OTs as sxpoet mentioned.

[Anonymous]

absolutely, but what you will find out is when you can play all 7 overtones properly, you can go back and try out all those fingering positions that previously didn’t work and they will suddenly start working.

you’ll probably get 99% of any fingering position to work

[jak Swift]

Yup…a tired thanks from me too man. I took a short look last night, but I was shattered after the gig. Let me grab a large coffee…..be right back .

[jak Swift]

Sorry, a coffee turned into a prawn linguini for lunch. I was so tired last night after the gig, I just crashed out. It went well. Every once in a blue moon, a load of old school Liverpool musicians get together and mix it up. The sound guy wasn’t great, and the kit provided was one of those horrible electric jobs. Other than that, it rocked. We went through Little Feat, Blockheads, some guy did a storming version of Steve Earle’s ” Copperhead Road “…I did ” Wild Saxophone ” off of the first Cats album. On the album liner notes, its spelt ” saxAphone “…. Big blunder by somebody. So yeah, a warm up for tonight. Some American Rockabilly dude is over….its sold out. I’m stoked and looking forward to it.

[jak Swift]

The altissimo charts are great…thank you. My overtones are pretty much together and I have every intention of doing Johnny’s altissimo course. I’ll have my new tenor this week, maybe tomorrow. Pointless starting it on a horn with slight leaks. Your teacher is a nice player man, and again sxpoet, I’m glad you battled on. That’s what weeds out the musicians from the rest. That determination to succeed at all costs. All that has gone on these last eighteen months…?? I can’t say I’m glad it happened, but it certainly reminded me to be grateful for what you have, and not to quit. Having good friends about me, and here on the forum has really helped. I know I’ve rambled on, but its been cathartic, and in my defence, I’m not one who changes horns like my socks: I’m just focused on securing the tenorsax. Anyhow, time to start getting prepared. Enjoy your Easter break everybody…. jak

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