Do you love the sound of the alto sax? Are you looking for some alto sax sheet music?
We have it!
For everyone who’s not very familiar with this site yet, I want you to be aware that all the saxophone music song downloads at https://howtoplaysaxophone.org/saxophone-music come with both alto sax sheet music as well as the tenor music. Another thing is, unlike many saxophone sheet music sites, these songs also come with downloadable play along backing tracks. The same ones which I create specifically for me and use in the saxophone song videos.
Even though I’ve spent the last almost 30 years playing a tenor saxophone, some of my favorite players happen to be alto saxophonists. It’s true! The alto is not always the favorite sax for blowing in rock or blues bands but when you hear guys like Edgar Winters, Earl Bostic, and on the Jazzier side the amazing Cannonball Adderley you’ll have a different attitude about that.
Alto Saxophonists You Should Be Aware Of…
Earl Bostic
Check out Earl Bostic’s tone. When I first heard this guy I thought he played a tenor sax! The truth is that Bostic plays the alto like most guys play tenor in the way he attacks it with the raunchiness and whole attitude. This isn’t your typical sweet and mellow alto sound!
An interesting story about Earl Bostic is when the young John Coltrane auditioned for his band, Coltrane was playing alto, but Bostic told him he could have the job… as long as he switched to tenor. The rest is history.
Edgar Winter
Most people that know who Edgar Winter is aren’t even aware of the fact the he’s an amazing alto player! In case you don’t know, Edgar is the younger brother of Johnny Winter, the famous blues rock guitarist from Texas.
Edgar Winter had some big hits mostly in the 1970’s like Frankenstein and Free Ride, Easy Street among others. Speaking of Easy Street, David Lee Roth recorded the song on his solo album after leaving Van Halen and the guy playing the sax solo on it is Edgar Winter.
While there is a little sax part in Frankenstein, it doesn’t even come close to what this guy can do on his alto. Similar to the way Bostic approaches it, his style is very aggressive and raunchy, more like what you’d expect from a rockin’ tenor player.
Here’s Edgar doing Easy Street live. It’s a great song, be patient and wait for the sax solo about half way through.
I’ve written this post for the alto sax players and soon-to-be players. On my site here, you may have noticed most of the free saxophone lesson videos and saxophone song videos are of me playing the tenor. Even if you’re a big fan of rock/blues based music as is demonstrated here I want you to know that by no means should you, or have to switch to the tenor.
More Alto Sax Information
Many people ask about things like the range of the alto sax, fingering chart for the alto sax, transposition information etc. If you haven’t discovered this stuff by now I can tell you that the scales, notes, and range of all the saxophones is the same….yes, even the alto!
Transposing
Unfortunately for most of us, saxophones are a transposing instrument. This means when you play a note on it it won’t be the same note on a piano. The theory of how this works is not difficult. For an in depth review of how saxophone transposing works go here: https://howtoplaysaxophone.org/saxophone-keys
Saxophone Finger Chart
For a complete saxophone fingering chart go here: https://howtoplaysaxophone.org/saxophone-finger-chart
For those wondering about the difficulty level between the alto and other saxophones, it is a little easier to blow than the tenor. If you can compare these two hors side by side you will see why… the alto is that much smaller than the tenor therefor requiring less air. It really is that simple. This should not be the only reason a person would choose one sax over the other.
Once the technique of proper air support and control is established this will not be a big deal. If you’re a small child who has to carry the instrument in it’s case back and forth from school this might alter your decision because of the weight difference.
Other than these points, listen to some good players on each of the saxophones and make your decision based on the sound of the instrument.
Cannonball Adderley
Here’s one of my favorite jazz alto players, Cannonball Adderley. Not only exceptional command of the instrument but a great big expressive attitude in his approach:
Now go download some alto sax sheet music and make that little horn wail!
Thanks for putting this up, Johnny, I’ve been downloading both the alto and tenor sheet music when downloading your music. This is the first time I’ve heard Earl Bostic’s take on Summertime and I like his sound. This is the sound I want! While the tenor is what I’m really working on, I have also been playing my alto. I’ve become comfortable with my Guardala MBII mouthpiece on my tenor. I love the big sound I can get from it and now I’m trying to get a big sound on the alto, too. I retired the Selmer C*80 in January in favour of a Vandoren Jumbo Java A45 and it’s definitely an improvement. I’m going to give Summertime a try. Thanks again!
Hey, no problem James. Ya, the selmer c 80 is great for the beginning stages and I recommend it highly as do others. But at a certain point of development you must change up. The alto can be so expressive and occasionally when I do pick one up I really have a ball. I love the fact that it is that much smaller and so less air…it just changes your approach and feel and I love it!
I do plan one bringing in more alto stuff in the very near future.
thank you for sharing these video. wow, who woulda thought an alto. haha. I mostly use my tenor but there are a few songs that sound better on the alto. I wanna rock it up more so I just got a new mouthpiece for my alto. It is a berg hard rubber .115/1. wow, the openness of that seems harder to play than my open pieces on my tenor. I am still experimenting with some reeds. I have regular ricos, 2, 2.5, and 3’s. It needs air with all of them. I will get it and hopefully sound as these above players do. Thanks
my instructor asks me lots of times have i found on youtube any Sax player that i like and would like to play like, at last i’ve found someone or rather you have found someone whose style i like – Cannonball adderley so cool!!
I’ve been playing the alto for a year now, just learning off u-tube and great sites like this one. I play the blues scales pretty much for everything – as blues is pretty much my thing. Any chance of some more blues on the site Johnny?
I had been considering moving to a tenor as I’ve heard the sound is more bluesy but after hearing Summertime blues on the alto will stick with it.
As for players and styles, I think emulating Johnny Ferreira would be more than enough for anyone!
Regards
Andrew
Hey thanks Andrew…
oh ya, for sure more blues! In case you over looked anything: You can access some blues backing tracks in the “Improvisation” section that go along with the lessons there. In the “saxophone Music” section there are a few blues tunes that are available for downloading, these include the music charts and backing tracks. My Killer Blues course expands upon the basic stuff in the improvisation section and also dissects the famous “Brown Sugar” sax solo which is a great lesson for crafting a cool, simple solo that works in any blue-based music.
The great thing about all this stuff is that these blues lessons and theory cover so much in terms of not pure blues music but pop, rock funk R&B etc. Have fun and good luck with it!
I would have thought the songs, Summertime, was played on Tenor by listening to it! Pretty amazing to hear that kind of tone Earl Bostic is getting on the Alto!
I love the way, Johnny, you put here how a player shouldn’t feel they have to switch to Tenor to get that Rockin’/Blues sound. I’m almost done with Take Five of yours and was afterwards wanting to learn “In the Mood” on my Alto v.s playing it on my Tenor. I was noticing on the video footage you included with that song on youtube how many of the guys back then on Glen Miller’s Band are playing the Alto, he’s got lots of them playing it!
http://youtu.be/PMYtMmoJo1M
yeah it’s really strange – i started out, came across Johnnys website, looked at Johnny & his tenor sax videos, and thought – wow i’ve got to get a Tenor. But then i bought a bunch of Johnnys songs, my tones improving – and hey i really like playing these songs with the backing tracks, and suddenly i realised the Alto’s really cool man!! i’m getting so much enjoyment out of it – switching to a Tenor now would be like trading in your old pet for another one.
Having my alto sax coming soon…….and I’m glad Johnny put this topic up on the blog about how good the Alto Saxophone is. Check out these 3 guys Improvising on stage, all 3 of them on Alto Saxophones! One of them on stage is pro player Michael Lington, He’s well-known for his famous song “Show Me.” GORGEOUS saxophone song!
The improvisation starts at about 3:30 on this video NOTE: What you see these 3 Alto Saxophone players doing, Improvisation, is what Johnny’s ebook “How to Play Killer Blues” is all about. If you don’t have a copy of this book, you’re really missing out 😉
http://youtu.be/FBA818r2Pdo
cool video Michael – i’ve got the killer blues e- book , but haven’t started it yet, until i can do all the 12 major scales! I like jazz songs especially the ones you can sing along to – like the girl from ipanema etc. I also like the lively jazz sax, but nit the dreary send me to sleep jazz…
Hey Johnny – i’m really looking forward to your beatle songs, fingers crossed, i’m hoping they will be easy to play?
I’m really enjoying learning and playing them as I’m a huge fan.
As far as reading and playing the basic melody goes, they’re very easy.
I always add a bit of extra stuff like altissimo notes and other things to make it more entertaining for the listener but I keep the music charts simple so most people can play it.
One song has a transcription of a George Harrison guitar solo note-for-note that’s not super easy to read, but I will include one backing track with the solo played on the sax to make it easier for you to learn. When learning a solo just take it a few notes at a time. Think of a solo as a paragraph. We can all memorize a paragraph by first taking a few words, this turns into a sentence, then after a few sentences have been memorized you now have a whole paragraph. Same for music.
excellent!! Rock on!! One of my goals is to be able to play a song from memory, without the sheet music in front of me.
Yes, that’s a good goal and one everyone should have I think. I don’t think we don’t truly play a song as good as we can until it’s well memorized.
Hello Johnny,
I have just registered your forum from Japan, and been following your play on Youtube. I have play an alto and a tenor for ten years. I want to get your playing sheet score of the Moon Flower. Can I get it ?
I am looking forward to hearing from you.
Ben
Hi Ben, sorry but no I don’t have that song. I used to play it many years ago in college but I don’t have it now.
Johnny,
Ian Kay here. All is well now. Thanks for your assistance with the registration. I’m eager to get started tomorrow.
Ian
Great. Sorry bout the big delay. Turns out it was a plugin issue coming from the people who run the membership site plugin I use to run these things on my site.
I really like the way you put it here, Johnny, that we by no means should feel that we have to switch to Tenor to get a Rockin’/Blues Sound on the Saxophone. That’s what I was trying to convey to the guys at the Music shop a few days ago too here in New Mexico–he was implying that I was wasting my money in buying a Pro-Model Alto Trevor James Sax because I won’t sound as good! It only takes one look at the guys on the videos you posted here to realize that simply is not the case at all! I told that guy F.Y.I. that I have a Tenor and love it–I have no plans on backing off from playing the Tenor…but many feel, including my wife, that I sound better on the Alto Sax so that’s where I’m putting our hard-earned $; anything wrong with that? 🙂
Wow – just read your comment Michael!
I can understand the comment that some people think a Tenor-Pro beats an Alto-Pro, but if you think you sound better on an Alto – that’s the way to go.
I saw two Ad’s in a paper,
the 1st one was from a Jazz band that wanted a Tenor sax, to replace one that was leaving, which i though was Ok.
the 2nd was from a rock band that was starting out, they had a drummer, base guitar, lead guitar, keyboard player and a singer, they were advertising for a Tenor-sax! And i thought i wonder what would happen if a red hot alto sax player turned up? would they still want a Tenor? or were they planning to just cover songs that originally had a tenor sax in it?
I love the Alto Sax–as I just bought my Trevor James Saxophones and, even though I did get a new Tenor; it wasn’t in the original plans and the Alto was my first choice. Have a go at listening to Earl Bostic playing above! If you don’t dig it, then you just must not like the Saxophone 🙂 And yes….Earl Bostic played the Alto.