How to Find Octaves on an Alto Saxophone

One of the first things alto sax beginners need to learn is the use of the octave key. An octave is a set of all the notes of the scale played at a certain frequency. Raising the frequency makes a note higher and lowering the frequency produces a lower sound. On the alto sax, the frequency of notes changes using the octave key.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

1. Locate the octave key on the alto sax. Place your fingers on the keys in the standard way with your index, middle and ring fingers of your bottom hand on the bottom three keys. Place your index, middle and ring fingers of your top hand on the second, third and fourth keys of the top stack. Wrap the thumb of your top hand around the neck of the alto sax. The thumb should be directly over the octave key.

2. Press the octave key to move up to the next higher octave. Moving up one octave doubles the frequency of the note and moving down one octave reduces the frequency by half.

3. Hold down the octave key while playing the note to raise the octave. Hold down the octave and any standard note--C, D, E, F, G, A or B--to play the high octave of the note. When you play a standard note without holding down the octave key, you're playing the middle octave. The low octave requires advanced fingerings not usually used by beginners.

4. Change your tongue position. Advanced alto sax players change the position of their tongue to achieve better frequency. For the middle octave, lower your tongue as if you are saying the letter O. For the high octave, raise your tongue as if you are saying the letter E.