Good thing that while I'm at college, I have access to the theater at night. Now I don't have to worry about anyone complaining about the dying duck noises while I work on my altissimo range.
I found that chromatically going up to a high G using the alternate fingerings for high E and above helped alot. For some reason, I found that the X O O | X O O fingering with the first side key (Bflat one) and the alternate F key (one above the B key) also worked really well for popping out my first altissimo G, and gave me a base to work my way all the way up to a high B at this point.
Thanks you for being so sample Sir!!! I been playing E,F,F# for awhile now Thanks to you I'm adding G,and A to my alto sax life. Well let me get back to practicing.
I've been playing sax for nearly 25 years, mainly jazz type stuff for restaurants and weddings, and I never bothered to learn the altissimo range as no one's ever demonstrated it to me. Seeing it like this has made it do-able and I'm making great progress. You put it across excellently. Thank you very much. subscribed.
Thank you so much this video really helped me. I've been trying to play careless whispers . It involves the Altissimo A. Because of you it is finally come together thank you
When I tried playing G, I got it out first try! But, as it turns out, it was a *HIGH HIGH C*! (The flute C)! I can't believe I did that my first 7 months! YAY!
Holy cow! This helped me so much!! I am a junior in high school and I've been wanting to play altissimo for a while now, but I couldn't do it and didn't really practice for it very often. This video really motivated me to try blasting out those high notes. I've seen a lot of tips that say to practice overtones, and I did, and they never helped me play altissimo (at least it didn't flip the switch from unable to able). What really got me there was the air support. I was too scared to put more air into it because it felt and sounded wrong. But I just went for it with the front-E fingering and refined the "relaxed but firm" embouchure. Then, when I hit the high G, I just about lost my coconuts. Not only could I play the note (after a little more practice), but I noticed that it made my tone better overall. The notes in the second register sounded brighter and fuller. However, I find myself puffing my cheeks out more when I try to hit those notes. Is that normal? When I keep my cheeks tight, my embouchure seems to be too tight to allow the reed to vibrate like it needs to. Anyway, AMAZING VIDEO. Thank you so much. Now I can try to play the Dolphin Shoals theme from Mario Kart 8!
Brilliant! Great to hear it helped you Michael. I wouldn’t worry too much about your cheeks for now, just work on getting stronger on those altissimo notes and eventually your cheeks should sort themselves out.
thank you! my old teacher wouldn´t teach me this. and i play for 7 years now on a nice level. THX!!! I really wanted to know how to play them becouse of certain music sheets that i play. Like careless whispers. and i´m practicing Fantasia for Alto Saxophone - Claude T. Smith. so now i can do those high notes :)
aziza gomez I have to play the altissimo g for Solo and Ensemble next week. I'm playing Creston Sonata 1st movement. I still have to learn the last page (which has that note). We're both screwed.
I played my first high G tonight! The fingering you gave didn't work for me at first. I accidentally pressed on the front F key in the slightest and it came out. It won't come out without it or fully with it, it's just the slightest bit open. I couldn't get the A. But I'll happily take the G 😁
I've tried several times, all I get out when I'm trying to play high G is an airy buzzing middle line B. What are some tips. I wanna learn to impress my teacher.
Great video McGill. Thank you I really appreciate it. I really enjoy your videos and like how in depth you get and how you explain things. Awesome job McGill :)
(Use Octave Key For all Of These Btw) Easiest G Fingering I know that you can slur F,F#,G. Use the front F fingering, then add the Bb key for F# and then you drop the A key and add bottom F key. It should be: Top F Key, Bottom F key, Bb key.
Thank you so much for this tutorial. I started on alto years ago but for the past 10 have almost only played tenor. It took me a long time to be able to get G3 on tenor but now I can get it almost all the time....except sometimes at a gig when I am too conscious of wanting it to come out. LOL. And of course if I overblow it I get Altissimo D, which isn't bad if you can make it seem like you meant to play it. LOL. But on alto I still can't get G3 try as I might using the fingering from tenor. Front E, F, and F# are a breeze but the G never works. I use either Front F alone or by adding a combination of G#, side Bb and Chromatic F# (not high F# which doesn't exist on my saxes) depending on the mouthpiece. They all seem to differ in which they like. I just tried the fingering you play for G3 on alto and even with switching from Front E fingering to that it as you showed it won't play. But when I tried the fingering for A3 coming up from palm D it did. Wow, what a great experience for which I thank you deeply. Cheers on you mate.
I wish I had tried to learn this sooner. Really wasn't too hard to get the range to come out, I just never pursued any instruction -___- One thing that helped me though (by the way, the yawning formation of the throat helped a lot), was positioning my tongue to where it's coming up from the back of my mouth and points directly into the mouthpiece/reed. Idk, maybe it'll help someone xD
There’s like a second octave key after G; it’s the side G-key! After months of playing; every few months I’d get back to it! And i accidentally played for 40 minutes! My mouth doesn’t really hurt, but is just exhausted To all the guys who just got started on the sax; don’t hesitate and try and play what’s to difficult! I know I’m still on my journey as well, but only after you’re solid and great with your ‘normal’ range, and have skilled all of the palm keys, you’ll notice how much ‘easier’ to play it is....
Love your teaching Nigel, so clear and easy to follow and I always feel encouraged when I watch your videos. Btw,your 20 Killer warm up exercises have been fantastic and made a big improvement to my sound already in a short time and I am finding them equally useful on the flute and clarinet. Thank you!
I'm in 7th grade, and it took me about 3 months, but I finally hit my first G. From then everything seems different; I can finally do overtones with notes on the octave key (like D to A), and I can hit altissimo B.
So I usually do bis b flat key and high f key like the one above the b key that is for f sharp and for a high g I add the top right palm key but it sounds crummy
Negil , i really enjoy watching your videos they are very informitive and VERY helpfull cheers to you my friend. I had a question about the Altissimo range, the fingering isnt my problem, the problem is my embouchure i really dont know how to put my mouth on the mouthpeice in order to get out the sound i want(altissimo range) ANY tips/suggestions would be very helpfull. Thanks
Thankfully, on my alto I have easy fingerings for altissimo so going from low Bb to Altissimo D is not a big problem for me. On Tenor I can hit up to Altissimo C pretty well, C# and D is about finding the right pitch. Now on bari, I can only hit G, A, and Bb the rest are grey areas haha. I just need to find the right fingerings. My biggest problem is that for each saxophone, I have to use different fingerings. I wish it wasn't like that, but not every saxophone is made the same way.
+KG Sounds like you're doing really well with your altissimo. Unfortunately most of us need to use different altissimo fingerings on the different saxes, it just takes a bit of practice to make them feel comfortable.
Okay I have a question about my personal embrouchure when I play the alto... Ive been playing for about 2 years now (im a freshman btw) and I tend to curl my bottom lip over my teeth. Like, my teeth would be bitting my lip. Some other freshman said im playing with wrong embrochure. Have I been playing wrong my 2 years? Please tell me so I can fix this right away
+Xavier Lopez Hi Xavier. There are a couple different approaches to embouchure - with lip over, and without lip over. It really depends on the sound you are going for. Most people start learning with a little lip over their teeth, but it's best to not use too much lip. A good way to think about it is to pull your lip tight against your teeth, a little of your lip will naturally curl over the top of your teeth when you do this. That's how much lip to start with. Since you've been playing a couple years, you could experiment with using a little less lip and see how you get on. Using a little less lip will warm up your sound. See what you think.
It's strange that the first altissimo G on tenor is so easy. Going higher, do you recommend 'safe' but complicated fingerings as opposed to easier but less stable fingerings, in the search for fluency?
Hey Nigel Is there any chance you could do an alto and tenor tutorial of quite possibly one of the best sax solos ever played in FORGET ME NOT by Patrice Rushen
Thank you Master! but altissimo is still hard to me... paining squick sound hurted me. i want to someday i can playing 'hey jude' but this is too long way to walk for me. anyway, thank you!
i cannot play any altisimo above f sharp , what am i doing wrong? all the kwys are according to the chart but still I have to struggle into a lot of squiking and nothing.. no G sharp no A etc .. can you please help
The fingerings don't work for my sax, because when I press the G, the octave key goes down. Is there another way to play it? I'm more of a clarinet player, so I'm not sure if that's normal for a sax.
I can get a front F out, but can't seem to get that front E out. I can get it out when i fast switch normal E --> front E but never out of the blue whereas i can front F out without fast switching. Any tips? I'm using a standard yamaha alto sax with a meyer m7 mouthpiece with rico royal m3 reeds.
I played a note that is higher than high F with your altissimo G fingering but without right-hand 3rd finger and b flat key. Do you have any idea on what that note is?
Good thing that while I'm at college, I have access to the theater at night. Now I don't have to worry about anyone complaining about the dying duck noises while I work on my altissimo range.
Neighbors when I'm practicing, "Hi we're with the pet hospital across the street and we understand you have a dying animal on the premises..."
+Smick I'M DYING LOL WELP
Squizz lol
Nice Spongebob quote
That is my problem., I consider the neighbours too much :)
Never tried altissimo until now. Always sticking to the natural range. These tips got me going in a week!! Brilliant!!
I found that chromatically going up to a high G using the alternate fingerings for high E and above helped alot. For some reason, I found that the X O O | X O O fingering with the first side key (Bflat one) and the alternate F key (one above the B key) also worked really well for popping out my first altissimo G, and gave me a base to work my way all the way up to a high B at this point.
Thank you! In less than 30 minutes I was able to follow your instructions and consistently hit the G, A, and B! Awesome!
Brilliant to hear that John!!
A very easy, stable G fingering is: biss Bb key, G# key, side Bb key, and high F# key with octave key. Comes out every time
Make a vid
It worked for me on my first try! thanks would you happen to have any more fingerings for other altisimo notes?
That's an f no?
its not an f you might just be having some issues getting the g but just keep trying
dang it, my sax doesn't have an f# key! idk why I'm still using a beginner...
Hi McGill!!! THANK YOU SO MUCH!! I have tried to hit first altissimo notes over a year, and now I did it with your help! Thanks man!!
Thank you so much, I didn't know that there was a higher note than F
Demetrius King there’s actually 2 more octaves above the 3rd octave f
Haha same here bro 😂
@@Ofairley_Music what!? 😵😵
@@Ofairley_Music in theory you can go as high as you want if the player can do it
@@yato6772 leo p lol
Yes, I can finally hit a high G and A thanks to you!
+Cvarier Awesome!!
One of the very best saxophone teachers/educators. You method approach and patience is appreciated, and unchallenged.
Thanks you for being so sample Sir!!! I been playing E,F,F# for awhile now Thanks to you I'm adding G,and A to my alto sax life. Well let me get back to practicing.
MrSaxMyJazz what’s the fingering to altissimo f#
I've been playing sax for nearly 25 years, mainly jazz type stuff for restaurants and weddings, and I never bothered to learn the altissimo range as no one's ever demonstrated it to me. Seeing it like this has made it do-able and I'm making great progress. You put it across excellently. Thank you very much. subscribed.
+Tony Worswick Thanks Tony, great to hear it helped!
Thank you so much this video really helped me. I've been trying to play careless whispers . It involves the Altissimo A. Because of you it is finally come together thank you
Same here✌😗 good luck :))
When I tried playing G, I got it out first try! But, as it turns out, it was a *HIGH HIGH C*! (The flute C)! I can't believe I did that my first 7 months! YAY!
Wow! Well done.
NintendoGamer 13 this is my 4th month in playing alto and i just learned high c :D but i already play clarinet proffesionally lol
Cool good job
I do have to say Nigel, you do have a great method for progressing in slow easier steps for those viewing your tutorials.
Yea none of this is working for me
does this help with snare drum?
100%
"Have you tried hitting it *harder* ?"
The video was very helpful. Hopefully, I will be able to do it correctly during my class
Awesome, I just figured it out! One thing that helped me is instead of going from E to G, I went from middle Bb to high Bb to G. Thanks for the help!
Never tried to get those notes before. Got them in about 30 minutes.
Great lessons!
Thank You Practice!!!
Holy cow! This helped me so much!! I am a junior in high school and I've been wanting to play altissimo for a while now, but I couldn't do it and didn't really practice for it very often. This video really motivated me to try blasting out those high notes. I've seen a lot of tips that say to practice overtones, and I did, and they never helped me play altissimo (at least it didn't flip the switch from unable to able). What really got me there was the air support. I was too scared to put more air into it because it felt and sounded wrong. But I just went for it with the front-E fingering and refined the "relaxed but firm" embouchure. Then, when I hit the high G, I just about lost my coconuts. Not only could I play the note (after a little more practice), but I noticed that it made my tone better overall. The notes in the second register sounded brighter and fuller. However, I find myself puffing my cheeks out more when I try to hit those notes. Is that normal? When I keep my cheeks tight, my embouchure seems to be too tight to allow the reed to vibrate like it needs to. Anyway, AMAZING VIDEO. Thank you so much. Now I can try to play the Dolphin Shoals theme from Mario Kart 8!
Brilliant! Great to hear it helped you Michael. I wouldn’t worry too much about your cheeks for now, just work on getting stronger on those altissimo notes and eventually your cheeks should sort themselves out.
Excellent video. Learned a lot. Thanks for sharing.
Every bit helps out as one put in the effort....Thanks
+Paul Daniels Thanks Paul!
I'm glad you said altissimo is difficult
Old but gold. Thanks for the lesson!
I’ve been able to hit alticimo on so many saxes, except mine,
Nigel,you are one of the best...thank you.Cormac Cullen.Ireland.
thank you! my old teacher wouldn´t teach me this. and i play for 7 years now on a nice level. THX!!! I really wanted to know how to play them becouse of certain music sheets that i play. Like careless whispers. and i´m practicing Fantasia for Alto Saxophone - Claude T. Smith. so now i can do those high notes :)
+Jennifer Stijfs Awesome. Glad it helped you!
F# is actually the first note of the altissimo register even though some saxs have the F# key. Otherwise great vid!
Hey Nige, You're just as amazing a teacher as when we where young. Thanks heaps. Hugs, Kel
I tried playing altissimo...
my band teacher said I sounded like I was stepping on puppies :') :') :')
Super helpful. Was able to get high G and A consistently.
Brilliant to hear that! Well done.
F# is the F fingering that uses the usual buttons except with the A# Key as well
Thanks so much! I hit it on my first try! But that's because I been working with a different fingering. But this one is best! Thanks!!
Awesome! never been able to hit Altissimo notes before. thank you!
+Vincent Drewes Cool. Great to hear that.
Um I have to hit an A by next week RIP
+aziza gomez Go for it.
+lelz I still haven't hit it lol
aziza gomez I have to play the altissimo g for Solo and Ensemble next week. I'm playing Creston Sonata 1st movement. I still have to learn the last page (which has that note). We're both screwed.
aziza gomez Bruh, a high A is so easy, I’ve played it correctly in the first two days I started playing alto sax
She/he means altissimo A- not high A… I highly doubt that you hit it, though, unless you played clarinet, prior.
I just got my first altissimo note and I'm so hyped
Awesome!
Thank you for all the good you've done with your videos
Cheers Dylan. Thanks for watching.
Thanks! I can play an altismo G now!
Awesome Steve!
Very helpful to help my high notes
Brilliant! Glad it helped you.
I played my first high G tonight!
The fingering you gave didn't work for me at first. I accidentally pressed on the front F key in the slightest and it came out. It won't come out without it or fully with it, it's just the slightest bit open. I couldn't get the A. But I'll happily take the G 😁
that’s brilliant. It feels good to start getting those high notes!
Fantastic lesson! Got those notes at once!
I've tried several times, all I get out when I'm trying to play high G is an airy buzzing middle line B. What are some tips. I wanna learn to impress my teacher.
ChamberWolf Music you have to blow a different way it sounds like that when you cant get the note
Thx I finally got it today
I downloaded for personal use. Thanks bro
Wow, I never knew that fingering for the high E, it has totally opened up my altissimo in soloing!
Great video McGill. Thank you I really appreciate it. I really enjoy your videos and like how in depth you get and how you explain things. Awesome job McGill :)
I can already hit a g but trying a is a struggle but hitting high c is ok with the g fingering thanks.
Thank you very much, friend, it fits perfectly with my balanced action!! Encore merci!!
Balanced action- nice!
This fingering doesn't work on my sax. As much as i try it feels just stuck at a low note without any hint of overtone
More air support! Faster air!
I'm always fine up to the altissimo D because after that I can't play them without concentrating a little more then I would like to.
(Use Octave Key For all Of These Btw) Easiest G Fingering I know that you can slur F,F#,G. Use the front F fingering, then add the Bb key for F# and then you drop the A key and add bottom F key. It should be: Top F Key, Bottom F key, Bb key.
That is a really good fingering if you don’t have a high F# key. Thanks for sharing.
Yeah I don’t have an F# Key so I’m doing my best to make due with what Ive got until I can get a step up sax with the F#
God bless you man!! you're the best
to help to get the note for altissimo G use the palm D (high D)
Thank you so much for this tutorial. I started on alto years ago but for the past 10 have almost only played tenor. It took me a long time to be able to get G3 on tenor but now I can get it almost all the time....except sometimes at a gig when I am too conscious of wanting it to come out. LOL. And of course if I overblow it I get Altissimo D, which isn't bad if you can make it seem like you meant to play it. LOL.
But on alto I still can't get G3 try as I might using the fingering from tenor. Front E, F, and F# are a breeze but the G never works. I use either Front F alone or by adding a combination of G#, side Bb and Chromatic F# (not high F# which doesn't exist on my saxes) depending on the mouthpiece. They all seem to differ in which they like.
I just tried the fingering you play for G3 on alto and even with switching from Front E fingering to that it as you showed it won't play. But when I tried the fingering for A3 coming up from palm D it did. Wow, what a great experience for which I thank you deeply. Cheers on you mate.
+King Pleasure Awesome. Great to hear you got there - sometimes it's tricky to find just the right fingering for your sax. Glad the lesson helped.
Very helpful. Thanks!
I wish I had tried to learn this sooner. Really wasn't too hard to get the range to come out, I just never pursued any instruction -___- One thing that helped me though (by the way, the yawning formation of the throat helped a lot), was positioning my tongue to where it's coming up from the back of my mouth and points directly into the mouthpiece/reed. Idk, maybe it'll help someone xD
There’s like a second octave key after G; it’s the side G-key! After months of playing; every few months I’d get back to it! And i accidentally played for 40 minutes! My mouth doesn’t really hurt, but is just exhausted
To all the guys who just got started on the sax; don’t hesitate and try and play what’s to difficult! I know I’m still on my journey as well, but only after you’re solid and great with your ‘normal’ range, and have skilled all of the palm keys, you’ll notice how much ‘easier’ to play it is....
Thanks :D this video is so helpful thanks :D this helped play my solo becuase i cant play altissimo 🙏
+- AngelSnowy - Great! Glad it helped you.
Love your teaching Nigel, so clear and easy to follow and I always feel encouraged when I watch your videos. Btw,your 20 Killer warm up exercises have been fantastic and made a big improvement to my sound already in a short time and I am finding them equally useful on the flute and clarinet. Thank you!
+Sarah Grose Hi Sarah - that's brilliant! Thanks for letting me know.
Thanks!
Thanks for this great video. I'll be back and check out some of the lessons you offer. Patty Bartlett Moore
Best Altissimo G: B key with high F#
I'm in 7th grade, and it took me about 3 months, but I finally hit my first G. From then everything seems different; I can finally do overtones with notes on the octave key (like D to A), and I can hit altissimo B.
really helped me! Thank you!!
Brilliant, glad it helped!
Great lesson
+Howard Daley Cheers. Hope it helped you.
So I usually do bis b flat key and high f key like the one above the b key that is for f sharp and for a high g I add the top right palm key but it sounds crummy
Im trying to hit an A in about a month i think its possible 😬
these fingerings didn't quite work for me, but thanks for the insperation!
thank you very much ....... Nigel
Negil , i really enjoy watching your videos they are very informitive and VERY helpfull cheers to you my friend. I had a question about the Altissimo range, the fingering isnt my problem, the problem is my embouchure i really dont know how to put my mouth on the mouthpeice in order to get out the sound i want(altissimo range) ANY tips/suggestions would be very helpfull. Thanks
I accidentally hit an altissimo C sharp, once... I know that I can never hit that again, though... lol
Awesome Anna! Well, once you've hit it that first time, it gets easier after that.
aka a *squeak* lol
@@McGillMusicSaxSchool i hit an altissimo note I dont know which one but I did it
just blow realy hard to get a altissimo
I can hit G consistently. A is the easiest of all the altissimo notes I can hit. F# is my problem on alto.
I can relate.
Thankfully, on my alto I have easy fingerings for altissimo so going from low Bb to Altissimo D is not a big problem for me. On Tenor I can hit up to Altissimo C pretty well, C# and D is about finding the right pitch. Now on bari, I can only hit G, A, and Bb the rest are grey areas haha. I just need to find the right fingerings. My biggest problem is that for each saxophone, I have to use different fingerings. I wish it wasn't like that, but not every saxophone is made the same way.
+KG Sounds like you're doing really well with your altissimo. Unfortunately most of us need to use different altissimo fingerings on the different saxes, it just takes a bit of practice to make them feel comfortable.
Okay I have a question about my personal embrouchure when I play the alto... Ive been playing for about 2 years now (im a freshman btw) and I tend to curl my bottom lip over my teeth. Like, my teeth would be bitting my lip. Some other freshman said im playing with wrong embrochure. Have I been playing wrong my 2 years? Please tell me so I can fix this right away
+Xavier Lopez Hi Xavier. There are a couple different approaches to embouchure - with lip over, and without lip over. It really depends on the sound you are going for. Most people start learning with a little lip over their teeth, but it's best to not use too much lip. A good way to think about it is to pull your lip tight against your teeth, a little of your lip will naturally curl over the top of your teeth when you do this. That's how much lip to start with. Since you've been playing a couple years, you could experiment with using a little less lip and see how you get on. Using a little less lip will warm up your sound. See what you think.
Xavier Lopez you play with a double. It's not necessarily wrong but you can get a better tone quality with an open throat and stuff
Xavier Lopez double lip*
i guess I have been playing incorrectly for 4 years 0_0
Xavier Lopez Same
Everybody gangsta till the sax plays altissimo
My mum uses that word too, "nother" ^^
thank you for sharing Nigel
It's strange that the first altissimo G on tenor is so easy.
Going higher, do you recommend 'safe' but complicated fingerings as opposed to easier but less stable fingerings, in the search for fluency?
I have an Old Saxophone without the alternate High F key and High F sharp key, how do I play these altissimo notes, considering the limitations.
Hey Nigel Is there any chance you could do an alto and tenor tutorial of quite possibly one of the best sax solos ever played in FORGET ME NOT by Patrice Rushen
Thank you Master!
but altissimo is still hard to me... paining squick sound hurted me.
i want to someday i can playing 'hey jude' but this is too long way to walk for me.
anyway, thank you!
Sungbin Moon Awesome.
Gracias, buen video
I can get the g and not the g sharp. What is an easy fingering or any tips??? Please help soon!!!
im in 7th grade, and i can get the g out but not much else :P
What happens if the high A fingering gives me a multiphonic
i cannot play any altisimo above f sharp , what am i doing wrong? all the kwys are according to the chart but still I have to struggle into a lot of squiking and nothing.. no G sharp no A etc .. can you please help
The fingerings don't work for my sax, because when I press the G, the octave key goes down. Is there another way to play it? I'm more of a clarinet player, so I'm not sure if that's normal for a sax.
I can get a front F out, but can't seem to get that front E out. I can get it out when i fast switch normal E --> front E but never out of the blue whereas i can front F out without fast switching. Any tips? I'm using a standard yamaha alto sax with a meyer m7 mouthpiece with rico royal m3 reeds.
My sax literally went 'wah wah' when i tried the high G
Your good!
I like your rich altissimo tone, what is your mouthpiece gear(including reeds and ligature)
Another fingering for high e is to just play the 3rd palm key with octave key.
I played a note that is higher than high F with your altissimo G fingering but without right-hand 3rd finger and b flat key. Do you have any idea on what that note is?
How much air and air compression do you need blow to just play? Compared to trumpet
+Kasper Great question. It depends on your Sax (alto or tenor etc) and your mouthpiece setup, but no more air than a trumpet.
is it like blowing the breathalyzer during a police stop? :D never had to do this luckily. But what does it feel like to blow the saxophone?
Is there an altissimo b fingering for the alto
My alto has the RH E key linked to the D key, so you can't vent with RH middle finger.
Will this also work on a Bari sax?
Crankthatsnes it should
Definately
Nice.!