Acoustics of the saxophone

saxophone fingering legend

Different fingerings for the same note are acoustically different and so have different impedance spectra and sound spectra.

On this site, all pitches are written pitches. For a Bb soprano saxophone, the sounding pitch is one tone lower (written C sounds as Bb), for an Bb tenor saxophone, written C sounds a ninth lower. In the international pitch naming convention, middle C is C4. See also notes and frequencies.

Symbols

a half-sharp
# a sharp
#/ one and a half-sharps
a half-flat

Contact: Joe Wolfe / J.Wolfe@unsw.edu.au
phone 61-2-9385-4954 (UT +10, +11 Oct-Mar)
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