Important:įor any E-flat instrument, you want to be playing notes that are a minor 3rd (or 3 half steps) below the concert or “heard” note. The examples reflect how saxophone players typically visualize and think about transposing. Baritone saxophones sound 2 octaves lower.

*alto saxophones sound an octave lower than shown in the examples. This means that when you play a C on your alto or baritone saxophone the note that is heard is actually an E-flat.

*Alto and baritone saxophones are in the key of E-flat So on our B-flat saxophone we need to transpose up a whole step putting us in the key of A on our instrument. In the following example, the music is in the key of G. Important:įor any B-flat instrument, you want to be playing notes that are 1 whole step (or 2 half steps) above the concert or “heard” note. The interval between the note or key that you play in (on a transposing instrument) and the actual note or key being heard (concert key) is constant. So if you are playing along with other musicians or a backing track, and they are in the key of B-flat, you will want to play in the key of C on your tenor or soprano saxophone. *tenor saxophones sound an octave lower than shown in the examples. This means that when you play the note C on a tenor or soprano saxophone, the note that is heard is actually a B-flat. *Tenor and soprano saxophones are in the key of B-flat. We refer to those instruments that don’t transpose as being in “ Concert” key or the key of C. This means that notes played on a saxophone will sound different from a note of the same name played on another instrument such as the piano or guitar. The saxophone is a transposing instrument. In case your are not 100% sure how transposition works, I’ve put together this concise saxophone transposition guide to clear things up.Ĭlick here to get a downloadable pdf of this guide.

E flat saxophone