page_title: Saxophone
section_title: Pitch and range
hierarchical_section_title: Saxophone / Description / Pitch and range
context_page_description: The saxophone is a family of woodwind instruments usually made of brass and played with a single-reed mouthpiece. Although most saxophones are made from brass, they are categorized as woodwind instruments, because sound is produced by an oscillating reed rather than lips vibrating in a mouthpiece cup as with the brass instrument family. As with the other woodwind instruments, the pitch of the note being played is controlled by covering holes in the body tube to control the resonant frequency of the air column by changing the effective length of the tube.
  The player covers or uncovers the holes by pressing keys.
  The saxophone is used in classical music, military bands, marching bands, jazz, and contemporary music. The saxophone is also used as a solo and melody instrument or as a member of a horn section in some styles of rock and roll and popular music. Saxophone players are called saxophonists.
  Since the first saxophone was invented by the Belgian instrument maker Adolphe Sax in the early 1840s, saxophones have been produced in a variety of series distinguished by transpositions within instrument sets and tuning standard.
context_section_description: In the keyed (below overtone-produced altissimo) ranges of the various saxophones, the pitch is controlled by keys with shallow cups in which are fastened leather pads that seal toneholes, controlling the resonant length, and thereby frequency, of the air column within the bore.  Small holes called vents, located between the toneholes and the mouthpiece, are opened by an octave key to raise the pitch one octave by eliminating the fundamental frequency, leaving the first harmonic as the frequency defining the pitch.  Most modern saxophones are keyed to produce a low B♭ (relative to the instrument's transposition) with all keys closed; modern baritone saxophones commonly play a low A and altos keyed to low A have been produced in the past.  The highest keyed note has traditionally been F two and a half octaves above low B♭, while the keyed range is extended to F♯ on most recent performance-class instruments.  A high G key is most common on modern soprano saxophones.  Notes above F are considered part of the altissimo register of any saxophone, and can be produced using advanced embouchure techniques and fingering combinations. Keywork facilitating altissimo playing is a feature of modern saxophones. Modern saxophone players have extended the range to over four octaves on tenor and alto.  Music for most saxophones is usually notated using treble clef.
  Because all saxophones use the same key arrangement and fingering to produce a given notated pitch, it is not difficult for a competent player to switch among the various sizes when the music has been suitably transposed, and many players do so. Since the baritone and alto are pitched in E♭, players can read concert pitch music notated in the bass clef by reading it as if it were treble clef and adding three sharps to the key signature. This process, referred to as clef substitution, makes it possible for the E♭ instruments to play from parts written for baritone horn, bassoon, euphonium, string bass, trombone, or tuba. This can be useful if a band or orchestra lacks one of those instruments.
caption: The traditional keyed range in C major of the soprano, alto, tenor and baritone when playing a B♭ major scale.