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Forum » Welcome to Saxophone.org! » altissimo G


by saxy1
(6 posts)
19 years ago

altissimo G

First off, I'd just like to say hi as a new body on the board. I'm a long haul trucker from waaaay up in the frozen wasteland, and used to be a regular semi-professional player in my dark past. My oldest daughter has recently taken up the tenor sax at school, and I have begun to renew my love affair with my horn. I have a Selmer Mark VII, and in spite of all the unflattering commentary floating around with regards to the poor performance of this horn, I have never been disappointed with it. I have played many Mark VI's and although I find the action on the Bb spatula to be a bit more fluid, I have never found my own horn to be either unwieldy or inferior to the VI. Anyhow, the topic which I posted on is for the altissimo register. My daughter is playing a Yamaha YTS 21, which I realize is a student horn. When she first brought it home, I checked it out and although it played well through the majority of notes, I could not get it to play a high G. I have tried and tried, and have no trouble hitting A through D. Even with my Dukoff D chamber, I was unable to hit it. Is it a fault of student horns to have this deficiency on the G? Or is it just me? By the way, I have no trouble hitting it on my own tenor, and I am just curious as to whether anyone has any advice. I checked the key cup/pad and it doesn't appear to be leaking.

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  2. by saxy1
    (6 posts)
    19 years ago

    Re: altissimo G

    Sorry if I misled anyone with the model of my daughter's Yamaha. It's a YTS 23, not a 21. Don't know as it makes that big a difference. The 23s are supposed to have adjustable thumb rests but this one doesn't.

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    1. by Sax Mom
      (964 posts)
      19 years ago

      Re: altissimo G

      By altissimo, do you mean the G that sits on top of the staff, or the one that is on the 4th line above the staff?

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      1. by connsaxman_jim
        (2336 posts)
        19 years ago

        Re: altissimo G

        Sax mom, he's talking about the Altissimo register which involves more complicated fingerings. If you got a Yamaha YTS 21 to voice above Altissimo A, that is impressive! Many vintage American horns will not voice about A. They're really not designed to.

        Reply To Post Yahoo!


    2. by saxy1
      (6 posts)
      19 years ago

      Re: altissimo G

      Thanks for the comeback good buddies. Yes saxmom, the g to which I refer is the golden beauty on the 4th ledger line. I haven't managed to hit it yet, but I managed to wangle another nice clean fingering out of my MK VII, and I'll give that a try next time my daughter brings home her horn. And thanks for the compliment connsaxman_Jim. I didn't realize that it was that hard to hit those altissimo notes on the older American- mades; while I was in high school, we were playing them on old yamis, buffets, and some of the most beat up Mark VIs you ever saw in your life(our music teacher believed in buying quality instruments but not capital punishment for damaging them). The first tenor I played the big notes on was a Bundy, although I can't tell you the model or year. Anyway, I'll continue to try to massage my daughter's Yamaha and see if I can't coax that G out of it.

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      1. by jamterry
        (573 posts)
        19 years ago

        Re: altissimo G

        saxy 1 I think you would benefit from a book called "ted nash's studies in high harmonics" . there sre fingerings all the way up to F seven lines above the staff. there are also great exercises that use notes above the the register of the horn. if your daughter works through this book, she will will climb on top of the horn. don't get too haired over brands and models. this situation involves practice. best wishes to you and your daughter. :)

        Reply To Post Yahoo! AIM ICQ


        1. by Candyboy
          (77 posts)
          19 years ago

          Re: altissimo G

          I have trouble with this G also. On my Conn C-mel I can play it only after climbing up F-F#-G. I'm afraid to try it while out gigging since it may squeal or not do anything good here is the fingering I use: Left thumb on the octave key and left index finger on the front F, Right index on F,side Bb,and pinkyonEb. If anyone has any better fingering for C-mel alt G I'd like to know. This horn has sax gourmet power pips which make it possible to play some of the higher notes.
          Doug Coffman

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          1. by CountSpatula
            (602 posts)
            18 years ago

            Re: altissimo G

            Theres a ton of fingerings for altissimo Other suggestions I know of Friend of mine uses B key + High F# (if you have one) I can manage a 1, 3, 4, 6 keys (d without middle fingers) Best for me is B, G, Bb side key, F, and Eb key...weird but I'm use to it.... If you think your gonna squeek practice more and more. I practice hitting altissimo every time I practice. Some fingerings work different for different horns/people.

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