Baritone saxophone Low A

• Feb 13, 2019 - 14:42

A very minor issue and one I never bothered to point out in MS2, but seeing it carried over into MS3 prompts me to mention it.

Low A in a baritone saxophone part is greyed indicating that it is out of range for the instrument. However, modern baritone saxophones, those made from around the mid 1980s, have a low A key which makes the note within the range which may be written for it.

As I say, a minor issue, but one it would be nice to have corrected since I write and arrange Soprano/Alto/Tenor/Baritone saxophone quartet scores.


Comments

We decided to make the low A only in the professional range as a clue to those not familiar with the instrument that there may be some Bari Saxes that don't have the low A key. It doesn't affect what is printed. I change the amateur range to include the low A when I write for the Bari Sax. If you write for Sax quartets, then I suggest you change the range of the instrument also and save a sax quartet template with this change and you won't have to see it any more.

Some Alto Saxophones have an extra key to play one more note lower than Bb down to Low A which would sound as the C3 (the same pitch as the Viola's C String).

Do you still have an unanswered question? Please log in first to post your question.