Learning The Basics

Here, I'll teach you how to play the basic notes.

If you ever had to play the recorder in elementary school, you will probably be able to get the four basic notes pretty quickly. Saxophones have many of the same fingerings as recorder, but with more sharps and flats (which we will not get in to).

The four notes that I first learned are B, A, and G. They're the only ones you need to play "Hot Cross Buns," so feel free to impress people with that. I'll also show you how to play C, just for fun.

First you have to know which keys your fingers go on, since there are quite a few. Here, I have a picture of my hand on the right keys.

As you can see, there are four larger keys and a tiny key, but you don't use that until much later. You skip the first large key, and put the pointer finger of your right hand on the second large key from the top. Your middle finger goes on the next large key (avoid the small key!) and your ring finger goes on the fourth big key, the one that sticks out a bit. Now, you are ready to learn the first four notes!

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I have highlighted the keys that you need to play each of the notes. Again, if you have played recorder before, this shouldn't be too surprising. This is C:

This is B:

This is A:

This is G:

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That's all you need to know to get started! If you're interested in learning more, check out some of the lessons I've linked to under the Links tab.