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Question: Baritone saxophone fingerings and features!?
I'm in my school's jazz band, and my director wants me to play baritone saxophone!. I can play alto, so my question is: are the fingerings for bari sax and alto sax the same!? also, what are the differences between the 2 saxophones in general!?Www@QuestionHome@Com


Best Answer - Chosen by Asker:
Fingerings are identical, you won't have any problems with that!. It's written in the same clef - just sounds an octave lower than the alto!. The baritone often has a low A which the alto doesn't have, but this is a RH thumb key and so doesn't affect any other fingerings!. You'll have to move more air through the instrument, as the bore is a LOT bigger, but with proper support you'll have no problems!. I picked up baritone at fifteen, and even though I'm fairly small (five-foot nothing!), I had no problems getting a decent noise out of the thing!. I loved playing bari, and miss it a lot - it's loads of fun :)Www@QuestionHome@Com

once you know common fingerings for one sax, you know them for all saxes!. (the differences will appear when you learn extended ranges or your bari sax has a low "A" key,!.!.!.)

The main difference is obvious, a bari sax is much larger & has a lower, deeper sound!. The mouthpiece & reed are bigger, and the instrument requires much more air to play with a good sound!.Www@QuestionHome@Com