Eb Alto Saxophone

Instruments of all sorts come together to make beautiful, mysterious, and sometimes even freighting music. Of the many instruments, the saxophone is one of the most commonly known. Having flute like keys and a reed (a piece of thin wood) to play on, makes this instrument part of the woodwind family. There are many types of saxophones in its so called “family” including the Eb Alto Saxophone and the Bb Tenor Saxophone. These two instruments play a crucial role in any director’s band and can ultimately affect the way the band sounds. Of the specific two, there are many similarities including the fingering for the notes, and the differences being the size of each instrument and pitch.
Eb Alto Saxophone; the instrument as well as its family have all the same fingerings for each type of saxophone including the tenor. The term “fingerings” mean that if a professional saxophone player were to play the note G on the alto, he would have to hold down the first three buttons on the left hand side;
Since the alto is smaller it requires less air to produce sound, therefore making the tone higher. Things that come into play because of this also have to do with the different mouthpiece and reed designs. The alto mouthpiece is considerably smaller than that of the tenors; since the alto mouthpiece is smaller it takes a smaller reed. Once the mouthpiece is in place, there is only a certain amount that is required to be put in the mouth. Putting the mouthpiece to far into the mouth would result in a flat pitch, while not putting in enough would generate a sharp pitch. Also because of the smaller mouthpiece, the altos tone is affected because the length of the mouthpiece is shorter therefore making the pitch higher. The two different mouthpieces play a huge role in the tone of the alto and tenor saxophones helping define the two not only by tone but also by