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Forum - Saxy Talk - Sax notes and 'tabs'..wtf?

Author Message
Beasax
User
Posted: 2007-06-28 16:48 CEST
I want to learn 'Capdown - Ska wars' and 'Reel big fish - I wont your girlfriend...', But I dont understand the way the people have wrote the nots down, Like E2 and B3 I get what the letters mean but wtf do the numbers mean?

I'm a noob.. I know..
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Hi-iH
User
Posted: 2007-06-29 18:45 CEST
The numbers mean the octave. G2 is the first note of your b flat concert scale. So that means any number with a 1 after it is in the lowest octave, below that G. Every octave up, the number goes up, and every lower octave, it goes down. Here's a staff, I hope this helps. It's in treble clef.

_______B3________ <-- A3 on that line
_______G3________ <--F2 on the line
_______E2________ <--- D2 on the line
_______C2________ <--- B2 on the line
_______A2________ <- G2 on that line
_______F1________ <--- E1 on that line

...ect. Get it? This is for any Eb instrument, because the numbers would change according to the instrument.
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Savage
User
Posted: 2007-06-30 16:54 CEST
Actually Hi-iH, I think you have your octaves mixed up a little there. It should be more like this:

ledger F3 line E3
ledger D3 line C3
ledger B3 line A2
_____G2_____F2
_____E2_____D2
_____C2_____B2
_____A1_____G1
_____F1_____E1
ledger D1 line C1
ledger B1 line

From what I understand this should hold true to all saxophones.
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Hi-iH
User
Posted: 2007-06-30 18:29 CEST
The octaves start on B? I always figured it started on the concert Bb. My mistake. Thanks Savage.
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Savage
User
Posted: 2007-07-02 20:08 CEST
Well it depends on the instrument. For trumpet it starts of F# because that is the lowest note a trumpet can play (without getting really technical and into pedal tones) for saxophones, it is actually a Bb that is the lowesr, unless you have a Bari with a low A. What you're thinking of is right, but that's something totally unrelated to tabs (but actually more musically correct). For tabs, 1 is just the lowest note you can play on the tabbed instrument.

P.S. low A is awesome.
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PhatBariSax
User
Posted: 2007-10-09 05:26 CEST
Savage wrote:


P.S. low A is awesome.


Quoted for truth

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