Do you need to be able to read music to play saxophone?

The saxophone is actually fairly playable without learning how to read music, and more than a few famous players (including some trumpet players) made careers without learning to read properly.

What key is a saxophone in?

B♭
Tenor and soprano saxophones are in the key of B♭, just like clarinets. All three of these instruments produce a B♭ when playing a C on the score. That is why in order to produce the same C pitch as keyed instruments or the flute (concert or “written” C), they must actually play a D.

Is there a saxophone with the same notes as a piano?

NB: there are saxophones whose notes do all correspond to the notes of a piano or guitar. We say they are “pitched” in the key of C because a C on the instruments sounds the same pitch as an actual C (aka concert pitch). The most common is the C melody though very few are made these days.

What is the key of the saxophone?

This means that that notes played on the saxophone will sound different from notes of the same name played on a piano, guitar or any other concert pitched instrument. By way of summary, tenor and soprano saxophones are B-flat in the Key of B-flat, whereas alto and baritone saxophones are in the key of E-flat.

How do you write music for alto saxophone?

So we write the music for alto saxophone in a key 6 steps higher than concert pitch. If the music is in the key of Eb concert pitch, we write it in the key of C for the alto saxophone. If every note was always written exactly as it sounds, due to the range of the instrument there may be more ledger lines above or below the treble clef.

Is there a cheat sheet for transposing on saxophone?

Also I have created this handy Saxophone Transposing Cheat Sheet to help you out. The Saxophone Transposing Cheat Sheet is a handy reference that helps you instantly identify which keys are related between piano (or concert key) and either alto or tenor saxophone.