Need help for a tough fingering problem on bari sax

[buffalobill]

Originally, I was an alto sax player. Now I'm playing bari in a community band so the low A is new to me. One number has a measure in 7/4 time which repeats at least 40 times at a tempo of 132. Each measure has 14 1/8th notes starting on low A and working up the scale in an alternating manner as follows: A-Bb A-C A-D A-E A-F A-G A-G#. To complicate life, from time to time, there's a triple grace note D-C-Bb before the 1st A of the measure. Any ideas on which fingerings to use for that low A so everything flows smoothly? Any suggestions are welcome.

[Morry]

Immediately switch back to alto!! :-)

[DaveR]

Any suggestions are welcome.

There's no easy way to get through this, but....

Practice this part very slowly for many weeks before you have to perform it so that you avoid over tensing your hand muscles. If you do too much of this too quickly and in a panic about getting it right you will bruise the muscles of your hands which will slow you down and take ages to recover. You run a very real risk of Repetetive Strain Injury on a part like this and the composer/arranger should be made aware of this.

Make sure your bari is in really good working order so that you can play low A without the left hand little finger wherever possible.

Consider playing on a stand rather than on a sling so that...

you can let your left thumb 'hover' over the low A key rather than rolling from the thumb plate each time. This way you get a lot more muscle (ie: speed) behind the closing of the low A.

A Yamaha or Yanagisawa bari will be a lot easier to do this on than a Selmer (which has heavier key work).

oh yeah, and what Morry said!

The very best of luck.
DaveR

[DD]

Cheat the A up an octave - it's probably tuba-doubled anyway.
40 repeats ? - the "composer" must be obsessive-compulsive or new to the game. If you have a friend in the band with a low A bari - trade off on the alternate notes.

[Randall]

If all those "A's" are LOW A, then I should mention that (in case you don't know) that simply pressing the low A key will be enough finger movement, provided you are fingering the low C....
What this means is that you don't need to do the stretch for the low Bb when playing the low A.
For example:
this part-- A-Bb A-C A.....
Low A fingering with Low Bb fingering used>>let up the Low A key for the Bb>>press the Low A key for Low A>>release low A key and low Bb fingering to play low C>> THEN, while playing the low C fingering, ONLY press the low A key. Don't do the Low Bb fingering withthe Low A.
It should make things easier, if your horn is not leaking and in good adjustment.
A lot of people think they always have to use the low Bb fingering when playing the Low A...not necessarily true.
Hope this isn't belaboring the obvious for you.
Hope you can get through that passage...sounds tough! :wink:

[buffalobill]

Thanks Randall. That helps. I found another trick. For the A-G# notes, I play the A with the Bb and low A key. Then I play the G# by only raising the right hand fingers. This sets me up for the next sequence of A-Bb as well, as my left little finger remains on the Bb key. As DaveR wrote, I need to practice slowly for a while. Actually, the collective sound of this tune is fantastic. It's the baritone players that suffer on this one. Most of the time I'm having a ball on my baritone. I love the rich, fundamental sound it offers to bands. I'm still playing my alto in a big band as well but need to play both instruments to be spiritually satisfied.

[Bootman]

The trick with A-G# can only be done with articulated horns. Make certain that you have an articulated low A, without this, the part will become a real pain. Also note that you can do this G# trick from any of the spatula keys on the newer horns. This isn't the case on the old Conns, it is pure Pinky power to move the Bb to G# or B to the G#.

[RS]

So who wrote this piece? The Marquis de Sade?

[buffalobill]

"The trick with A-G# can only be done with articulated horns."
That seems to work with mine. I'm livin' in Selmer country(France) and I'm using a MKVI serial no. approx. 2xxxxx.



"So who wrote this piece? The Marquis de Sade?"
Hyperion by Thierry Muller.