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this might be a stupid question

991 views 6 replies 7 participants last post by  Brenton 
#1 ·
this might be a dumb question...

i understand minor scale properly...the theory and all that stuff...

but my question is...how do i transpose minor key to saxophone

ex:if the pianist/guitarist play in Cmaj chord i know its tranpose to Amaj scale (im alto player btw)

but if the pianist/guitrist plays in lets say...Aminor chord,where does the alto player play? F#minor scale? or the same (Aminor)?

i know that minor and major scale are the same...they just play in different number...major start from I and minor star from VI...

i just cant get my head around it even though i know how to play 3 minor scale (natural,harmonic,melodic)...i just dont understand the transposition from the chord to scale...

i hope you guys understand what i mean...lol
 
#2 ·
Transposition is the same. Cm concert is Am on sax. Am concert is F#m.
 
#3 ·
I would recommend getting a keyboard. It does not have to be one with a great tone, and they can be had for little money these days. It is very helpful to have that pattern in front of you while you are looking at the chart and hearing the notes and making the transposition.
 
#5 ·
I think the OP is asking what scale to play on a minor chord. OP correct me if I'm wrong here. You have the right transposition from concert (piano/guitar) to alto, which is up a major 6th. The quality of the chord remains the same.

You will need to get into MODES to understand the relationship between scales and chords. Choosing which scale to play on the minor chord depends on the function of the minor chord. If the minor chord is functioning as a ii (2) chord, you would play the Dorian Mode., i.e. if it's Cmin7 gong to a F7, the mode would be C Dorian (C-D-Eb-F-G-A-Bb-C).
 
#7 ·
Using your example: "if the pianist/guitarist plays in lets say...Aminor chord,where does the alto player play?", the answer is: yes - F#minor scale. If you know A major scale on the Alto (starting ANYWHERE), then you should have NO difficulty playing F# minor scale (starting ANYWHERE), EXCEPT, the seventh note (E) is sharpened by a semitone to become F natural (technically E#). THAT's what gives all the minor scales their different flavor. In fact, "starting anywhere" is VERY good practice to get each major and minor scale fluently under your fingers.
[I don't feel you should worry about the "dorian", "lydian" etc (ie. specific rather than anywhere) names, but you could just say: "I'm playing F# minor scale starting on G#, or A, etc]...
 
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