Sax on the Web Forum banner

What is Your preferred F3 fingering?

4K views 22 replies 14 participants last post by  Mike T 
#1 ·
So I have been playing sax far too long, I learnt on a what would be considered a modern sax (YAS 62) with a high F# key, and for years did not think about the way I played and using the Palm and side keys for the F3 and F#3. Then A few months ago I was fortunate enough to aquire a lovely Mk6 no F# key. Since then I have found that I am naturally playing the F3 with the front F key fingering and find this so natural and comfortable. I find going from E to F or F# effortless and the upward progression into the altissimo so much easier. Last weekend I played another of my sax's that had just come back from a service to find I play much easier and faster using the front F and altissmo fingering for F3 and above than using the additional key or traditional palm key fingering on this modern sax for me it is more natural and comfortable. I think this will also give me less room for error switching between vintage and modern sax's. So that is what I found, what have you found and what do you prefer I would be really ineterested to know.
Looking forward to your responses

Kenny
 
#4 ·
In certain passages, most passages they are way faster.

I agree the front F works way better/ faster when you are switching back and forth between it and another note, like F,C,F,C,F,C. but going chromatically up and down D,Eb,E,F,E,Eb,D it's much faster to use the palm keys.

Front F is also the bridge into the altissimo so it gets a lot of use Playing E-F-and F# and G

Different situations lean more to using it than others.

That's why it's good to use both.
 
#8 ·
Littlewailer, JL,
I certainly agree that knowing all the alternate fingerings and selecting the one on a phrase by phrase basis is the way to go. What suprised me was suddenly after nearly 40 years of playing I noticed that at some point over the last six months I have subconsciously switched from the palm F to the front F when sight reading pieces for the first time in rehearsals, I had not even realised I had done it, its just happened. I am not the fastest at sight reading and my brain tends to default to certain fingerings when sight reading passages for the first time especially as we tend to get about 30 seconds to find the score let alone look through it before we are off and playing it, as such I tend to default to the main fingerings when playing through something the first time I know I default to the Bis key for Bb and it would have been the palm keys for F and above, so it came as a surprise that I have changed to front F subconsciously when sight reading. As I said I do not know when it happened but in the main I am finding this is making me faster and smoother during those sight read pieces.
I certainly agree as you get to know a piece the alternate fingerings come into their own to refine and polish a piece. I envy those that can sight read fast passages and in lightening speed work out how to play that note, for me I am just glad that I can read well enough to play the right note even if its awkward and refine the way I play as I get to know the piece. Then again I can not speed read written text either, its the way my brain works, or in this case doesn't.

Kenny
 
#9 ·
All alternate fingerings are situational. The palm fingering, while it probably takes more time in the shed to be proficient, does not have the same timbre as the front F. The front F sounds thinner to my ears, and if that's what the passage or tune calls for, that's what I use. If I want to have a similar timbre to the lower notes, I use the palm F.

All of these problems are really a matter of practice. Music isn't about 'easier'--it's about sounding good.
 
#10 ·
+1 to what hak says about the timbre of that front F. Unlike the bis Bb (which sounds just as full and rich as the side Bb), the front F does have a different timbre so you have to keep that in mind.

I don't know what sight reading has to do with it. I mostly play by ear, but what fingering I use has to do with the situation, not whether I'm reading or playing by ear. However, if you are subconsciously using one fingering over the other, that's likely because it is the 'better' fingering for that passage, especially if you know both fingerings well. I rarely, if ever, think about which fingering to use; it happens naturally. But it wouldn't happen if I hadn't practiced both fingerings extensively.
 
#15 ·
Another problem affecting some tenors is that for the G to sound reliably every time, the front-F key needs to be set so that it only opens the palm-F key the slightest crack; unfortunately, this can remove, or at least make it very difficult to sound, the E below the G, when using the front-F and LH 2 & 3, because that E likes the front-F to open further. Okay, you can find other ways around it, such as adding in the RH side Bb or leaving the octave key closed, but in the final analysis, getting an easy, clear, reliable G can require modification of fingering for other notes. There's no such thing as a free lunch…
 
#17 ·
1. From any palm key to F, I use the palm key fingering, easier and faster. This is the usual case.

2. From any non palm key to F, I use my fork F. Wilder intervals are rarer though.

3. From F to a F#/G, I use sintra's fingering G fingering (G# on some saxes) + high F# for F, Bb w/ bis + F# for F# and B + F# for G. Very smooth and an easy way to play chromatically.

4. From F to other altissimo, usually the front F key. But cross fingering and "big fingers jump" are inevitable when playing altissimo sometimes.
 
#18 ·
... From any non palm key to F, I use my fork F. Wilder intervals are rarer though.
One place I always use the front F key is when playing the opening three notes to Shotgun (on tenor: F Db Bb). That's where I like the 'altissimo' (raunchy) timbre of the front F and also it's easy moving quickly down to the Db. Listening to the timbre of the F on the Jr Walker recording I'm pretty sure he did it that way also.

Try it; you'll like it.
 
#19 ·
It depends, I think that with all the notes where we have multiple fingering options, you want to learn all the options, and then use the best one for each specific context.

So if you need to go from C3 to F3 and back, it's probably easiest to use the front F. But if you're going from D3 to F3, it's probably easiest to use the palm keys. If you're going chromatically up to F3, the palm keys are probably going to be better. If you're going from F3 into altissimo, the front F is probably better. And so on.

If somebody asked out of the blue just to play F3, I would probably play the palm key fingering, just because I'm most used to it.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top