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left handright hand8vaDE♭Ff123G♯C♯BB♭ECB♭123E♭Cupper body · left handlower body · right hand8vaDE♭Ff123G♯C♯BB♭ECB♭123E♭C
B♭3sounds C♯3Low octave
SongsCarol of the Bells (Shchedryk)
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1 more song needs notes this instrument does not have. Changing the key brings some of them into reach.

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Mykola Leontovych, “Shchedryk”, 1916. The melody is public domain; the later English lyric is not used here.

32 notes · B♭3–F6 written · sounds C♯3–A♭5 · 32 notes · The E♭ alto: the saxophone almost everyone starts on, in school bands and jazz alike. Sounds a major sixth below the part.

Tap a note, or slide along them to slur from note to note in one breath. On a keyboard the letters on the notes are the ones to press — Q is written low B♭ and they climb a semitone at a time.

SaxophoneFree · printable · plays in your browser

Carol of the Bells — Saxophone Notes

Carol of the Bells (Shchedryk) (the soprano line), written out for the saxophone as letter notes with the fingering drawn under each one and set up above on the Alto. Press Play to hear it, Practice to learn it one note at a time — the saxophone waits for you — or Play along to keep time with it.

  • Notes92, 11 pitches
  • RangeE4–A5
  • Key hereA minor
  • Tempo168 bpm · about 26 s
  • LevelIntermediate

Can a saxophone play Carol of the Bells?

Yes — every one on this page plays it. The check is made note by note against what each one can actually sound. Where the tune does not fit as the library writes it, another key or octave is tried, and the table says which; where nothing fits, it names the notes that are missing.

  • Alto✓ Plays as writtenIn A minor, E4–A5 · loaded above
  • Tenor✓ Plays as writtenIn A minor, E4–A5 · load it
  • Soprano✓ Plays as writtenIn A minor, E4–A5 · load it
  • Baritone✓ Plays as writtenIn A minor, E4–A5 · load it

The notes here are written pitch, which is what a saxophone player reads. On the Alto this sounds in C minor.

Carol of the Bells: saxophone notes

The large line is the note, and the drawing is its fingering — a filled hole or key is one that is down. A dash holds the note another beat, an underline is half a beat, and a dot beside a note makes it half as long again. Each line is one phrase.

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Carol of the Bells (Shchedryk) — saxophone notes (Alto) · tonalics.com

The 11 notes it uses

Lowest to highest, with how many times each is played. Learn these 11 and you can play the whole tune.

  • EE4×2
  • F♯F♯4×2
  • G♯G♯4×2
  • AA4×16
  • BB4×10
  • CC5×25
  • DD5×14
  • EE5×16
  • FF5×1
  • GG5×1
  • AA5×3

What to expect on a saxophone

  • It runs from E4 to A5, an octave and a fourth, using 11 different notes. That leaves 6 semitones unused below and 8 above.
  • 69% of its moves are a step or a repeated note. The widest is a major sixth, C5 to A5, at note 33.
  • It crosses the break 18 times — between C♯5 and D5, where the octave key comes in — which is the hard part of this tune on this instrument.

About the tune

The Ukrainian composer Mykola Leontovych wrote “Shchedryk” for unaccompanied choir, built on a four-note folk chant sung at the New Year; it was first performed in Kyiv in 1916. A touring Ukrainian choir brought it to the United States in the early 1920s, where English words about bells were later written for it. Leontovych died in 1921 and his music is in the public domain; the English lyric is not, and is not used here.

Mykola Leontovych, “Shchedryk”, 1916. The melody is public domain; the later English lyric is not used here. The notes follow Wikipedia, “Shchedryk (song)” (engraved score). More about Carol of the Bells →

Carol of the Bells on other instruments

The same melody, in each instrument’s own notation. It is not offered for the kalimba, mbira, guzheng, handpan, erhu, dulcimer, ocarina, harp or lyre, which do not have the notes.

More songs for the saxophone

All 36 saxophone songs · Christmas songs for saxophone · The online saxophone on its own

Playing it on a real saxophone?

If it sounds wrong, check the instrument before the notes. The saxophone tuner listens through your microphone and names what each note is actually sounding.

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