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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
SongsMo Li Hua · Jasmine Flower (茉莉花)
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Chinese traditional, Jiangsu region; the tune dates to the Qianlong era (1735–1796) and was first printed in the West in 1804. Public domain.

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.

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Mo Li Hua (Jasmine Flower) — Saxophone Notes

Mo Li Hua · Jasmine Flower (茉莉花), written out for the saxophone as letter notes with the fingering drawn under each one and set up above on the Alto, an octave higher. 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.

  • Notes67, 8 pitches
  • RangeG4–C6
  • Key hereC major
  • Tempo84 bpm · about 40 s
  • LevelIntermediate

Can a saxophone play Mo Li Hua (Jasmine Flower)?

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, movedPlayed an octave higher: C major, G4–C6 · loaded above
  • Tenor↕ Plays, movedPlayed an octave higher: C major, G4–C6 · load it
  • Soprano↕ Plays, movedPlayed an octave higher: C major, G4–C6 · load it
  • Baritone↕ Plays, movedPlayed an octave higher: C major, G4–C6 · load it

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

Mo Li Hua (Jasmine Flower): 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.

▶ Play it above

Mo Li Hua · Jasmine Flower (茉莉花) — saxophone notes (Alto) · tonalics.com

The 8 notes it uses

Lowest to highest, with how many times each is played. Learn these 8 and you can play the whole tune.

  • GG4×2
  • AA4×3
  • CC5×8
  • DD5×9
  • EE5×14
  • GG5×17
  • AA5×9
  • CC6×5

What to expect on a saxophone

  • It runs from G4 to C6, an octave and a fourth, using 8 different notes. That leaves 9 semitones unused below and 5 above.
  • 62% of its moves are a step or a repeated note. The widest is a fourth, C6 to G5, at note 50.
  • It crosses the break 11 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

A folk song from the Jiangsu region dating to the Qianlong era of the 18th century. It was the first Chinese melody to become widely known in Europe, printed in London in 1804 by John Barrow, and Puccini used it throughout his opera Turandot.

Chinese traditional, Jiangsu region; the tune dates to the Qianlong era (1735–1796) and was first printed in the West in 1804. Public domain. More about Mo Li Hua (Jasmine Flower) →

Mo Li Hua (Jasmine Flower) on other instruments

The same melody, in each instrument’s own notation. It is not offered for the handpan or ocarina, 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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