O Come, All Ye Faithful — Saxophone Notes

• Notes61, 8 pitches
• RangeG4–G5
• Key hereC major
• Tempo104 bpm · about 47 s
• LevelIntermediate

Can a saxophone play O Come, All Ye Faithful?

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 C major, G4–G5 · loaded above
• Tenor✓ Plays as writtenIn C major, G4–G5 · load it
• Soprano✓ Plays as writtenIn C major, G4–G5 · load it
• Baritone✓ Plays as writtenIn C major, G4–G5 · load it

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

O Come, All Ye Faithful: 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.

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.

• GG4×6
• AA4×2
• BB4×6
• CC5×15
• DD5×11
• EE5×14
• FF5×6
• GG5×1

What to expect on a saxophone

• It runs from G4 to G5, an octave, using 8 different notes. That leaves 9 semitones unused below and 10 above.
• 78% of its moves are a step or a repeated note. The widest is an octave, G4 to G5, at note 25.
• It crosses the break 16 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 Latin hymn “Adeste Fideles” survives in manuscripts copied by John Francis Wade, an English Catholic music copyist working in France, from about 1743; he is usually credited with the tune as well as the copying. The English text sung today dates from 1841.

“Adeste Fideles”, attributed to John Francis Wade, c. 1743. Public domain. The notes follow Douglas D. Anderson, The Hymns and Carols of Christmas (sequence released to the public domain), cross-checked against 1 other transcription. More about O Come, All Ye Faithful →

O Come, All Ye Faithful on other instruments

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

• O Come, All Ye Faithful — kalimbatabs
• O Come, All Ye Faithful — pianoletter notes
• O Come, All Ye Faithful — mbiratabs
• O Come, All Ye Faithful — oudnotes
• O Come, All Ye Faithful — violinnotes
• O Come, All Ye Faithful — cellonotes
• O Come, All Ye Faithful — erhunotes
• O Come, All Ye Faithful — dulcimertab
• O Come, All Ye Faithful — xylophoneletter notes
• O Come, All Ye Faithful — marimbaletter notes
• O Come, All Ye Faithful — glockenspielletter notes
• O Come, All Ye Faithful — steel drumletter notes
• O Come, All Ye Faithful — harmonicatabs
• O Come, All Ye Faithful — trumpetnotes
• O Come, All Ye Faithful — clarinetnotes
• O Come, All Ye Faithful — flutenotes
• O Come, All Ye Faithful — recordernotes
• O Come, All Ye Faithful — tubanotes
• O Come, All Ye Faithful — euphoniumnotes
• O Come, All Ye Faithful — trombonenotes
• O Come, All Ye Faithful — accordionletter notes
• O Come, All Ye Faithful — harpletter notes
• O Come, All Ye Faithful — lyretabs

More songs for the saxophone

• Jingle BellsChristmas songs · fifth
• We Wish You a Merry ChristmasChristmas songs · octave
• Silent NightChristmas songs · octave and a fourth
• Deck the HallsChristmas songs · octave and a semitone
• O Christmas TreeChristmas songs · octave and a whole step
• Joy to the WorldChristmas songs · octave
• Hark! The Herald Angels SingChristmas songs · octave and a whole step
• God Rest Ye Merry, GentlemenChristmas songs · octave and a whole step

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