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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
SongsOld MacDonald Had a Farm
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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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Traditional, published 1917 in this form. 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.

SaxophoneFree · printable · plays in your browser

Old MacDonald — Saxophone Notes

Old MacDonald Had a Farm, 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.

  • Notes25, 5 pitches
  • RangeC4–A4
  • Key hereC major
  • Tempo116 bpm · about 15 s
  • LevelEasy

Can a saxophone play Old MacDonald?

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, C4–A4 · loaded above
  • Tenor✓ Plays as writtenIn C major, C4–A4 · load it
  • Soprano✓ Plays as writtenIn C major, C4–A4 · load it
  • Baritone✓ Plays as writtenIn C major, C4–A4 · load it

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

Old MacDonald: 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

Old MacDonald Had a Farm — saxophone notes (Alto) · tonalics.com

The 5 notes it uses

Lowest to highest, with how many times each is played. Learn these 5 and you can play the whole tune.

  • CC4×8
  • DD4×4
  • EE4×4
  • GG4×5
  • AA4×4

What to expect on a saxophone

  • It runs from C4 to A4, a major sixth, using 5 different notes. That leaves 2 semitones unused below and 20 above.
  • 75% of its moves are a step or a repeated note. The widest is a fifth, C4 to G4, at note 4.
  • It stays below the break, so the octave key is never used.

About the tune

A cumulative farm song with 18th-century English ancestors; the version sung today, with this tune and this farmer’s name, was printed in 1917 in a collection of songs from the First World War.

Traditional, published 1917 in this form. Public domain. More about Old MacDonald →

Old MacDonald on other instruments

The same melody, in each instrument’s own notation.

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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