Top Tones Daily Practice

One of the best ways to improve the altissimo register is harmonics. Besides that there are other drills
and exercises that improve the skill of playing top tones. Practicing scales in the altissimo register is
also very effective but will not be referenced here as the process is the same as playing normal scales.
The attention in playing slow and having open ears is of course really important here.

Exercise I

At an early level it is key to distinguish between the feeling of playing in the normal register and in the altissimo
register of the instrument. To realize this the following exercise can be quite useful. Alternate between the normal
fingerings and the ones that use the X key (E,F,F#) while trying to match the quality of the two, bringing the X key
fingering notes closer to a more open clean shape and away from the muffled sound that is first produced with these
fingerings. Ask someone to listen or record this and try to make the difference as small as possible. Its exponentially
difficult when attempting softer dynamics,so this is advised for later attempts,when some improvement is already
evident. Suggested practice time is 5 minutes.

Exercise II

Another exercise is to alternate between two top tones, which eventually sounds like trills or tremolos between the
two notes. Any combination of notes can be effective. Larger intervals can be increasingly difficult. It is key to start
slow with a metronome,check frequently the tuning, open ears and build up the speed. Using a variety of different
fingerings is also critical in improving the top tones through this method. Again It is exponentially difficult when
attempting softer dynamics, so it is suggested for later use. Suggested practice time is 8-10 minutes.

Following are some examples

For the exercises above I recommend you look into fingerings from the following books and try using all of
them.

• Top-Tones For The Saxophone by Sigurd Rascher

• Saxophone High Tones by Eugene Rousseau

• Studies Of The High And Low Notes Of The Saxophone by Theodore Kerkezos

Dimos Palamidas