tenor sax transposition: B♭ an octave down
the tenor saxophone is a B♭ instrument that sounds a major 9th lower than written: a whole step plus an octave. its sheet music is in treble clef, in the same key as a trumpet or clarinet part, but every note sits an octave higher on the page than those parts would put it.
- write B♭ tenor sax parts a major 9th above concert pitch.
- that is a B♭ trumpet part, an octave higher on the page.
- the charts below use octave numbers so the octave is clear.
the interval: a major 9th
to write a tenor part from concert pitch, move each note up a major 2nd for the letter name and the key, then up one more octave for the register. the octave is what lets a low instrument read in treble clef without a forest of ledger lines below the staff. a tenor player reading the C in the third space of the treble staff sounds the B♭ just below middle C.
written vs concert: a bass line with octave numbers
octave numbers count middle C as C4. this short line in concert G minor shows how far the written notes sit above the sound.
| concert pitch (sounds) | written for B♭ tenor sax |
|---|---|
| G2 | A3 is below the range, so write A4 (it sounds G3) |
| B♭2 | C4 |
| D3 | E4 |
| G3 | A4 |
| F3 | G4 |
| E♭3 | F4 |
| D3 | E4 |
| G3 | A4 |
the written key is A minor, with no sharps or flats, while the concert key, G minor, has two flats.
range
the tenor's written range is the same as the alto's: from the B♭ below middle C up to F6, with F♯6 on most modern instruments. because of the major 9th, that sounds from A♭2 to E♭5, a fourth below the alto's sounding range at both ends. the lowest written note, B♭3, sounds A♭2, so concert notes below that have to move up an octave, as the first row of the table shows.
tenor and the other B♭ instruments
a tenor part and a trumpet part for the same concert notes have the same written letters and key; only the octave differs. that makes it easy to share a jazz head between the two, which is part of why the pairing is so common in small groups. bass clarinet in treble clef follows the same major 9th rule as the tenor. the soprano saxophone, also in B♭, follows the trumpet's rule with no extra octave.
common mistakes
the classic error is forgetting the octave and writing the part only a whole step up, which puts it an octave too low on the page and full of ledger lines. the other is writing it in bass clef; tenor sax parts are almost always printed in treble clef. in the transposer, choose B♭ tenor sax and tick the octave box when your notes carry octave numbers.
all 12 major keys for tenor sax
the tenor part uses the same key as a B♭ trumpet part, a whole step up from concert, only an octave higher on the page. the last column shows the alto sax key for the same song, which is useful when a sax section reads from one chart. notei's notation editor writes these parts at the right pitch for you, but the table is the quick check.
| concert key | tenor sax part | tenor key signature | alto sax part in the same band |
|---|---|---|---|
| C major (none) | D major | 2 sharps | A major |
| G major (1 sharp) | A major | 3 sharps | E major |
| D major (2 sharps) | E major | 4 sharps | B major |
| A major (3 sharps) | B major | 5 sharps | F♯ major |
| E major (4 sharps) | F♯ major | 6 sharps | D♭ major |
| B major (5 sharps) | D♭ major | 5 flats | A♭ major |
| F♯ major (6 sharps) | A♭ major | 4 flats | E♭ major |
| D♭ major (5 flats) | E♭ major | 3 flats | B♭ major |
| A♭ major (4 flats) | B♭ major | 2 flats | F major |
| E♭ major (3 flats) | F major | 1 flat | C major |
| B♭ major (2 flats) | C major | none | G major |
| F major (1 flat) | G major | 1 sharp | D major |
every note, concert and written
with octave numbers, the major 9th is easy to see: every written note is an octave and a whole step above the sound, which keeps tenor parts on the treble staff.
| concert pitch (C4 is middle C) | written for tenor sax |
|---|---|
| C3 | D4 |
| C♯3 | D♯4 |
| D3 | E4 |
| E♭3 | F4 |
| E3 | F♯4 |
| F3 | G4 |
| F♯3 | G♯4 |
| G3 | A4 |
| A♭3 | B♭4 |
| A3 | B4 |
| B♭3 | C5 |
| B3 | C♯5 |
common questions
what key is the tenor sax in?
B♭. a written C on tenor sax sounds as the B♭ a major 9th below, an octave plus a whole step, so tenor parts are written a major 9th above concert pitch.
can a tenor sax player read a trumpet part?
yes. both are B♭ instruments, so the written notes and key signature are the same; the tenor simply sounds an octave lower than the trumpet.
why is tenor sax music written so high?
so the part sits on the treble staff. written at concert pitch, most tenor notes would need bass clef or many ledger lines, and sax players read treble clef on every size of saxophone.
sources
- Vienna Symphonic Library: tenor saxophone
- Yamaha musical instrument guide: saxophone
- Wikipedia: transposing instrument
notei publishes this guide, and notei is our product. written and checked by the notei team. how these guides are written and corrected.
notei is a free music notation editor in the browser. write the line once at concert pitch, then use its Transpose tool to move a passage to a new key when the tenor needs it higher or lower.
write it in notei