How to Tune Your Saxophone
- Choose Alto, Tenor, or Soprano under Settings. The tuner starts on alto.
- Warm up for a few minutes first. A cold saxophone plays flat.
- Tap Start Tuning and play your tuning note with a full, steady tone. It depends on the pitch you tune to. To A = 440 Hz or an orchestra's A, alto plays written F♯ and tenor or soprano plays written B. To a band's concert B♭, alto plays written G and tenor or soprano plays written C.
- If it says Tune down (you are sharp), pull the mouthpiece out a little on the neck cork. If it says Tune up (you are flat), push it further on. Small moves make a big difference. Twist gently, and use a little cork grease if it sticks.
Written and Concert Pitch
The alto sax is in E♭: it sounds a major sixth (nine semitones) below the written note. The tenor sax is in B♭ and sounds a major ninth lower (an octave plus a whole step, 14 semitones), and the soprano sax is in B♭ and sounds a whole step lower. In Written Pitch mode the tuner shows the note in your music, octave included. The cents reading is the same in both modes.
| You Play (Written) | It Sounds (Concert) | Frequency |
|---|---|---|
| Alto: F♯5 | A4 | 440.00 Hz |
| Alto: G5 | B♭4 | 466.16 Hz |
| Tenor: B4 | A3 | 220.00 Hz |
| Tenor: C5 | B♭3 | 233.08 Hz |
| Soprano: B4 | A4 | 440.00 Hz |
| Soprano: C5 | B♭4 | 466.16 Hz |
Where the mouthpiece sits, your embouchure, and the reed all change the pitch. If the mouthpiece is pushed all the way on and you are still flat, or nearly off the cork and you are still sharp, the cause is usually the embouchure or the reed rather than the setting. The pitch also rises as the saxophone warms up.