Fingering-Charts.com is the place to go to get fingering charts for all band instruments. The sight advertises ultra-extreme ranges, but I’ve found that some altissimo notes can require different fingerings based on the make of the instrument you play. Very nice.

Another handy chart to have is called the circle of fifths. This diagram shows you the concert scales and the number of accidentals, or sharps and flats, in that scale. It is especially handy to have when a director calls out the concert scale and say you are playing an alto sax which is in the key of Eb.

For example, if the director calls for a concert Eb scale, that would be a C for alto sax. That’s three half steps down the chromatic scale. Eb to D to C# to C. Now that you know that if the director calls for a concert Ab scale and you are still holding that alto sax, you would go down three half steps to F. And again, looking at the chart, you would know that the F scale has one flat.

One nice way to figure this out is to memorize the chart, which shouldn’t be too hard. Note the word BEAD and you will see a pattern that makes memorization a snap. Also, if you are holding your sax you can just go down the scale chromatically to figure out the sax scale from the concert scale called for.

Two handy reference you can find to explore this further are usually available in second-hand book stores and/or libraries. They are Music Theory for Dummies and the Complete Idiot’s Guide to Music Theory. Enjoy.