Hark! The Herald Angels Sing for Alto Saxhear it, slow it down, play along
- Tune: MENDELSSOHN
- Felix Mendelssohn
- E♭ alto sax
- D major
- 4/4
- 20 bars
On the alto sax
It runs from A4 to B5 (written).
It is written in D major, a major sixth above how it sounds, so it sounds in F major, the same key as the concert-pitch versions. You can play it together with a violin or flute reading their own page.
How it goes
Twenty bars in 4/4. The first four bars come back at once with a new ending. In the middle, one short phrase is played twice. Then the line climbs to the top note twice, and each time comes down with the same dotted figure, the second time to the home note.
A way to practise it
Loop bars 13 and 14, with the repeated top notes, at the slow tempo. Watch the dotted rhythm in the last line: a dotted quarter, then an eighth.
- Slow ♩ = 60
- Practice ♩ = 80
- Goal ♩ = 100
About the hymn
Charles Wesley's words were published in 1739. The tune comes from Felix Mendelssohn's Festgesang of 1840, written for a festival in honour of Gutenberg's printing press. William H. Cummings fitted it to Wesley's words in the 1850s.
This page has the melody of Cummings's setting, the form hymnals print.
Hark! The Herald Angels Sing for other instruments
Each version is written in a key that suits the instrument, with its own page and player.
Reading a transposed part
E♭ alto sax reads a different note from the one that sounds. How alto sax transposition works, with a chart you can listen to.
More hymns
Questions
- Is there Hark! The Herald Angels Sing sheet music for alto sax?
- Yes. This page shows the melody written for E♭ alto sax in D major, 20 bars in 4/4, and plays it. The notes are public domain.
- What notes does Hark! The Herald Angels Sing use on alto sax?
- In this version the melody runs from A4 to B5 (written). Press play and watch the cursor: it follows the notes as they sound.
- How fast should I play Hark! The Herald Angels Sing?
- Hymnals don't fix one speed, and churches sing it at different tempos. Start around ♩ = 60, practise at 80, then match the speed your church sings it. The player's tempo buttons move in steps of 4.
- Is this the same key as my hymnal?
- Maybe not: hymnals print Hark! The Herald Angels Sing in different keys. This page sounds in F major. Check the key signature in your hymnal before you play along with the organ or piano.
- Is this in concert pitch or written pitch for alto sax?
- Written pitch. E♭ alto sax sounds a major sixth lower than written, so the D major on this page sounds in F major. The player plays it at the pitch you would hear.
- Can I play it together with other instruments?
- Yes: the versions for Violin, Cello, Flute, B♭ clarinet, B♭ trumpet, F horn sound in the same key, F major, so you can play them at the same time, each reading their own page.
Photograph your own part with ScoreLens.
This player is the one in the app. Photograph a printed melody or instrumental part, and ScoreLens plays it back, slower or in another key. It reads one line on one staff: a hymnal page with four voices on two staves is out of reach for now, and so is handwriting.
