Dolphin Shoals - Mario Kart 8 (Alto Saxophone Solo Sheet Music)

A full transcription of the Alto Saxophone solo in Dolphin Shoals from the Mario Kart 8 soundtrack.
PDF available at www.joeatkinreeves.com/transcriptions
0:00 Not the Mario Kart Lick
1:03 The Mario Kart Lick
1:08 Not the Mario Kart Lick

[@LAM1895]

I love how Musescore colors out of range notes in red and this solo happens to have one of those notes played, shows how uncommon the note is and how good the player that hit it is

[@HyperLuigi37]

What does the yellow coloring mean? I didn’t think there was much difference between the altissimo of the yellow and of the red based on which notes it colored, just that the red is even higher. Plus it even doesn’t color high G anything despite that being altissimo too.

[@LAM1895]

@@HyperLuigi37 Yellow is for notes that are still in range but are rarely played on that particular instrument, it helps composers know that while the note can be played it may not be a good idea to go there.

[@HyperLuigi37]

@@LAM1895 I figured it was something like that, it must just be their weird choice of how to split them up, especially given high G is definitely also altissimo, and most Altissimo guides I watch put the entire first Altissimo octave and even I think another fourth or so in the same Altissimo camp, whereas it labeled high D#, only a minor sixth up from that G, as out of range

[@LAM1895]

@@HyperLuigi37 It’s definitely weird since even for red notes there is no distinction between very hard notes and simply impossible ones but yeah those are just different standards, I’m not a specialist but maybe they are industry standards.

[@extremecowz7694]

What’s the technique to it? It seems impossible

[@JoeAtkinReeves]

Would people be interested in a video breaking down the extended techniques in this solo?

[@grayfox3057]

Of course:)

[@frostyflake1128.]

Yeah!

[@Cherri096]

yeah

[@arisowizard7178]

Yessss

[@nektariosattitis3841]

Why u are asking??

[@ThePestcontrol]

I've been listening to Mario Kart 8s soundtrack a lot recently and I kid you not, the more I listen to it the more it makes me want to learn the Alto Saxophone.

[@TheToneBender]

Do it. I'm sitting with one on my lap as I type this (with one hand as the other is holding the sax so it doesn't bonk my desk). Word of advice; Go to a specialised store. I got my first one from a more generic instrument store where the owner was a guitarist (got several guitars from there), but he knew nothing of saxophones, so got a "cheap" sax (still like 400 bucks) which was a nightmare. Gave me nothing but trouble for 3 months until after a lot of hassle I managed to return it and get my money back. Went to a specialised store recommended by my teacher and got a good one (1000 bucks, which is about the price range of a decent beginner sax - yes, those things are expensive af. Most instruments are) that was adjusted and the owner of that store also gave me a better mouth piece and stuff. So be careful what you buy, because it's worth it to get a good one from a good place. Might be best to look for a teacher first and ask them for a good store and a good beginner sax to get.

[@juliaf_]

You should :) I played for 4.5yrs casually starting in middle school but stopped when schools closed in 2020. Picking hit up again now is the most fun I've had in a while

[@Apollo-th7sg]

There’s a KZbinr called betterSax and if u watch some of his videos for beginners u may find something that interests you (best mouthpieces for under $100, best beginner sax, etc)

[@TrashCanBoiBoi]

@@juliaf_ that's great to hear 😎

[@dissolved3040]

One of us, one of us (been playing for 3 years now)

[@Speedroids]

why this gotta go so damn hard doe

[@TripsTheRidley]

Right?

[@Roman-rx2tm]

I’m gonna try and learn it.

[@yeetiluslayeet2080]

1:04 best part

[@robertlacey8248]

1:04

[@timothyjain324]

The purpose of our universe

[@gavincox795]

Super fun to play as well.

[@sergiovalentinhr2117]

excitante :v

[@the.bloodless.one1312]

God DAYUM those stanky lines! He’s ON FIRE! What a soundtrack in general. Still, after all these years since it’s release, I still hold it’s one of Nintendo’s best scores since the 90s!

[@duncanreid1657]

One of the greatest solos evet

[@duncanreid1657]

Ever

[@jefferychou2017]

fax@@duncanreid1657

[@duncanreid1657]

🅿️👌🏽

[@alphanootje5769]

You're a hero. Thank you so much!

[@wally226]

God I wish I had his sound

[@jardov1234]

Brilliant!

[@maguffle]

Thank you!

[@stephaniecruz8816]

THANK YOUUUUUUU

[@TarzanSpeedruns]

YESS THANK YOU SO MUCH!!! I can finally do this

[@stephaniecruz8816]

GOOD LUCK

[@faiwong8534]

NICE and great version .it is in ALTO Eb transcription! very nice and thank you!

[@JGu3rra]

I play alto sax but how do you reach G5(?) and the A at 0:38 , when most finger charts only go to F# ?

[@JoeAtkinReeves]

Hi Joaquin - it's the altissimo register, notes that exist above the written F#. Look into Sigurd Rascher's Top Tones for more info!

[@julianmoore6190]

Hey if you dont want to pay for a book, you are basically doing partials on an alto. Once you reach altissimo, fingerings get less specific and the amount of air and your throat positioning become more important. For high G, I use the first key above bis Bb, F natural, and the alternate key near the wrist for Bb (the bottom last one). You and the alto are one instrument, and you resonate together. You can think of it as an overtone, but much higher. Most likely if you don't have the capacity to do it, you won't be able to hit it first try. Ask some professional sax players in you area about this too. Finger in a way you like after you find more, and practice often. Eventually you'll hit the note.

[@dexus1688]

an easier way than full altissimo so to say is to just do 1,3 1,3 then the middle key in the bar thing

[@electrque2890]

That D sharp is INSANE

[@craftman2845]

400th like, this video is amazing

[@JoelElias2_1]

I'm back to playing saxophone and this hits my interest so I'm going to play this just to flex on my musician friends hahaha

[@kofatsu]

now the famous mario kart lick™ is cool and all but the line at 0:43 is actually really neat

[@foosington]

NO CAP 💯

[@jcs3146]

1:03 hit

[@josiahsegovia04]

Bro got a TM

[@ppheard1254]

1:04 mario kart lick

[@TheBreadedMan336]

altissimo...

[@yearlong5179]

Gonna try playing parts i can on my bari, i tell y’all how it goes

[@quilloneal]

i usually hate reading so many ledger lines but i will allow it this one time

[@quilloneal]

for more context i’m in high school choir so i’m a vocalist, not an instrumentalist. i usually only go like two lines out of the staff and even those are rare so i’m just not used to seeing like five lines showing up so frequently lol

[@NotFine]

I play flute, so seeing these ledger lines actually makes it easier for me to read lol

[@AhtNFG]

everyone talking about the lick but yall sleeping on 0:26

[@jtpiano4937]

I think its bc its a popular theme in that piece

[@ignatius7979]

0:56 0:57

[@James-hb2jz]

The lick is in the 2nd part

[@evanmeza2243]

can someone please explain to me what the thing at 1:27 is? I really want to learn how to do that

[@me-ib1zo]

The three notes with a three under it? If so, that’s called a triplet, which is where you play 3 equal notes in 1 beat. They appear often so it’s a good thing to learn, with the beat going DUH-DUH-DUH dah (triplet with dotted half note after) They’re fun to play too

[@evanmeza2243]

@@me-ib1zo hey thanks for replying but I messed up my time stamp, I mean :27. the thing in between the D and the A

[@me-ib1zo]

@@evanmeza2243 don’t remember what the name for it is, but basically, you just go from the d to an a while playing some of the notes in between the d and the a

[@me-ib1zo]

Glissando (gliss)

[@briangruenewald7536]

1:04 Saxologic would like to know your location

[@alexlopezmedia]

the link at the end cuts off the end of the transcription now

[@musicgaming9718]

0:44

[@rinkashimeperoja5344]

Sir good evening .. do you have a minus one of dolphin shoal??

[@HyperLuigi37]

What are the “False Fingerings”? They sound like normal notes to me, weird, I’ve never heard of a technique like that

[@GamerStickslol]

I was wondering the same thing

[@nhattuyenvodieu3103]

you switch between alternative fingering for one note. usually the sound/pitch changes a little bit so it gives a little bit of diversity in the sound.

[@HyperLuigi37]

@@nhattuyenvodieu3103 Oh that’s so weird, thanks

[@HyperLuigi37]

@@nhattuyenvodieu3103 Wait, but the first false fingering note in this at 0:46 is A, which only has one fingering, at least as far as I’m aware

[@GamerStickslol]

@@nhattuyenvodieu3103 Hmm very interesting thanks

[@leongarcia4041]

How the fluff do you hit that red note Changing embouchure? Or what Im not experienced enough to know this shit, either that or Its been too long since ive picked up a sax

[@dylanvaneaton895]

i just played it kind of on accident, you can honk it out with just the octave key if you pitch bend up enough

[@d4rk1ze95]

I assume you’re talking about the note at 1:10, which is an altissimo D#. Altissimo notes on the saxophone are notes above the normal range of the saxophone that a lot of professional saxophonists use in improvisation. I started learning these only a few weeks ago, and they’re pretty easy to squeak out once you get the hang of it. Having a faster airstream and a “tighter” embouchure can help you get those notes out quicker. If you’re struggling to pop those notes out, I recommend looking around Google or Saxophone KZbinrs because those really helped me

[@seymour_as2498]

How do you play the notes in red. I’ve been searching the internet on how to play the red notes and couldn’t find anything

[@fortniter2738]

Play more

[@rich99552]

they are altissimo notes. that means you’ll have to develop your altissimo fingerings and technique, which is a very advanced and challenging ability. I personally struggle with them, but you can try. search up videos on altissimo notes for sax to help.

[@seymour_as2498]

@@rich99552 oh I looked it up and I’ve been practicing altissimo and gotten pretty decent with but thanks anyways 👍

[@xxtucangoxxproninja5508]

ed sheeran thinking out loud lyrics

[@wettoast8058]

Would u be able to make a tenor version plz.?

[@JoeAtkinReeves]

Unfortunately the altissimo would be too high on Tenor to transpose it directly

[@lennyface2586]

How do you get a saxophone to sound like that wtf

[@drewmic2518]

1:00

[@MrOizi]

WHERE CAN I GET A backing track????Helppp plssss

[@sweetpotatoesarereallygood]

that altissimo d# tho 😳

[@wilsoncosta5822]

PDF

[@OniChimmy]

how to do high d sharp altissimo???

[@JoeAtkinReeves]

Octave key, front F key and F sharp or side Bb key is a good fingering for me

[@user-ho9wk4do4g]

00:47

[@squidskins2848]

0:48

[@squidskins2848]

0:47

[@partymaster6475]

how to play notes that high

[@Roman-rx2tm]

0:39 is altissimo G and the way I finger it is as if I were to finger Bb but then bottom side key and high f# key The A between it is fingered 2 3 1 2 This one’s a lot harder to do

[@Roman-rx2tm]

1:12 I finger with the altissimo key and high f# key

[@bloom2882]

Hey, amazing transcription, but was wondering about how to hit this e flat at 1:09

[@JoeAtkinReeves]

Quite a few people have asked about the altissimo notes in the score, so here's a general guide; Altissimo is any note from F#3 upwards and fingerings will vary greatly from saxophone to saxophone. In order to get started with the third and fourth octaves I recommend reading and (slowly) working through Sigurd Rascher's Top Tones for the Saxophone, focusing on the first few exercises concerned with the harmonic series and tones before attempting anything from G upwards. Personally my fingering for this Eb/D# is to use the front F key, side Bb key and the side F# key and to bend with my throat for the slightly microtonal sound of this blue note.

[@bloom2882]

Wow, thanks for response!

[@Propernoob56]

​@bloom2882 just use open c# fingering its pretty consistent

[@liamp.9201]

what does “false fingering” mean?

[@JoeAtkinReeves]

So a false fingering is when you use a different fingering to achieve a similar sounding note, but it will have a different quality. For example, if you play an A in the second octave, and then play the same left hand fingering with your right hand three fingers down it will be slightly sharper. A lot of false fingerings are on the harmonic series (G played with a low C fingering, G# with low C# etc). Have a look at some guides and experiment for yourself. Funk and R&B players like Maceo Parker and Gerald Albright use false fingerings all the time for a great one note groove effect.

[@unavailableFALL]

Lol is it even possible to conduct at this tempo??

[@pianosongs6471]

Can you give me the sheet link

[@JoeAtkinReeves]

www.joeatkinreeves.com/transcriptions

[@doormatcat]

I have a question, what are those notes? 0:37

[@nicholasrossi739]

@AverageDude Those notes are altissimo A and altissimo G. Good luck playing it. The red-colored note later in the song is altissimo D#.

[@doormatcat]

@@nicholasrossi739 if I recall correctly I only know how to go up to that high E

[@nicholasrossi739]

@@doormatcat High E - D palm key, E palm key, top side key (on the right side) High F - D palm, E palm, F palm, top side key. Above high F is pretty hard to get. For notes higher than high F, I recommend just playing the same note an octave down. Above high F is called altissimo. I have been playing for 18 months and I'm just starting to be able to get up to altissimo G.

[@doormatcat]

@@nicholasrossi739 i have been playing for 6 years but never got into that stuff I just play I want to make a career (eg. saxophone teacher) out of this so i should start studying theory

[@nicholasrossi739]

@@doormatcat If you meant 'should I start studying music theory' and not 'I should start music theory', then it depends on what type of teacher you're going to be. Students don't need to know music theory unless they are in a music college or really advanced or something. Classical music usually doesn't music theory, but jazz definitely does with all the improvisational stuff going on in jazz. I don't know if you were asking me if you should or telling me you should, but it's good to know. It's just not necessary in all types of playing.

[@byf4ith]

Thanks just made a video with this lick. kzbin.info/www/bejne/oqSVdYV4rbp2m6c

[@obliviondudeman9764]

1:04

[@jacopastorius7169]

0:57

[@jgcodes2020]

1:03

[@alicekrn]

0:29

[@julianpollack3740]

1:03

[@alicekrn]

0:29