Bret Pimentel (on his website, Bret Pimentel Winds) has a web page about “how to create a customized fingering chart.”
Check this out. This is a screen shot of the tool, configuring for saxophone fingerings.
For most people, especially when you’re starting out on a woodwind instrument, this might seem to be an unnecessary tool.
But depending on what you play, or how old your instrument is, you might find that the intonation on your instrument is less than ideal. I find this is especially true with flutes and saxophones, for example.
For instance, I have a slightly sharp high F on my flute. When playing quickly it passes. But when sustaining the note, it bugs me. I used his tool and created this custom fingering chart to remind me that when I play that note, I cover part of the hole with my second finger.
Example – my custom fingering for high F on my flute
You can make your own fingering chart to remember your own alternate fingerings
There are sites that feature alternate fingerings for different woodwind instruments. If you find some problematic notes and want a clear and concise way of keeping track of the alternate fingerings that work to solve this problem, check out Bret’s chart making tool.
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