Author: Chris P
Date: 2018-04-14 17:01
I have to admit I'm not a fan of calling sax main action keys misnomers such as 'C key' or 'A key' or 'F# key' as those terms are incredibly vague at best.
Which is why I use labels like LH1, LH2, LH3, RH1, RH2, RH3 for the main action fingerplates on saxes as that is self explanatory. That applies across the board on all woodwinds from piccolos to contrabassoons and everything else between and outside that. Any other keys or toneholes are named accordingly and specific to the instrument in question.
Now, if someone says they're having trouble with the C key on their sax, that can mean anything and nothing specific as it could mean around 6 entirely different keys depending on your viewpoint. And giving keys names like 'A key' can only lead to confusion when you're having to explain the A key is now the C key when you're playing C (or vice versa). If it's called LH2, then that clears up any confusion unless (like me) you get your left and right mixed up.
If you think a basic woodwind instrument such as a tin whistle has no keys and only has six toneholes closed directly by each finger on each hand (not counting the pinkies), then a sax and others should be treated the same in naming the toneholes/ main action fingerplates which are directly closed directly by the fingers. Closed keys are easy to name as they're named after the note that issues from them when they're operated (G# key, side Bb key, low Eb key, etc.).
The problem is there is no universal and definitive system for naming woodwind keywork - players, teachers, repairers and manufacturers won't all use or agree on the same terms, so it is a minefield.
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.
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The Clarinet BBoard
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