Excitation and detection of surface acoustic waves by means of interdigital transducers are studied here in the case of general anisotropic media with low piezoelectric coupling. Relations between mechanical wave amplitude and applied and detected voltage are established. The electromechanical coupling coefficient is calculated from the equivalent electrical circuit of the transducer for different quartz‐crystal orientations. Experimental results are given for different quartz‐crystal cuts, in agreement with the theoretical values.