Bass Clarinet
Throat Bb on the Bass Clarinet
Written B♭4 — sounds concert A♭3. Tap the diagram to hear it.
B♭4
Concert A♭3Beginner note
The A lever plus the register key: the top of the throat register and the note every clarinettist wants to sound better. On bass, adding the right-hand fingers as resonance keys is close to essential.
About this note
The A lever plus the register key: the top of the throat register and the note every clarinettist wants to sound better. On bass, adding the right-hand fingers as resonance keys is close to essential.
- Primary fingering: Register key + A key
- Written pitch: B♭4 · Concert pitch: A♭3
- Sounding frequency: 207.65 Hz
Alternate fingerings for Throat Bb
- Resonance fingering (both hands shading): Register key + A key + Left middle (hole 2) + Left ring (hole 3) + Right middle (hole 5) + Right ring (hole 6) + Right pinky F/C key. Use on longer B♭s where there is time to set the extra fingers — it sounds fuller and sits closer to pitch.
- Side-key B♭ (G♯ key with the first side key): G♯ key + Side key 1. Use in trills and quick passages around A and B where a clear, ringing B♭ matters more than the security of the standard fingering.
Trill fingerings
- Throat Bb ↔ B4 (Trill the second side key): Register key + A key + Side key 2
- Throat Bb ↔ C5 (Trill the first side key): Register key + A key + Side key 1
Bass Clarinet fingering data last updated . Every diagram here, in the printable PDF and in the chart image comes from one dataset, so the paper and the screen cannot disagree.