Clarinet altissimo fingering chart

Altissimo fingerings: C♯6 to C7

Every altissimo note in the standard written range, with its concert pitch and the number of widely published alternate fingerings. Written pitches are what you read; the concert column is what sounds on a B♭ clarinet.

What actually makes altissimo work

Below C♯6 the clarinet is predictable: the register key turns any low-register fingering into a note a twelfth higher. The altissimo does not work like that. These fingerings vent the tube — usually by lifting the left index finger and adding a little-finger key — so the instrument locks onto a higher harmonic instead of the fundamental. That is why the shapes stop looking logical: altissimo C♯6, D6 and E6 all share the same vented left hand, and only the right-hand keys change.

But the fingering is the easy half. The register is produced by voicing and air speed: tongue high as if saying “ee”, throat open, a little more mouthpiece, and fast, focused air. What it is not is jaw pressure. Biting stops the reed vibrating, so a bitten altissimo note comes out as a squeal, sharp and thin, or not at all. When a note misfires, check the voicing before you question the fingering — and check that the vented hole is genuinely open, because a finger resting lightly on it will silence the whole note.

Altissimo fingerings genuinely vary by set-up

This is the honest caveat that belongs on every altissimo chart. From about B♭6 upward, which fingering works depends on your instrument, mouthpiece and reed as much as on the note. B♭6 varies between set-ups more than anything below it. G♯6 has widely differing published fingerings, and one of the simplest — register, thumb, right index and the A♭/E♭ key — tunes well on many instruments while looking nothing like its neighbours. Altissimo C tops most charts and again exists in several versions.

So the alternates in the table above are not decoration. F♯6 has a sparse basic fingering plus two heavier ones that pitch more accurately and speak at any dynamic — worth having for an exposed entry. F6 has a fully covered version that slurs far better out of the clarion register and holds together quietly. Try them on your own horn and keep whichever centres: that is normal practice for this register, not a sign you are doing something wrong.

A practice progression that works

Build the register from below rather than jumping at it. Slur up from a clarion note into the altissimo note that shares its shape and let the voicing travel — clarion G5 into altissimo D6, B5 into E6, F♯6 and G6 into B6. Slurring back down matters just as much, because it teaches you how far the voicing has to relax between registers.

A workable order: start with altissimo G, which is usually the first note above F♯6 that a student can rely on and the ceiling of many school-band parts. Add F♯6 next, since it sits just below and has stable alternates. Then altissimo A, the practical top of most band writing. C♯6, D6 and E6 are worth drilling alongside as a group, because they share one hand shape. Keep sessions short: the register rewards a focused reed and a settled embouchure, and both go once you are tired.

Frequently asked questions