B♭ Clarinet

Altissimo F♯ on the B♭ Clarinet

Written F♯6 — sounds concert E6. Tap the diagram to hear it.

F♯6
Concert E6
Written F♯6 on the treble staff

The basic fingering is sparse — register, thumb, left middle finger and the A♭/E♭ key. Two heavier alternatives are widely taught because they pitch more accurately and speak at any volume, which matters on an exposed entry.

About this note

The basic fingering is sparse — register, thumb, left middle finger and the A♭/E♭ key. Two heavier alternatives are widely taught because they pitch more accurately and speak at any volume, which matters on an exposed entry.

  • Primary fingering: Register key + Thumb hole + Left middle (hole 2) + Right pinky A♭/E♭ key
  • Written pitch: F♯6 · Concert pitch: E6
  • Sounding frequency: 1318.51 Hz

Alternate fingerings for Altissimo F♯

  • Left hand with the lowest side key: Register key + Thumb hole + Left index (hole 1) + Left middle (hole 2) + Side key 4 + Right pinky A♭/E♭ key. Use when pitch accuracy matters and for wide leaps — it responds at every dynamic.
  • Covered F♯: Register key + Thumb hole + Left index (hole 1) + Left middle (hole 2) + Right index (hole 4) + Right middle (hole 5) + Right ring (hole 6) + Right pinky A♭/E♭ key. Use for slurs out of the clarion register and for sustained notes at the extremes of the dynamic range.

B♭ 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.