BB♭ Sousaphone
B♭2 on the BB♭ Sousaphone
Written B♭2. Tap the diagram to hear it.
B♭2
4th partialBeginner note
B♭2 is an open note on the 4th partial: no valves down, so the lip alone picks the slot. With no valves down the tuning is honest, which makes it a useful note to tune against. This is the sousaphone's most comfortable range — where most marching parts live.
About this note
B♭2 is an open note on the 4th partial: no valves down, so the lip alone picks the slot. With no valves down the tuning is honest, which makes it a useful note to tune against. This is the sousaphone's most comfortable range — where most marching parts live.
- Primary fingering: Open (no valves)
- Written pitch: B♭2
- Sounding frequency: 116.54 Hz
- Harmonic partial: 4 — the valves set the tube length, but your air and embouchure select the partial.
Alternate fingerings for B♭2
- 2-3: Valves 2 + 3. A 5th-partial fingering for the same pitch, useful where an open note would break a slur.
BB♭ Sousaphone 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.