BB♭ Sousaphone
G1 on the BB♭ Sousaphone
Written G1. Tap the diagram to hear it.
G1 is the 2nd partial with valves 1 and 2, 3 semitones below open B♭1. With valves 1 and 2 down the tuning is honest, which makes it a useful note to tune against. Low register: a big, relaxed aperture and lots of slow air; on the march, breathe before the phrase, not during it.
About this note
G1 is the 2nd partial with valves 1 and 2, 3 semitones below open B♭1. With valves 1 and 2 down the tuning is honest, which makes it a useful note to tune against. Low register: a big, relaxed aperture and lots of slow air; on the march, breathe before the phrase, not during it.
- Primary fingering: Valves 1 + 2
- Written pitch: G1
- Sounding frequency: 49.00 Hz
- Harmonic partial: 2 — the valves set the tube length, but your air and embouchure select the partial.
Alternate fingerings for G1
- 3: Valves 3. Valve 3 alone lowers the same minor third as 1-2 and often sits truer in tune this low.
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.