B3 on the B♭ Trumpet
To play Low B (B3) on trumpet, press valve 2.
What’s a partial?
With the same valves down your lips can buzz several notes. Each one is a partial, counted from the lowest. Low B is the 2nd.
Play along: hear the note for 2 beats, then you play it for 2.
Valve 2 has the shortest tubing, so it needs no slide correction. Slurring B3 to C4 shows how little the lip changes inside a single partial.
Valve 2 has the shortest tubing, so it needs no slide correction. Slurring B3 to C4 shows how little the lip changes inside a single partial.
Sound and display
Next moves
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Same fingering, different note
Your lips choose between these notes: the fingering stays the same.
More for advanced players
Written and sounding pitch, and how the note works
About this note
Low B is written B3 and sounds concert A3. It is the 2nd partial.
Second partial with valve 2, a semitone under open C4 and usually the easiest low note to find. Valve 2 has the shortest tubing, so it needs no slide correction. Slurring B3 to C4 shows how little the lip changes inside a single partial.
- Primary fingering: Valves 2
- Written pitch: B3 · Concert pitch: A3
- Sounding frequency: 220.00 Hz
- Harmonic partial: 2: the valves set the tube length, but your air and embouchure (the shape of your lips) select the partial.
Questions
How do you play Low B on trumpet?
To play Low B (B3) on trumpet, press valve 2. Low B is written B3 and sounds concert A3. It is the 2nd partial.
Is Low B written or concert pitch?
The name on this page is the written note you read. On B♭ trumpet it sounds concert A3.
B♭ Trumpet 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.