C5 on the B♭ Trumpet
To play C5 on trumpet, press no valves: play it open.
What’s a partial?
With the same valves down your lips can buzz several notes. Each one is a partial, counted from the lowest. C5 is the 4th.
Play along: hear the note for 2 beats, then you play it for 2.
Faster, more compressed air and a slightly smaller aperture move you up the slot.
Faster, more compressed air and a slightly smaller aperture move you up the slot.
Sound and display
Next moves
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Alternate fingerings for C5
Each alternate has its own link. Send it to a student and the page opens with that fingering on the big diagram.
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
C5 is written C5 and sounds concert B♭4. It is the 4th partial.
Open horn on the 4th partial — an octave above low C4 on exactly the same fingering, which is the clearest proof that valves alone do not choose the pitch. Faster, more compressed air and a slightly smaller aperture move you up the slot.
- Primary fingering: Open (no valves)
- Written pitch: C5 · Concert pitch: B♭4
- Sounding frequency: 466.16 Hz
- Harmonic partial: 4: the valves set the tube length, but your air and embouchure (the shape of your lips) select the partial.
Alternate fingerings for C5
- 2-3: Valves 2 + 3. A 5th-partial fingering for the same pitch; used for trills and where an open C would break a slur.
Questions
How do you play C5 on trumpet?
To play C5 on trumpet, press no valves: play it open. C5 is written C5 and sounds concert B♭4. It is the 4th partial.
Is C5 written or concert pitch?
The name on this page is the written note you read. On B♭ trumpet it sounds concert B♭4.
Is there another fingering for C5?
2-3: A 5th-partial fingering for the same pitch; used for trills and where an open C would break a slur.
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.