C3 on the BB♭ Tuba
To play C3 on tuba, press valve 1.
What’s a partial?
With the same valves down your lips can buzz several notes. Each one is a partial, counted from the lowest. C3 is the 5th.
Play along: hear the note for 2 beats, then you play it for 2.
Because the 5th partial tends flat, C3 wants firmer lips rather than more air.
Because the 5th partial tends flat, C3 wants firmer lips rather than more air.
Sound and display
Next moves
Teaching a class? Class mode keeps Stand mode and Test me on the notes your class is learning.
Alternate fingerings for C3
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
C3 sounds C3 (the tuba reads at concert pitch). It is on the 5th partial.
Fifth partial with valve 1. Because the 5th partial tends flat, C3 wants firmer lips rather than more air.
- Primary fingering: Valves 1
- Written pitch: C3
- Sounding frequency: 130.81 Hz
- Harmonic partial: 5: the valves set the tube length, but your air and embouchure (the shape of your lips) select the partial.
Alternate fingerings for C3
- 1-3: Valves 1 + 3. Reaches C3 from the 6th partial instead of the 5th; useful for avoiding a flat 5th-partial slot.
Questions
How do you play C3 on tuba?
To play C3 on tuba, press valve 1. C3 sounds C3 (the tuba reads at concert pitch). It is on the 5th partial.
Is C3 written or concert pitch?
The name on this page is the written note you read. It sounds C3.
Is there another fingering for C3?
1-3: Reaches C3 from the 6th partial instead of the 5th; useful for avoiding a flat 5th-partial slot.
BB♭ Tuba 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.