D3 on the BB♭ Tuba
To play D3 on tuba, 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. D3 is the 5th.
Play along: hear the note for 2 beats, then you play it for 2.
Lift it with air speed and firmness, never by pressing the mouthpiece in.
Lift it with air speed and firmness, never by pressing the mouthpiece in.
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 D3
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
D3 sounds D3 (the tuba reads at concert pitch). It is on the 5th partial.
Open horn on the 5th partial, and the one open note that is really flat on most tubas. Lift it with air speed and firmness, never by pressing the mouthpiece in.
- Primary fingering: Open (no valves)
- Written pitch: D3
- Sounding frequency: 146.83 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 D3
- 1-2: Valves 1 + 2. Places D3 on the 6th partial rather than the flat 5th — a trill and flexibility fingering.
Questions
How do you play D3 on tuba?
To play D3 on tuba, press no valves: play it open. D3 sounds D3 (the tuba reads at concert pitch). It is on the 5th partial.
Is D3 written or concert pitch?
The name on this page is the written note you read. It sounds D3.
Is there another fingering for D3?
1-2: Places D3 on the 6th partial rather than the flat 5th — a trill and flexibility fingering.
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.