F1 on the BB♭ Tuba
To play Low F (F1) on tuba, press valves 1 + 3.
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 F is the 2nd.
Play along: hear the note for 2 beats, then you play it for 2.
Keep the air slow and enormous; the tuba wants volume of air, not pressure.
Keep the air slow and enormous; the tuba wants volume of air, not pressure.
Sound and display
Next moves
Teaching a class? Class mode keeps Stand mode and Test me on the notes your class is learning.
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 F sounds F1 (the tuba reads at concert pitch). It is on the 2nd partial.
Second partial with 1-3, and sharp like every 1-3 combination — a four-valve tuba takes valve 4 alone instead. Keep the air slow and enormous; the tuba wants volume of air, not pressure.
- Primary fingering: Valves 1 + 3
- Written pitch: F1
- Sounding frequency: 43.65 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 F on tuba?
To play Low F (F1) on tuba, press valves 1 + 3. Low F sounds F1 (the tuba reads at concert pitch). It is on the 2nd partial.
Is Low F written or concert pitch?
The name on this page is the written note you read. It sounds F1.
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.