BB♭ Tuba

G♭3 on the BB♭ Tuba

Written G♭3. Tap the diagram to hear it.

G♭3
8th partial
Written G♭3 on the bass staff

Eighth partial with 2-3, four semitones below B♭3. Valve 1 would land on the unusable 7th partial; up here the lip, not the valve, decides which note comes out.

About this note

Eighth partial with 2-3, four semitones below B♭3. Valve 1 would land on the unusable 7th partial; up here the lip, not the valve, decides which note comes out.

  • Primary fingering: Valves 2 + 3
  • Written pitch: G♭3
  • Sounding frequency: 185.00 Hz
  • Harmonic partial: 8 — the valves set the tube length, but your air and embouchure select the partial.

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.