E♭3 Bass Clarinet Fingering
How to play E♭3 on the bass clarinet: Thumb · left hand 1-2-3 · right hand 1-2-3 · low E♭ extension key (right pinky).
Filled keys and holes in the diagram are the ones you press or cover. The thumb hole is on the back of the instrument, so it is drawn to the left; the clusters at the bottom are the pinky keys, and the wide key marked "Low E♭" is the bass clarinet's extension key, below the right-hand pinky keys.
Hear E♭3 and try the fingering
Pick an instrument and a note and the diagram updates instantly — filled keys are the ones you press. The same finder sits on every note page, pre-set to that note.
The E♭3 fingering, step by step
- Cover the thumb hole with your left thumb.
- Left hand: cover holes 1, 2, 3.
- Right hand: cover holes 1, 2, 3.
- Press the low E♭ key with your right pinky — the extension key below the right-hand E key, the extra key that takes the bass clarinet one note below the soprano clarinet’s low E. It is a long lever running down the lower joint; press it firmly so the big pad at the bottom seals completely.
In short: thumb · left hand 1-2-3 · right hand 1-2-3 · low E♭ extension key (right pinky).
About E♭3 on the bass clarinet
The chalumeau is the bass clarinet’s glory — the dark, woody low register the instrument exists for. These fingerings are the foundation of everything above them: add the register key to most of them and the same fingers produce the clarion register a twelfth higher. The register starts one note lower than the soprano’s, on the low E♭ extension key.
E♭3 is the bass clarinet’s signature note — the lowest note on the standard instrument, one semitone below where every soprano clarinet stops. It exists because of the extension key: a long lever down the lower joint to an extra pad, worked by the right pinky from below the E key. School band parts are written down to this note as a matter of course, and it sounds as concert D♭2 — deep enough to double the tubas. Professional low-C models continue below it to D3, C♯3 and C3 on extra thumb keys; those notes are covered in the text of the bass clarinet fingering chart, because their keywork varies by maker.
E♭3 is note 1 of the 34 in the full bass clarinet fingering chartE3 above it.
E♭3 has no counterpart on the soprano clarinet — the clarinet fingering chart starts a semitone higher, at E3. Like every fingering on this site, it was checked against the Woodwind Fingering Guide's bass clarinet chart and Yamaha's official chart before publishing.
Practising E♭3
Low bass notes speak best with a great deal of slow, warm air. If this note cracks, gurgles or will not start, check first that the pinky keys are sealing their pads completely — the levers are long, and a half-pressed pinky key is the usual culprit down here.
Questions about E♭3
What is the fingering for E♭3 on bass clarinet?
Thumb · left hand 1-2-3 · right hand 1-2-3 · low E♭ extension key (right pinky). E♭3 is a chalumeau register note on the bass clarinet. The full step-by-step is on this page, and you can hear the note with the Fingering Finder.
What does E♭3 sound like on a bass clarinet?
The bass clarinet is a transposing instrument in B♭ that sounds a major ninth below its written notes, so written E♭3 sounds as concert D♭2. When your band director asks for a concert D♭2, this is the note you finger.
Is there an alternate fingering for E♭3?
For E♭3, the fingering above is the one to learn. It is the basic fingering both reference charts give for this note, and the one teachers expect to see.
Think this fingering is wrong? Report it — every report is checked against the source charts.