A3 Bassoon Fingering
How to play A3 on the bassoon: Flick the A key as the note starts · left hand 1-2-3 · right hand 1-2.
Filled keys and holes in the diagram are the ones you press or cover, and a part-filled first hole is partly covered — a quarter, a half or three quarters, exactly as the fingering states. The column down the left is the left thumb’s nine keys: the whisper key at the top, then the C♯ key, the three flick keys and the four low keys; a dashed flick key is touched only as the note starts, then released. Below them sit the left pinky’s E♭ and C♯ keys — drawn as two keys, because on the instrument they are two. The columns on the right are the right thumb’s four keys and the right pinky’s three, and the narrow key between the right hand’s second and third holes is the sliver B♭ key.
Hear A3 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 A3 fingering, step by step
- Flick the A key with your left thumb as the note starts: touch it for the attack, then let it go while the note keeps sounding. The flick vents the note so it starts cleanly instead of cracking — it is never held down for this note.
- Cover hole 1 with your left index finger.
- Cover hole 2 with your left middle finger.
- Cover hole 3 with your left ring finger. The third left-hand hole is closed by a ring key rather than a plain hole — your finger presses the ring and the pad seals the hole.
- Cover hole 1 with your right index finger.
- Cover hole 2 with your right middle finger.
In short: flick the A key as the note starts · left hand 1-2-3 · right hand 1-2.
About A3 on the bassoon
The second octave is where the bassoon’s special techniques arrive together. It opens with the three partial-hole notes, where the left index finger covers a quarter, a half and three quarters of its hole; continues through the flick notes, where a thumb key is tapped at the attack and released; and closes with plainer fingerings in which the whisper key quietly retires and the thumb keys take over the work.
A3 is the first flick note, and the one that teaches the technique: the A flick key is touched by the left thumb exactly as the note starts and then released while the note sounds on. In the diagram the flick key is drawn dashed, because it is never held. Flicked, A3 starts cleanly; unflicked, it tends to crack down to the note below or grunt — the difference is obvious the first time you try both.
A3 is note 24 of the 37 in the full bassoon fingering chart, sitting between G♯3 below it and B♭3 above it.
Like every fingering on this site, it was checked against Yamaha’s Musical Instrument Guide bassoon chart, the Woodwind Fingering Guide’s bassoon charts and the First 5 Notes bassoon chart before publishing.
Practising A3
Practise the flick as a separate tap: finger A3 silently, tap the A flick key with the thumb, then play the note and flick at the same instant — the thumb should already be hovering over the cluster. For the partial-hole notes, work against a tuner and learn the fractions by feel; your finger cannot watch itself in a fast passage.
Questions about A3
What is the fingering for A3 on bassoon?
Flick the A key as the note starts · left hand 1-2-3 · right hand 1-2. A3 is a second octave note on the bassoon. The full step-by-step is on this page, and you can hear the note with the Fingering Finder.
What does A3 sound like on a bassoon?
Exactly A3 — the bassoon is a non-transposing instrument that reads at concert pitch in the bass clef, so written A3 sounds as concert A3. When your conductor asks for a concert A3, this is the note you finger.
Is there an alternate fingering for A3?
For A3, the fingering above is the one to learn. It is the basic fingering the reference charts agree on 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.