B♭1 Bassoon Fingering
How to play B♭1 on the bassoon: Left thumb low B♭ + B + C + D keys · left hand 1-2-3 · right thumb E key · right hand 1-2-3 · right pinky F key.
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 B♭1 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 B♭1 fingering, step by step
- Press the low B♭ key with your left thumb — one of the four big keys in the low row of the thumb cluster, the keys that lengthen the instrument for its lowest notes.
- Press the low B key with your left thumb — one of the four big keys in the low row of the thumb cluster, the keys that lengthen the instrument for its lowest notes.
- Press the low C key with your left thumb — one of the four big keys in the low row of the thumb cluster, the keys that lengthen the instrument for its lowest notes.
- Press the low D key with your left thumb — one of the four big keys in the low row of the thumb cluster, the keys that lengthen the instrument for its lowest notes.
- 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.
- Press the E key with your right thumb — one of the four keys in the right thumb’s own cluster on the boot joint.
- Cover hole 1 with your right index finger.
- Cover hole 2 with your right middle finger.
- Cover hole 3 with your right ring finger.
- Press the F key with your right pinky.
In short: left thumb low B♭ + B + C + D keys · left hand 1-2-3 · right thumb E key · right hand 1-2-3 · right pinky F key.
About B♭1 on the bassoon
The first octave is the bassoon’s foundation, and it is built from the left thumb upwards. The five lowest notes keep both hands fully down while the thumb’s low keys let go one at a time; the whisper key joins at E2 and stays; and the register tops out at F3, the whisper-key-only note with every finger raised. Almost everything above is one of these shapes with a vent changed — a partial hole, a flick, a pinky key — so this register repays slow, exact learning.
B♭1 is the bassoon’s lowest note, and the fullest handful on the instrument: all four of the left thumb’s low keys down together, both hands down, the right thumb on its E key and the right pinky on F. It uses the entire length of the tube, down one bore of the boot joint and back up the other. If B♭1 will not speak, suspect a leaking pad or a tired reed before the fingering — the lowest notes are where small leaks announce themselves first.
B♭1 is note 1 of the 37 in the full bassoon fingering chartB1 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 B♭1
Low bassoon notes need slow, supported air and sealed pads. Practise the B♭1-to-D2 ladder as a thumb exercise: hands still, thumb releasing one low key at a time, listening for each note to speak without a bump. If a note will not start, check the reed and the boot-joint pads before blaming your fingers.
Questions about B♭1
What is the fingering for B♭1 on bassoon?
Left thumb low B♭ + B + C + D keys · left hand 1-2-3 · right thumb E key · right hand 1-2-3 · right pinky F key. B♭1 is a first 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 B♭1 sound like on a bassoon?
Exactly B♭1 — the bassoon is a non-transposing instrument that reads at concert pitch in the bass clef, so written B♭1 sounds as concert B♭1. When your conductor asks for a concert B♭1, this is the note you finger.
Is there an alternate fingering for B♭1?
For B♭1, 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.