G3 Bassoon Fingering
How to play G3 on the bassoon: Whisper key · left hand 1 (half-covered)-2-3 · left pinky E♭ key · right hand 1-2-3.
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 G3 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 G3 fingering, step by step
- Press the whisper key with your left thumb and keep it down for the whole note. It is the bassoon’s register vent: it helps this register speak cleanly, but unlike a clarinet register key it does not choose the register for you — the fingering does that.
- Cover only half of the first hole with your left index finger: slide the finger up the key so the stated fraction of the hole stays open. This partial hole is the bassoon’s vent for this note — the exact fraction matters, so find it by ear against a tuner.
- 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 left pinky — the upper of the two separate pinky keys on the long joint. (Some charts draw the E♭ and C♯ pinky keys as one merged shape; on the instrument they are two keys, and this note uses E♭.)
- Cover hole 1 with your right index finger.
- Cover hole 2 with your right middle finger.
- Cover hole 3 with your right ring finger.
In short: whisper key · left hand 1 (half-covered)-2-3 · left pinky E♭ key · right hand 1-2-3.
About G3 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.
G3 is the half-hole note: the first hole half covered, and — the part players forget — the left pinky’s E♭ key down as well. That E♭ key is not a mistake in the chart; both main references print it, and it steadies the note’s pitch and response. Miss it out and G3 tends to sag and speak reluctantly.
G3 is note 22 of the 37 in the full bassoon fingering chart, sitting between F♯3 below it and G♯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 G3
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 G3
What is the fingering for G3 on bassoon?
Whisper key · left hand 1 (half-covered)-2-3 · left pinky E♭ key · right hand 1-2-3. G3 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 G3 sound like on a bassoon?
Exactly G3 — the bassoon is a non-transposing instrument that reads at concert pitch in the bass clef, so written G3 sounds as concert G3. When your conductor asks for a concert G3, this is the note you finger.
Is there an alternate fingering for G3?
For G3, 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.