A3 Clarinet Fingering
How to play A3 on the clarinet: Thumb · left hand 1-2-3 · right hand 1-2.
Filled keys and holes in the diagram are the ones you press or cover. The thumb hole is on the back of the clarinet, so it is drawn to the left; the small cluster at the bottom is the pinky keys.
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
- Cover the thumb hole with your left thumb.
- Left hand: cover holes 1, 2, 3.
- Right hand: cover holes 1, 2.
In short: thumb · left hand 1-2-3 · right hand 1-2.
About A3 on the clarinet
The chalumeau is the clarinet’s low register — dark, warm and woody. 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.
In this part of the low register the left hand stays completely down while the right-hand fingers lift away one at a time: A3 keeps right-hand fingers 1 and 2 down, B♭3 keeps only finger 1, and C4 lifts the whole right hand.
A3 is note 6 of the 42 in the full clarinet 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 official chart and the Woodwind Fingering Guide before publishing.
Practising A3
Low notes speak best with steady, warm air and a relaxed throat. If this note cracks or feels stuffy, check first that every finger is sealing its hole completely — low notes forgive nothing.
Questions about A3
What is the fingering for A3 on clarinet?
Thumb · left hand 1-2-3 · right hand 1-2. A3 is a chalumeau register note. 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 clarinet?
The clarinet is a transposing instrument in B♭, so written A3 sounds one whole step lower, as concert G3. When your band director asks for a concert G3, 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 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.