C6 Clarinet Fingering
How to play C6 on the clarinet: Register key · thumb.
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 C6 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 C6 fingering, step by step
- Press the register key with your left thumb.
- Keep the thumb hole covered with your left thumb.
In short: register key · thumb.
About C6 on the clarinet
The clarion is the clarinet’s bright, singing register. Almost every clarion fingering is a low-register fingering plus the register key — which is why the low register is worth learning properly first.
C6 is the highest note of the clarion register, played with just the register key and the thumb. Above here, the altissimo fingerings stop following the low-register pattern.
C6 is note 33 of the 42 in the full clarinet fingering chart, sitting between B5 below it and C♯6 above it. Like every fingering on this site, it was checked against Yamaha’s official chart and the Woodwind Fingering Guide before publishing.
Practising C6
If this note squeaks or drops to its low partner, check your left thumb: it must keep the thumb hole covered while its tip presses the register key. Half-covering the hole is the usual culprit.
Questions about C6
What is the fingering for C6 on clarinet?
Register key · thumb. C6 is a clarion register note. The full step-by-step is on this page, and you can hear the note with the Fingering Finder.
What does C6 sound like on a clarinet?
The clarinet is a transposing instrument in B♭, so written C6 sounds one whole step lower, as concert B♭5. When your band director asks for a concert B♭5, this is the note you finger.
Is there an alternate fingering for C6?
For C6, 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.