B♭4 Euphonium Fingering
How to play B♭4 on the euphonium: Open — no valves pressed at all. — on the 8th partial, in bass clef, sounding exactly as written. The baritone horn plays this note with exactly the same fingering.
Filled valves in the diagram are the ones you press. Valve 1 is nearest you and is worked by your right index finger, valve 2 by the middle finger, and valve 3 — nearest the bell — by the ring finger. These are three-valve fingerings for the B♭ euphonium; the staff is in bass clef, and in bass clef the euphonium sounds exactly as written. The same fingering serves the baritone horn, and a treble-clef player will find this note written as C6.
Hear B♭4 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♭4 fingering, step by step
- Leave all three valves up — this is an open note. The euphonium’s open tube speaks six notes in this range, and your lips and air choose which one: hear the pitch in your head before you play, and keep the sound round rather than pushing for it.
In short: open — no valves pressed at all.
About B♭4 on the euphonium
The high register rides the 6th partial (E♭4, E4, F4) and then the 8th (G♭4 to B♭4), stepping clean over the unusable 7th partial. The fingerings up here are short ones — open, 2, 1, 1+2, 2+3 — and accuracy comes from hearing the exact partial before you play, because the rungs of the ladder are close together now. Keep the tone as round as the middle register: fast air, open throat, no pinching.
B♭4 is the top of the standard school chart — the 8th partial, open, written C6 in a treble-clef part. Advanced players continue above it, but up there the partials crowd together and fingerings become a matter of the individual instrument and player, which is why the standard charts stop here.
B♭4 is note 25 of the 25 in the full euphonium fingering chart, sitting between A4 below it. Like every fingering on this site, it was checked against the NoteAtlas euphonium chart and the University of Mississippi's euphonium and baritone chart before publishing — and the same fingering serves the baritone horn.
Practising B♭4
High notes still need volume of air, not pressure: keep the air moving in a big column and let the aperture do the aiming. Practise this note in short bursts, approaching by slur from the open note a partial below.
Questions about B♭4
What is the fingering for B♭4 on euphonium?
Open — no valves pressed at all. B♭4 is played on the 8th partial (harmonic) of the B♭ euphonium in the high register, with the three-valve fingerings this site charts. The baritone horn uses exactly the same fingering for this note. The full step-by-step is on this page, and you can hear the note with the Fingering Finder.
Does B♭4 sound as written on euphonium?
In bass clef, yes: euphonium and baritone parts are written at concert pitch, so written B♭4 sounds as concert B♭4 — the same pitch a piano plays. In a treble-clef (brass band) part the same sounding note is written a major ninth higher, as C6. The fingering is identical either way.
Is there an alternate fingering for B♭4?
For B♭4, 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.