B6 Flute Fingering
How to play B6 on the flute: Thumb on the B lever · left hand 1-3 · D# trill key.
Filled keys in the diagram are the ones you press. The two levers at the top left are the thumb keys; the three keys along the bottom are the foot-joint keys, worked by the right pinky — the same pinky that holds the E♭ key on most notes. Piccolo players: this fingering is identical on piccolo and sounds an octave higher.
Hear B6 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 B6 fingering, step by step
- Put your left thumb on the B lever — for this note the thumb must be on the B-natural lever, not the B♭ lever.
- Left hand: press keys 1, 3.
- Press the D# trill key — one of the two small keys between the right-hand finger keys, worked by the right-hand fingers.
- Keep your right pinky off the E♭ key for this note — it is one of the few notes played with the pinky lifted.
In short: thumb on the B lever · left hand 1-3 · D# trill key.
About B6 on the flute
The high register has its own fingering logic: forked shapes, thumb-less notes, trill keys doing real work, and the E♭ key coming off for the top three notes. These fingerings come straight from the standard charts — third-octave fingerings are the ones players most often misremember, so check rather than guess.
B6 uses the D♯ trill key in place of the usual right-hand fingers, with the thumb on the B lever and the E♭ key off. Together with B♭6 it is the trill-key pair at the top of the standard range.
B6 is note 36 of the 37 in the full flute fingering chart, sitting between B♭6 below it and C7 above it. Like every fingering on this site, it was checked against Yamaha’s official chart and the Woodwind Fingering Guide before publishing.
Practising B6
Third-octave notes need fast, focused air and a firm — not tight — embouchure. Practise this note in short bursts from the note below it, and stop before your embouchure tires; tired practice teaches the wrong shape.
Questions about B6
What is the fingering for B6 on flute?
Thumb on the B lever · left hand 1-3 · D# trill key. B6 is a high register note. The full step-by-step is on this page, and you can hear the note with the Fingering Finder.
What does B6 sound like on a flute?
Exactly as written: B6. The flute is not a transposing instrument, so the note you finger is the note that sounds. On piccolo, the same fingering sounds one octave higher, as B7.
Is there an alternate fingering for B6?
For B6, 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.