A♭5 French Horn Fingering
How to play A♭5 on the French horn: B♭ side · thumb trigger pressed · valve 2 pressed.
Filled valves in the diagram are the ones you press — with your left hand: on the horn, the three valve levers and the thumb trigger are all worked by the left hand, while the right hand rests in the bell and looks after tuning and tone. The small lever marked T at the left of the diagram is the thumb trigger: filled means it is held down, which switches the horn to its B♭ side, and the pill under the valves names the side this fingering uses in words. If your music spells this note G♯5, it is the same pitch and the same fingering.
Hear A♭5 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 A♭5 fingering, step by step
- Press the thumb trigger with your left thumb and hold it down for the whole note. The trigger switches the double horn to its shorter B♭ side, so the valves you press next work on B♭-side tubing — the side the standard fingerings use from A♭4 up.
- Press valve 2 with your left middle finger — press it straight down, all the way, with the pad of the finger. The horn's valves are worked by the left hand; the right hand stays in the bell.
- Keep the fingers you are not using curved and resting lightly on their valve caps, ready for the next note.
In short: B♭ side · thumb trigger pressed · valve 2 pressed.
Alternate fingering for A♭5
F side · thumb trigger off · valves 2 + 3 pressed.
This version plays A♭5 on the F side of the double horn, thumb trigger untouched. It is the version you need on a single F horn. On a double horn the B♭ side above is the school standard from A♭4 up, but the F side's warmer, rounder sound wins some players over, and the fingering is worth having either way. This is also one of the four notes where the two reference charts print different B♭-side fingerings: the main fingering above follows the NoteAtlas chart, and the First 5 Notes chart's B♭-side version (B♭ side · thumb trigger pressed · valves 2 + 3 pressed.) is recorded in the Sources section of the French horn fingering chart.
About A♭5 on the French horn
The high register lives entirely on the B♭ side, trigger down throughout. Up here the harmonics sit close together and the lips do more of the choosing between neighbouring notes, which is precisely why the shorter B♭ tubing — whose high harmonics stand further apart — is the standard side. The register tops out at C6, the highest note with a standardised school fingering.
A♭5 is note 27 of the 31 in the full french horn fingering chart, sitting between G5 below it and A5 above it.
Like every fingering on this site, it was checked against the NoteAtlas French horn fingering chart and the First 5 Notes French horn fingering chart before publishing.
Practising A♭5
High notes are placed by the lips on close-together harmonics, so practise them in short, fresh bursts rather than long tired ones: firm corners, fast air, and no extra mouthpiece pressure. Slur up the open harmonics first (C5 to E♭5 to G5 needs no valve changes at all), then add the fingered notes around them.
Questions about A♭5
What is the fingering for A♭5 on French horn?
B♭ side · thumb trigger pressed · valve 2 pressed. A♭5 is a high register note on the French horn, played on the B♭ side of the double horn. The full step-by-step is on this page, and you can hear the note with the Fingering Finder.
What does A♭5 sound like on a French horn?
Concert D♭5 — the French horn in F sounds a perfect fifth below its written notes, so written A♭5 sounds as concert D♭5. When your band director asks for a concert D♭5, this is the note you finger.
Is there an alternate fingering for A♭5?
Yes — F side · thumb trigger off · valves 2 + 3 pressed. This version plays A♭5 on the F side of the double horn, thumb trigger untouched. It is the version you need on a single F horn. On a double horn the B♭ side above is the school standard from A♭4 up, but the F side's warmer, rounder sound wins some players over, and the fingering is worth having either way. This is also one of the four notes where the two reference charts print different B♭-side fingerings: the main fingering above follows the NoteAtlas chart, and the First 5 Notes chart's B♭-side version (B♭ side · thumb trigger pressed · valves 2 + 3 pressed.) is recorded in the Sources section of the French horn fingering chart.
Think this fingering is wrong? Report it — every report is checked against the source charts.