C6 Oboe Fingering

How to play C6 on the oboe: Second octave key · left hand 1 · right hand 1.

Half-filled hole = half-holeOct 1Oct 2B trillFSide G♯G♯E♭FBB♭Left pinkyRight pinkyE♭C♯C
Written pitch: C6 Sounds as: concert C6 Register: Second octave key Also written as: B♯5

Filled keys and holes in the diagram are the ones you press or cover, and a half-filled first hole is the half-hole. The two keys at the top are the octave keys — the first worked by the left thumb on the back of the instrument, the second by the side of the left index finger — and the clusters at the bottom are the pinky keys, five for the left pinky and three for the right.

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

  1. Press the second octave key with the side of your left index finger — the small key beside the first-finger hole. The fingertip stays on its hole; the side of the finger leans onto the key.
  2. Cover hole 1 with your left index finger.
  3. Cover hole 1 with your right index finger.

In short: second octave key · left hand 1 · right hand 1.

About C6 on the oboe

From A5 the vent moves to the second octave key, worked by the side of the left index finger while the fingertip stays on its hole. The fingerings are the top of the first octave’s, a twelfth of practice later: B♭, B and C in their high forms.

C6 is note 27 of the 32 in the full oboe fingering chart, sitting between B5 below it and C♯6 above it.

Like every fingering on this site, it was checked against the Woodwind Fingering Guide's basic oboe charts and the NoteAtlas oboe chart before publishing.

Practising C6

Practise the G♯5–A5 step until it is silent: the index finger must not lift as its side finds the key. If A5 speaks as a squawk, the finger moved — the key did not fail.

← Previous note
B5

Questions about C6

What is the fingering for C6 on oboe?

Second octave key · left hand 1 · right hand 1. C6 is a second octave key note on the oboe. 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 an oboe?

Exactly C6 — the oboe is a non-transposing instrument in C, so written C6 sounds as concert C6. When your band director asks for a concert C6, 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.