C♯6 Oboe Fingering
How to play C♯6 on the oboe: Left hand 2-3 · right hand 1 · right pinky C key.
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 C♯6 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 C♯6 fingering, step by step
- Cover hole 2 with your left middle finger.
- Cover hole 3 with your left ring finger.
- Cover hole 1 with your right index finger.
- Press the low C key with your right pinky.
In short: left hand 2-3 · right hand 1 · right pinky C key.
About C♯6 on the oboe
The third octave is where the oboe stops repeating itself. The left index finger leaves its hole or half-holes it, trill keys get held down as ordinary keys, and the pinky clusters do work they do nowhere else. These are the standard basic fingerings; individual oboes have preferences up here, and above F6 the fingerings stop being standard at all.
C♯6 opens the third octave, and the technique changes again: the left index finger comes off its hole completely — this is not a half-hole note. With the first two left-hand fingers in their new positions and the low C key down, this is the gateway fingering for the oboe’s top register.
C♯6 is note 28 of the 32 in the full oboe fingering chart, sitting between C6 below it and D6 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 C♯6
Third-octave notes need firm, fast air and a still embouchure — biting makes them sharper, not surer. Check each one against a tuner and learn which of the standard fingerings your own oboe prefers.
Questions about C♯6
What is the fingering for C♯6 on oboe?
Left hand 2-3 · right hand 1 · right pinky C key. C♯6 is a third octave 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 C♯6 sound like on an oboe?
Exactly C♯6 — the oboe is a non-transposing instrument in C, so written C♯6 sounds as concert C♯6. When your band director asks for a concert C♯6, this is the note you finger.
Is there an alternate fingering for C♯6?
For C♯6, 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.