E6 Oboe Fingering
How to play E6 on the oboe: First octave key · left hand 2-3 · right hand 2-3 · left pinky G♯ key + E♭ 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 E6 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 E6 fingering, step by step
- Press the first octave key with your left thumb — the thumb key on the back of the top joint. On a semi-automatic oboe this key serves E5 to G♯5, and the mechanism looks after the changeover higher up.
- Cover hole 2 with your left middle finger.
- Cover hole 3 with your left ring finger.
- Cover hole 2 with your right middle finger.
- Cover hole 3 with your right ring finger.
- Press the G♯ key with your left pinky.
- Press the left E♭ key with your left pinky — the oboe has an E♭ key for each pinky, and this note uses the left one.
In short: first octave key · left hand 2-3 · right hand 2-3 · left pinky G♯ key + E♭ key.
Alternate fingering for E6
First octave key · left hand 2-3 · right hand 2-3 · side G♯ key · right pinky E♭ key.
This version takes the G♯ on the right-hand side key and the E♭ on the right pinky, leaving the left pinky free. Choose between the two by which pinky the surrounding notes leave free.
About E6 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.
E6 is built from pinky keys: the left pinky holds both the G♯ and E♭ keys in the main fingering, while the alternate moves the G♯ to the right-hand side key and the E♭ to the right pinky. Neither is a variant of the other — both are standard, and players choose by which pinky the notes around E6 leave free. Notes like this are why the third octave feels like a different instrument from the first.
E6 is note 31 of the 32 in the full oboe fingering chart, sitting between E♭6 below it and F6 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 E6
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 E6
What is the fingering for E6 on oboe?
First octave key · left hand 2-3 · right hand 2-3 · left pinky G♯ key + E♭ key. E6 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 E6 sound like on an oboe?
Exactly E6 — the oboe is a non-transposing instrument in C, so written E6 sounds as concert E6. When your band director asks for a concert E6, this is the note you finger.
Is there an alternate fingering for E6?
Yes — First octave key · left hand 2-3 · right hand 2-3 · side G♯ key · right pinky E♭ key. This version takes the G♯ on the right-hand side key and the E♭ on the right pinky, leaving the left pinky free. Choose between the two by which pinky the surrounding notes leave free.
Think this fingering is wrong? Report it — every report is checked against the source charts.