F4 Oboe Fingering
How to play F4 on the oboe: Left hand 1-2-3 · right hand 1-2 · right-hand F 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 F4 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 F4 fingering, step by step
- Cover hole 1 with your left index finger.
- Cover hole 2 with your left middle finger.
- Cover hole 3 with your left ring finger.
- Cover hole 1 with your right index finger.
- Cover hole 2 with your right middle finger.
- Press the F key with your right ring finger — the key between the second and third right-hand holes, which closes the third hole for you while the ring finger itself stays up.
In short: left hand 1-2-3 · right hand 1-2 · right-hand F key.
Alternate fingering for F4
Left hand 1-2-3 · right hand 1-3 · right pinky E♭ key.
Use forked F when the notes around it are D, E♭ or C, where the right ring finger is already committed to its hole. The E♭ key is part of the fingering on oboes without an F resonance key; with a resonance key fitted, it can be left off.
About F4 on the oboe
The first octave is the oboe’s foundation: plain fingerings with no octave key and no half-hole, running from the full-length low B♭ up to the two-index-finger C5. Almost everything above is one of these fingerings plus a vent — an octave key or a rolled finger — so this register is worth learning exactly.
F4 is the oboe’s famous awkward note, with three standard fingerings. The main one above is the regular F: left hand down, right index and middle fingers down, and the F key closing the third hole under your right ring finger. The alternate is the forked F — ring finger on its hole, F key left open, E♭ key added — for passages moving between F and D, E♭ or C. The third, the left F, plays the note from a lever under the left pinky; it is not diagrammed here because not every oboe has the lever, but if yours does, it is the version that frees the right hand completely.
F4 is note 8 of the 32 in the full oboe fingering chart, sitting between E4 below it and F♯4 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 F4
Low oboe notes fail from the reed and the air before they fail from the fingers. If this note is stuffy or will not start, soak the reed properly, check the pinky keys are sealing, and blow a slow, supported stream — do not bite the pitch up.
Questions about F4
What is the fingering for F4 on oboe?
Left hand 1-2-3 · right hand 1-2 · right-hand F key. F4 is a first 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 F4 sound like on an oboe?
Exactly F4 — the oboe is a non-transposing instrument in C, so written F4 sounds as concert F4. When your band director asks for a concert F4, this is the note you finger.
Is there an alternate fingering for F4?
Yes — Left hand 1-2-3 · right hand 1-3 · right pinky E♭ key. Use forked F when the notes around it are D, E♭ or C, where the right ring finger is already committed to its hole. The E♭ key is part of the fingering on oboes without an F resonance key; with a resonance key fitted, it can be left off.
Think this fingering is wrong? Report it — every report is checked against the source charts.