F5 Oboe Fingering
How to play F5 on the oboe: First octave key · 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 F5 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 F5 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 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: first octave key · left hand 1-2-3 · right hand 1-2 · right-hand F key.
Alternate fingering for F5
First octave key · 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 F5 on the oboe
From E5 to G♯5 the thumb’s octave key does the venting, and the fingerings below it are the first octave’s with the key added. On semi-automatic and automatic oboes a mechanism manages this key’s changeover with the second octave key, but the thumb still has to be in the right place at the right time.
F5 has the same three-way choice as F4, one octave up and with the first octave key added: regular F as the main fingering, forked F (with the E♭ key) as the alternate for passages around D, E♭ and C, and the left F lever — if your oboe has one — described on the F4 page. The forked version is used constantly in real music; learn it here rather than meeting it first in a fast passage.
F5 is note 20 of the 32 in the full oboe fingering chart, sitting between E5 below it and F♯5 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 F5
Keep the left thumb resting on the octave key through this whole register, even on the notes that do not use it — a thumb that has to travel is a thumb that arrives late, and late thumbs are where squeaks between E5 and G♯5 come from.
Questions about F5
What is the fingering for F5 on oboe?
First octave key · left hand 1-2-3 · right hand 1-2 · right-hand F key. F5 is a first 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 F5 sound like on an oboe?
Exactly F5 — the oboe is a non-transposing instrument in C, so written F5 sounds as concert F5. When your band director asks for a concert F5, this is the note you finger.
Is there an alternate fingering for F5?
Yes — First octave key · 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.