F6 Oboe Fingering
How to play F6 on the oboe: First octave key · left hand 2 · 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 F6 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 F6 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 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 · right hand 2-3 · left pinky G♯ key + E♭ key.
Alternate fingering for F6
First octave key · left hand 2 · 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 F6 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.
F6 is the top of this chart and the top of the oboe’s standard basic range. It uses the first octave key, an open first hole, and the same pinky-key machinery as E6 below it. Above F6 lie the altissimo fingerings, which differ between makers, systems and even individual instruments — no single chart can honestly print them as standard, so this is where the chart stops, and your teacher’s fingerings for your own oboe take over.
F6 is note 32 of the 32 in the full oboe fingering chart, sitting between E6 below 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 F6
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 F6
What is the fingering for F6 on oboe?
First octave key · left hand 2 · right hand 2-3 · left pinky G♯ key + E♭ key. F6 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 F6 sound like on an oboe?
Exactly F6 — the oboe is a non-transposing instrument in C, so written F6 sounds as concert F6. When your band director asks for a concert F6, this is the note you finger.
Is there an alternate fingering for F6?
Yes — First octave key · left hand 2 · 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.