Oboe Trill Fingering Chart
Oboe trills are the most mechanical on this site — the instrument has dedicated trill keys for the shakes its main fingers cannot do cleanly — and they are also the trills players most often learn wrong from a copied chart.
How to read this chart
This page takes a stricter route. Every trill below was produced by a mechanical test on this site's checked oboe fingerings: start from one note's verified fingering, toggle exactly the element the published trill notation marks, and publish the trill only if the result is the partner note's verified fingering, key for key. Twenty-two trills pass.
Each row gives a pair of neighbouring notes. Finger the first note exactly as the diagram shows — that fingering does not change. Then move only the element named in the third column, fast and evenly. That single moving element is the whole trill.
| Trill | Hold this fingering | What moves |
|---|---|---|
| B3–C4 | Left hand 1-2-3 · right hand 1-2-3 · left pinky B key · right pinky C key. | Trill the B key with your left pinky. |
| C4–D4 | Left hand 1-2-3 · right hand 1-2-3 · right pinky C key. | Trill the C key with your right pinky. |
| C♯4–D4 | Left hand 1-2-3 · right hand 1-2-3 · right pinky C♯ key. | Trill the C♯ key with your right pinky. |
| D4–E♭4 | Left hand 1-2-3 · right hand 1-2-3 · right pinky E♭ key. | Trill the E♭ key with your right pinky. |
| D4–E4 | Left hand 1-2-3 · right hand 1-2-3. | Trill your right-hand ring finger. |
| E4–F4 | Left hand 1-2-3 · right hand 1-2 · right-hand F key. | Trill the F key. |
| E4–F♯4 | Left hand 1-2-3 · right hand 1-2. | Trill your right-hand middle finger. |
| F♯4–G4 | Left hand 1-2-3 · right hand 1. | Trill your right-hand index finger. |
| G4–G♯4 | Left hand 1-2-3 · left pinky G♯ key. | Trill the G♯ key with your left pinky. |
| G4–A4 | Left hand 1-2-3. | Trill your left-hand ring finger. |
| A4–B♭4 | Left hand 1-2 · right hand 1. | Trill your right-hand index finger. |
| A4–B4 | Left hand 1-2. | Trill your left-hand middle finger. |
| B4–C5 | Left hand 1 · right hand 1. | Trill your right-hand index finger. |
| C♯5–D5 | Left hand 1 (half-hole)-2-3 · right hand 1-2-3 · right pinky C♯ key. | Trill the C♯ key with your right pinky. |
| D5–E♭5 | Left hand 1 (half-hole)-2-3 · right hand 1-2-3 · right pinky E♭ key. | Trill the E♭ key with your right pinky. |
| E5–F5 | First octave key · left hand 1-2-3 · right hand 1-2 · right-hand F key. | Trill the F key. |
| E5–F♯5 | First octave key · left hand 1-2-3 · right hand 1-2. | Trill your right-hand middle finger. |
| F♯5–G5 | First octave key · left hand 1-2-3 · right hand 1. | Trill your right-hand index finger. |
| G5–G♯5 | First octave key · left hand 1-2-3 · left pinky G♯ key. | Trill the G♯ key with your left pinky. |
| A5–B♭5 | Second octave key · left hand 1-2 · right hand 1. | Trill your right-hand index finger. |
| A5–B5 | Second octave key · left hand 1-2. | Trill your left-hand middle finger. |
| B5–C6 | Second octave key · left hand 1 · right hand 1. | Trill your right-hand index finger. |
Why this chart is shorter than most
The published oboe trill tables list far more trills than twenty-two, and most of them are legitimate — but they lean on special fingerings: half-hole adjustments, shaded fingerings and alternative ventings that are not the partner note's basic fingering. Those cannot be checked against the basic chart data, so they are withheld here, honestly, rather than reprinted on trust. An oboist working with a teacher will meet them in lessons; a student alone with a chart deserves only the trills that provably work.
Every fingering these trills stand on is on the oboe fingering chart, checked against two published sources. If a trill you need is missing, the honest answer today is: it has not passed verification yet — ask a teacher, and tell us which trill you were looking for.
Hear the notes in the Fingering Finder
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.
What is a trill fingering?
The fingering that stays still while one finger or key shakes. On the oboe that is usually one of the trill keys built for the purpose; the half-hole finger stays exactly where the held note put it.
Why are there only 22 trills here when other charts show more?
Because these 22 are the ones a mechanical test could prove: toggling the marked element on one checked fingering produces the other note's checked fingering exactly. The published remainder rely on special fingerings of the partner note, which this site does not print unverified.
Does this chart use the same fingerings as the oboe chart page?
Yes — the trills are tested against the very fingerings on the oboe fingering chart, which rest on the Woodwind Fingering Guide and the NoteAtlas oboe chart.