B♭4 Saxophone Fingering
How to play B♭4 on the saxophone: Left hand 1-2 · side B♭ key. This fingering is the same on soprano, alto, tenor and baritone saxophone — only the sounding pitch differs.
Filled keys in the diagram are the ones you press. The small key marked "Oct" is the octave key, worked by the left thumb; the three keys at the top right are the palm keys; the three small keys down the right side are the side keys; and the clusters at the bottom are the pinky keys.
Hear B♭4 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 B♭4 fingering, step by step
- Left hand: press keys 1, 2.
- Press the side B♭ key with the side of your right index finger — the side keys are the levers along the right side of the upper stack.
In short: left hand 1-2 · side B♭ key.
Alternate fingering for B♭4
Left hand 1 · bis key.
The bis fingering — one finger covering the B key and the bis key together — is the fastest B♭ in flat keys and scale passages with no B natural nearby. Avoid it in music that also needs B4, because the index finger cannot leave the bis position quickly.
About B♭4 on the saxophone
The low register is the saxophone’s warm, full voice, played without the octave key. The six main fingers work down the stack in a ladder, and the lowest notes are finished off by the pinky keys — the left pinky choosing between the bell keys, the right pinky holding the low C key for the bottom four notes and the low E♭ key for E♭ itself.
B♭4 is the note with three standard fingerings, and this page shows the two you will use most: the side B♭ as the main fingering and the bis as the alternate. The third, one-and-four (left 1, right 1, nothing else), suits passages moving between B♭ and F — try it once the other two feel automatic.
B♭4 is note 13 of the 32 in the full saxophone fingering chart, sitting between A4 below it and B4 above it. The same fingering serves the whole family — see it with each instrument’s own concert pitches on the alto sax, tenor sax, soprano sax and baritone sax chart pages. Like every fingering on this site, it was checked against Yamaha’s official chart and the Woodwind Fingering Guide before publishing.
Practising B♭4
Low notes speak best with slow, warm air and a relaxed jaw. If this note gurgles or jumps the octave, check the pinky keys first — a half-pressed bell key is the usual cause — then check that every main finger is sealing its key completely.
Questions about B♭4
What is the fingering for B♭4 on saxophone?
Left hand 1-2 · side B♭ key. B♭4 is a low register note, fingered identically on soprano, alto, tenor and baritone saxophone. The full step-by-step is on this page, and you can hear the note with the Fingering Finder.
What does B♭4 sound like on each saxophone?
Written B♭4 sounds as concert D♭4 on alto saxophone, concert A♭3 on tenor, concert A♭4 on soprano and concert D♭3 on baritone. The alto and baritone are E♭ instruments; the tenor and soprano are B♭ instruments — the fingering is the same on all four, only the sounding pitch changes.
Is there an alternate fingering for B♭4?
Yes — Left hand 1 · bis key. The bis fingering — one finger covering the B key and the bis key together — is the fastest B♭ in flat keys and scale passages with no B natural nearby. Avoid it in music that also needs B4, because the index finger cannot leave the bis position quickly.
Think this fingering is wrong? Report it — every report is checked against the source charts.