B♭5 Saxophone Fingering
How to play B♭5 on the saxophone: Octave key · 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♭5 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♭5 fingering, step by step
- Press the octave key with your left thumb — it stays down for the whole middle and high registers.
- 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: octave key · left hand 1-2 · side B♭ key.
Alternate fingering for B♭5
Octave key · 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 B5, because the index finger cannot leave the bis position quickly.
About B♭5 on the saxophone
The middle register repeats the low register’s fingerings with the left thumb on the octave key and a faster air stream. Learn it as "the low fingering plus the thumb" and only a handful of notes — the palm-key approach at the top — are genuinely new shapes.
B♭5 has the same three fingerings as B♭4, with the octave key added: side B♭ as the main fingering on this page, bis as the alternate, and one-and-four (left 1, right 1) for B♭-to-F movement.
B♭5 is note 25 of the 32 in the full saxophone fingering chart, sitting between A5 below it and B5 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♭5
If this note drops to its low-register partner, the octave key is the first thing to check: the thumb must be pressing it cleanly, and the neck’s octave pad must be opening. Then think air speed, not force.
Questions about B♭5
What is the fingering for B♭5 on saxophone?
Octave key · left hand 1-2 · side B♭ key. B♭5 is a middle 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♭5 sound like on each saxophone?
Written B♭5 sounds as concert D♭5 on alto saxophone, concert A♭4 on tenor, concert A♭5 on soprano and concert D♭4 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♭5?
Yes — Octave key · 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 B5, because the index finger cannot leave the bis position quickly.
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