F♯4 Saxophone Fingering
How to play F♯4 on the saxophone: Left hand 1-2-3 · right hand 2. 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 F♯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 F♯4 fingering, step by step
- Left hand: press keys 1, 2, 3.
- Right hand: press key 2.
In short: left hand 1-2-3 · right hand 2.
Alternate fingering for F♯4
Left hand 1-2-3 · right hand 1 · alternate F♯ key.
This is the chromatic F♯ — use it in passages moving between F4 and F♯4, where the right first finger is already down and only the alternate F♯ key needs to move.
About F♯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.
F♯4 is the first note with two genuinely different standard fingerings. The main one swaps the right hand’s first finger for its third; the alternate keeps the right first finger down and adds the alternate F♯ key, which is quicker when the passage is moving between F and F♯.
F♯4 is note 9 of the 32 in the full saxophone fingering chart, sitting between F4 below it and G4 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 F♯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 F♯4
What is the fingering for F♯4 on saxophone?
Left hand 1-2-3 · right hand 2. F♯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 F♯4 sound like on each saxophone?
Written F♯4 sounds as concert A3 on alto saxophone, concert E3 on tenor, concert E4 on soprano and concert A2 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 F♯4?
Yes — Left hand 1-2-3 · right hand 1 · alternate F♯ key. This is the chromatic F♯ — use it in passages moving between F4 and F♯4, where the right first finger is already down and only the alternate F♯ key needs to move.
Think this fingering is wrong? Report it — every report is checked against the source charts.