C6 Trumpet Fingering
How to play C6 on the trumpet: Open — no valves pressed at all. This fingering is the same on cornet and flugelhorn — only the tone differs.
Filled valves in the diagram are the ones you press. Valve 1 is nearest you and is worked by your right index finger, valve 2 by the middle finger, and valve 3 — nearest the bell — by the ring finger. The same diagram serves the cornet and flugelhorn charts, because all three instruments share these combinations.
Hear C6 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 C6 fingering, step by step
- Leave all three valves up — this is an open note. The pitch comes entirely from your lips and air, so hear the note in your head before you play it.
In short: open — no valves pressed at all.
About C6 on the trumpet
The high register is played on the highest harmonics in the standard range, where the partials sit close together and the embouchure does most of the work. The valve combinations here are short ones — open, 2, 1, 1+2 and 2+3 — and accuracy comes from hearing the pitch before you play it.
C6 — high C — is the top of the standard chart and the milestone note trumpet students talk about for years. It is open: by this point the valves have nothing left to add, and the note is made entirely of air speed, aperture and practice. Notes above C6 exist, but their fingerings vary from player to player and sit outside the standard charts.
C6 is note 31 of the 31 in the full trumpet fingering chart, sitting between B5 below it. The same fingering serves the whole family — see it on the cornet fingering chart and the flugelhorn fingering chart too. Like every fingering on this site, it was checked against Yamaha’s official chart and the NoteAtlas valve chart before publishing.
Practising C6
High notes come from faster air through a smaller aperture, never from mouthpiece pressure. Practise this note in short bursts, rest as much as you play, and stop while it still feels good — tired practice teaches the wrong embouchure.
Questions about C6
What is the fingering for C6 on trumpet?
Open — no valves pressed at all. C6 is a high register note, fingered identically on trumpet, cornet and flugelhorn. The full step-by-step is on this page, and you can hear the note with the Fingering Finder.
What does C6 sound like on a trumpet?
Trumpet, cornet and flugelhorn are all transposing instruments in B♭, so written C6 sounds one whole step lower, as concert B♭5, on all three. When your band director asks for a concert B♭5, this is the note you finger.
Is there an alternate fingering for C6?
For C6, the fingering above is the one to learn. It is the basic fingering both reference charts give for this note, and the one teachers expect to see.
Think this fingering is wrong? Report it — every report is checked against the source charts.