C♯4 Trumpet Fingering
How to play C♯4 on the trumpet: Valves 1 + 2 + 3 pressed. 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 C♯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 C♯4 fingering, step by step
- Press valve 1 with your right index finger — press it straight down, all the way, with the pad of the finger.
- Press valve 2 with your right middle finger — press it straight down, all the way, with the pad of the finger.
- Press valve 3 with your right ring finger — press it straight down, all the way, with the pad of the finger.
- Keep the fingers you are not using curved and resting lightly on their valve caps, ready for the next note.
- While you play, ease the third-valve slide out a little with your left ring finger — every fingering that combines valves 1 and 3 runs sharp, and the slide is how trumpet players bring it down to pitch.
In short: valves 1 + 2 + 3 pressed.
About C♯4 on the trumpet
The low register is built as a chromatic ladder: the open harmonics (C4 above all) are lowered step by step by the seven valve combinations. This is where the system makes sense — valve 2 takes off a semitone, valve 1 a whole step, and the combinations add up exactly as the arithmetic says they should.
C♯4 needs the third-valve slide out further than almost any other note. The 1+2+3 combination is the longest the valves can make, and its tubing is proportionally the shortest — teachers call this "the C♯ tax", and the slide pays it.
C♯4 is note 8 of the 31 in the full trumpet fingering chart, sitting between C4 below it and D4 above 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 C♯4
Low notes need relaxed lips and slow, warm air — pressing the mouthpiece harder only thins them. If this note uses valves 1+3 or 1+2+3, build the third-slide movement into the fingering from the start: slide out as the valves go down.
Questions about C♯4
What is the fingering for C♯4 on trumpet?
Valves 1 + 2 + 3 pressed. C♯4 is a low 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 C♯4 sound like on a trumpet?
Trumpet, cornet and flugelhorn are all transposing instruments in B♭, so written C♯4 sounds one whole step lower, as concert B3, on all three. When your band director asks for a concert B3, this is the note you finger.
Is there an alternate fingering for C♯4?
For C♯4, 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.