B1 Tuba Fingering
How to play B1 on the tuba: Valves 1 + 2 + 3 pressed. — on the 3rd partial, in bass clef, sounding exactly as written.
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. These are three-valve fingerings for the BB♭ tuba; the staff is in bass clef, and in bass clef the tuba sounds exactly as written. The same fingering serves the sousaphone.
Hear B1 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 B1 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. Half-pressed valves leak, and on a tuba a leak means a gargly, unfocused note.
- Press valve 2 with your right middle finger — press it straight down, all the way, with the pad of the finger. Half-pressed valves leak, and on a tuba a leak means a gargly, unfocused note.
- Press valve 3 with your right ring finger — press it straight down, all the way, with the pad of the finger. Half-pressed valves leak, and on a tuba a leak means a gargly, unfocused note.
- Keep the fingers you are not using curved and resting lightly on their valve caps, ready for the next note.
- This combination (valves 1 and 3 together) runs sharp on a three-valve tuba, because two shorter valve slides added together always come up short. Lip the note down a little, or pull the first valve slide — and if your tuba has a fourth valve, this is exactly the fingering the fourth valve replaces: play valve 4 alone instead.
- All three valves together is the longest and sharpest-playing combination on a three-valve tuba. Lip it down and give it plenty of air — or, on a four-valve tuba, play valves 2 + 4 instead, which is the in-tune version of the same tube length.
In short: valves 1 + 2 + 3 pressed.
About B1 on the tuba
The low register runs from the 2nd partial (B♭1, open) through the 3rd partial’s ladder (B1 up to F2). These notes want a large, slow, warm column of air and a relaxed, wide buzz — a tuba is not blown harder down here, it is blown bigger. The two longest combinations, C2 and B1, play sharp and need the slide pull or the lip to bring them home.
B1 is the hardest-working fingering in the low register: all three valves down, borrowed from the F2 harmonic above and pulled down six semitones. It is also the sharpest-playing note on a three-valve tuba, for the reason every long combination is sharp. On a four-valve tuba, play valves 2 + 4 instead — the same tube length, cut correctly. Like B♭1 below it, it sounds below 65 Hz, so small speakers may barely reproduce the Finder’s true-pitch playback.
B1 is note 2 of the 25 in the full tuba fingering chart, sitting between B♭1 below it and C2 above it. Like every fingering on this site, it was checked against Yamaha’s official chart and the NoteAtlas tuba chart before publishing.
Practising B1
Low notes speak with slow air and an open throat — think of fogging a window on a huge scale. If this note cracks upward, your lips found the partial above: drop your jaw, slow the air down, and let the note settle rather than pushing it.
Questions about B1
What is the fingering for B1 on tuba?
Valves 1 + 2 + 3 pressed. B1 is played on the 3rd partial (harmonic) of the BB♭ tuba in the low register, with the three-valve fingerings this site charts. The full step-by-step is on this page, and you can hear the note with the Fingering Finder.
Does B1 sound as written on tuba?
Yes. In bass clef the tuba is a non-transposing instrument, so written B1 sounds as concert B1 — the same pitch a piano plays. The same fingering also serves the sousaphone, which is a BB♭ tuba wrapped for marching.
Is there an alternate fingering for B1?
For B1, 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.