Woodwind Fingering Guide
This woodwind fingering guide collects every woodwind chart on the site in one place — clarinet, bass clarinet, flute, piccolo, oboe, bassoon, recorder and the saxophone family. Each chart shows the full written-out table for its instrument, and every note has its own page with a big diagram, the fingering in words, and a sound to check against.
One idea under all the keys
Woodwind instruments look different — a clarinet's forest of keys, a recorder's eight holes, a bassoon's thumb cluster that seems to need three thumbs — but they all work on one idea: cover holes in order and the tube gets longer, so the note gets lower. Everything else is engineering. Registers repeat the same fingerings with a register or octave key added; pinky keys and trill keys exist so your fingers never have to slide or jump at the exact moment the music speeds up.
If you are new to diagrams, read How to Read a Fingering Chart first — five minutes there saves an hour of squinting here.
One honest warning that applies to the whole family: woodwind fingerings are standardised but not identical on every make. Where two published authorities disagree, our chart pages say so and name the alternate — and the report-an-error link on every page exists because teachers catch things charts miss.
Try a woodwind 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.
Every woodwind chart
Each saxophone also has its own chart page, with its own transposition and concert pitches: alto saxophone, tenor saxophone, soprano saxophone and baritone saxophone.
How woodwind fingerings work
The ladder. Put fingers down one at a time from the top and the notes step down the scale. Most beginner confusion comes from expecting the opposite.
Registers. A clarinet overblows at the twelfth, so its clarion register is the chalumeau ladder plus the register key — learn one ladder, get two registers. Flutes, oboes, bassoons and saxophones overblow at the octave, so their second register repeats the first with an octave key or a lighter touch.
The extra keys are kindnesses. Trill keys let one finger shake a note without moving the whole hand; alternate fingerings (the three B♭s on clarinet and sax are the famous case) exist so a fast passage never asks a finger to be in two places. Our guide to the three B♭ fingerings walks through that example properly.
Trills have their own charts for clarinet, flute, saxophone, oboe and bassoon.
Paper, classrooms — and the other family
Prefer paper? Every chart above is a free printable PDF. Teaching a class? The For Teachers page collects the classroom versions, including blank worksheets for fingering quizzes. Brass player instead? The brass fingering charts collect the valve-and-slide side of the band.
What counts as a woodwind instrument?
A woodwind makes its sound with a reed or with a stream of air across an edge: clarinet, saxophone, oboe and bassoon use reeds, while flute and recorder use an air jet. Brass players buzz their lips into a mouthpiece instead — that is why this hub and the brass hub split the band the way they do.
Do all woodwind instruments use the same fingerings?
They share the ladder idea — fingers go down in order and the notes step down — but the key layouts differ, so each instrument has its own chart. The four saxophones are the exception that proves the rule: alto, tenor, soprano and baritone share one fingering set. The clarinet stands apart because it overblows at the twelfth, not the octave.
Which woodwind chart should a beginner open first?
The chart for the instrument in your hands — and if you are still choosing, the Choosing a First Instrument guide walks through the decision honestly. In school bands the common starting points are clarinet, flute, alto saxophone and, in the classroom, recorder.