Bassoon fingering chart: beginner notes and full reference
This guide starts with the notes band books often teach first, each drawn on a diagram of the bassoon next to the note on the bass clef staff. Then come the parts of bassoon fingering that are new to most players: the whisper key, the flick keys, the thumb keys on the back, and the half-hole. At the end there's a chart from low B♭ to high D, one fingering per note, in bass or tenor clef.
The diagrams show a standard (Heckel-system) bassoon. Fingering charts and teachers differ for some notes, especially flicks and high notes. If your teacher gives you a different fingering, use theirs.
Jump to the full bassoon fingering chartHow to read a bassoon fingering chart
- The column of circles is the front of the bassoon: left hand on top (wing joint), right hand below (boot).
- Filled is pressed or covered. Open is up. The bassoon has open tone holes for the fingers, so cover them with the fleshy pads of your fingers.
- The keys on the left are for your thumbs, on the back: the left thumb's keys at the top, the right thumb's lower down.
- W is the whisper key and ½ is the half-hole. The flick keys (fA, fC, fD) are explained below, just before the first notes that use them.
- Each diagram shows only the keys its notes use, so beginner rows look simpler than the full chart.
The first notes in the band book
Start with F, E, D, and C to learn a simple descending fingering pattern. This is a preparatory exercise, not the B♭ major scale. Learn E♭ and B♭ as your band-book sequence requires. Tap any note or fingering to hear it on bassoon.
Left hand only: F, E, D, C
B♭ and E♭
G, A, and B♭ in the staff
G uses the half-hole. A and B♭ on the top of the staff let the whisper key go and use a flick key instead. To flick, your left thumb taps the key as the note starts and lets go right away. Some teachers have you hold the key down for the whole note instead (venting). Follow the method your teacher gives you. In the diagrams, a hatched key is a flick key. For more, see bassoon whisper key and flick keys.
Hatched key: flick. Tap it as the note starts and let go. Some teachers have you hold it for the whole note instead (venting). Solid keys stay down.
Practice these in Woodwind Trainer, already set to bassoon and the beginner notes.
The whisper key
The whisper key closes a tiny hole in the bocal. With it closed, the low and middle notes start more easily and stay in the right octave. On the chart in this guide, from the bottom up:
- Low B♭ up to low C♯: your left thumb is busy with the low keys, so it doesn't press the whisper key. Your right thumb holds the low E key, and on many bassoons that key's linkage closes the whisper pad for you. The diagrams don't show W.
- Low D, E♭, and E: the low E key's linkage closes the whisper pad here too. The diagrams also show your left thumb pressing W. On a bassoon with that linkage, the thumb press is optional: keep it down if it makes the passage easier.
- Low F up to A♭ on the top line: no low E key, so your left thumb presses the whisper key.
- A on the top line up to D above the staff: let the whisper key go and use a flick key.
- E♭ up to F♯ above the staff: no whisper key. G and A♭ above the staff use it again.
Hatched key: flick. Tap it as the note starts and let go. Some teachers have you hold it for the whole note instead (venting). Solid keys stay down.
For more on the whisper key, venting, and flicking, see bassoon whisper key and flick keys.
Thumb keys on the back
Your thumbs do a lot of work on bassoon. The left thumb has up to nine keys; the right thumb has three.
| Thumb | Keys | Used for |
|---|---|---|
| Left | Whisper key (W) | Low F up to A♭ on the top line, and G and A♭ above the staff. Optional on low D, E♭, and E. |
| Left | Low D, C, B, B♭ | The lowest notes, below the staff |
| Left | C♯ key | C♯ and some high notes |
| Left | Flick keys A, C, D | A on the top line up to D above the staff: tapped as the note starts, or held if your teacher teaches venting |
| Right | B♭ key | B♭ and E♭ in the staff, B♭ just above it, and some high notes |
| Right | E key ("pancake") | Low E and the notes below it. On many bassoons it also closes the whisper pad. |
| Right | F♯ key | Low F♯ (or use the pinky F♯ key) |
The half-hole
For F♯, G, and A♭ in the staff, your left first finger opens the top part of its hole by rolling down toward your hand. Without it, those notes may crack down an octave.
Bassoon fingering chart
The notes from low B♭ to high D, more than an octave above the staff, with one fingering for each. The low notes use the whisper key or the low E key's linkage, as described above. A on the top line up to D uses a flick key, and the higher notes use other vents. For alternates and a printable sheet, open the bassoon fingering chart tool, which has the same bass and tenor clef choice.
Hatched key: flick. Tap it as the note starts and let go. Some teachers have you hold it for the whole note instead (venting). Solid keys stay down.
Common fingering mistakes
- Thumb drifting off the whisper key. Low and middle notes may gurgle or crack up. Keep the thumb on it from low F up to A♭.
- Whisper key left down from A to D. The notes may sound stuffy or crack. Let it go, and use the flick key.
- Lifting instead of rolling for the half-hole. G may crack down an octave or wobble.
- Mixing up the right thumb keys. B♭ is the upper key; the big round "pancake" is for low E.
- Leaky finger holes. Use the fleshy pads of your fingers to cover the open tone holes. Keep each finger centered; even a small gap can cause a leak.
Practice these fingerings
- Finger F, E, D, C, B♭ silently while saying each name, with the whisper key down.
- Roll between G on the bottom line and G in the top space 10 times, until the half-hole moves without looking.
- Play G to A slowly: half-hole off, whisper key off, flick A.
Then quiz yourself in Woodwind Trainer. When those are solid, switch to the full range, from the low thumb keys to the notes above the staff. To read those higher notes faster, see bass clef ledger lines.
For the full range with alternates, see the bassoon fingering chart tool. You can choose what it shows, switch between bass and tenor clef, and print it for your folder.
From Band Trainer · bandtrainer.net/guides/bassoon-fingering-chart