Tuba fingering chart: beginner notes and full reference

This guide is for the BB♭ tuba (often just called B♭ tuba), the tuba most school bands use, with three or four valves. E♭, F, and C tubas finger differently. The fingerings here are for a conventional non-compensating tuba. Compensating tubas finger the lowest notes differently, and this guide doesn't cover them.

Three valves can be pressed in eight combinations, counting open, yet a tuba plays more than two octaves of notes. Each fingering plays several notes, and your lips choose which one. This guide shows the beginning fingerings, how they fit together, and a full chart.

New to tuba? Start with how to make your first sound on tuba.

The lookup shows 3-valve fingerings, from low E (E1) up to the F on the 4th line (F3).

How to read a tuba fingering chart

• Valve 1 is under your right index finger. Valve 2 uses your middle finger, valve 3 your ring finger. Some tubas have the valves on top and some on the front, so where valve 1 sits depends on your tuba. The finger for each valve stays the same.
• A 4th valve can sit in two places. Some tubas have it in line with the others, pressed with your right little finger. Others have it on the side, pressed with your left hand. Some tubas also have a 5th valve, which this guide doesn't cover.
• The circles are a simple diagram, not a picture of your tuba: valves 1, 2, and 3 in a row, and a 4th circle when a fingering uses valve 4. Filled circles are pressed. Empty circles stay up. "Open" means no valves.
• Numbers like 1-3 mean press those valves together.
• Band tuba music is in bass clef, at concert pitch. The note on the page is the note that sounds, so a tuner set to Concert pitch shows the same letter. (British-style brass bands write tuba parts in treble clef, which this guide doesn't cover.)

Eight combinations, seven pitch groups

Each valve adds a loop of tubing, and a longer tube plays a lower note. Three valves can be pressed in eight ways, counting open. Valve 3 alone and valves 1-2 together lower the note by about the same amount, so the table puts them in one group. That makes seven pitch groups: open, then one to six half steps lower.

1-2 and 3 are close, but they don't tune exactly the same, so check both with a tuner on your tuba. A 4th valve adds more combinations, covered in With a 4th valve below.

The first notes in the band book

Many band books start tuba on these five notes, from B♭ below the staff up to the F below the staff:

Next come the notes up to the B♭ on the 2nd line:

These low notes use a lot of ledger lines. If they're slow to read, practice them in Note Trainer with ledger lines below the staff, or see how to read bass clef ledger lines.

Notes that share a fingering

Notice that B♭, F, and the higher B♭ are all open. Each fingering plays a whole family of notes, called partials. Your lips and air pick the partial: a faster lip vibration plays higher in the family.

This is why you can play the right fingering and still get the wrong note. If it sounds too high or too low, keep the fingering and change your air and buzz until you land on the right partial. Humming the note first helps. For the full story, see the harmonic series and brass valve combinations.

With a 4th valve

Many tubas have a 4th valve, pressed with your right little finger or your left hand. It lowers a note about as much as 1-3 (five half steps), and it's usually better in tune. On a 4-valve tuba, use 4 in place of 1-3 and 2-4 in place of 1-2-3:

Four valves can be pressed in 16 combinations. Besides 4 and 2-4, the ones you'll use are for the notes below low E: E♭ 1-2-4 (or 1-4), D 2-3-4, D♭ 1-3-4, and low C (1-2-3-4 on a non-compensating tuba; compensating tubas finger these low notes differently). Valves added together on a non-compensating tuba run sharp, so the fingerings for E♭ (1-2-4), D, D♭, and low C add up to one half step more on paper than the note needs. These low notes still need careful tuning. See the 4th valve on euphonium and tuba.

Tuba fingering chart

Every note on a 3-valve BB♭ tuba, from low E (E1) up to the F on the 4th line (F3). Tap a note or fingering to hear it.

For alternates, 4-valve fingerings down to low C (C1), notes up to D4, and a printable copy, see the tuba fingering chart tool.

Fingerings that run out of tune

• 1-3 and 1-2-3 tend to run sharp. Low C, B, F, and E are the usual problems. Use the 4th valve if you have one, or relax your lips to bring the note down. On some tubas you can pull a valve slide while you play; ask your teacher whether yours is set up for it.
• 1-2 vs. 3. Both lower the note about a step and a half, but they don't tune exactly the same. 1-2 is the usual choice; 3 alone is an alternate.
• A note for more experienced players. The notes from B on the 2nd line up to D on the middle line (B, C, D♭, and D) are on the 5th partial, and they can tend slightly flat. Listen, and adjust with your air and embouchure as needed. Beginners don't need a separate routine for these notes.
• Listen, then adjust. A tuner is a good check, but matching the players around you is the real goal. See playing in tune.

Practice these fingerings

• Finger B♭ through F silently while saying the note names.
• Play each note as a long tone, then check it against a tuner or a drone.
• Slur open B♭ to open F and back without moving the valves. Use only your air and buzz.
• If you have a 4th valve, play low C with 1-3 and then with 4 against a drone, and listen for the difference.

Then quiz yourself in Brass Trainer: you'll see a note and pick its fingering, until the chart lives in your hands.