Free online tool
Oboe Fingering Chart
Oboe fingering chart with a diagram for every note from B♭3 to F6: half-hole and octave keys, F alternates. Hear each note and print the full chart.
Pick a written note. Use the arrow keys to move to the next note.
Written note
Fingering options
Keys and holes
Where these fingerings come from
About the Oboe Fingering Chart
The oboe fingering chart is a free, browser-based tool that shows which keys to press for any note on the oboe, from B♭3 to F6. Pick a note and it draws the fingering diagram, shows the note on a treble staff, names the note, and lists the pressed keys in plain English.
It runs in your web browser with no sign-up, and nothing you enter is uploaded or tracked. Each note has one standard fingering. Where a note has alternates, such as F, you can switch between them.
The chart does not listen to your oboe or check your pitch. Your reed, your intonation and the make of your instrument can change which fingering works best, so use the chart as a starting point.
How to use the oboe fingering chart
- Find the note you want in the note buttons, grouped under “Octave 3”, “Octave 4” and so on. Black-key notes show two spellings, such as C♯ above and D♭ below.
- Click the note. The fingering diagram, the staff, the note name and the key list all update together.
- Read the “Keys and holes” list. It names each key that is pressed for that note.
- If the note has alternates, click a button under “Fingering options” to switch. The diagram, key list and explanation change to match. F4, F5 and E♭4 have alternates.
- Click “Play the sounding pitch” to hear the note as a synthesised tone. It is not a recording of an oboe.
- Optionally, tick “Play the note when I pick it” to hear each note as you select it. This box is off by default.
Press the Right or Up arrow key for a higher note, and the Left or Down arrow key for a lower one. Home and End jump to the ends of the range. The page address changes as you click, so you can bookmark or share the link to return to the same note.
To print, click “Print the full chart”. Your browser’s print dialog opens, and the whole range prints as small diagrams on one A4 or US Letter page.
How do I read an oboe fingering chart?#
Each diagram shows the oboe’s keys. A filled key is pressed, and an empty key or hole stays open. A half-filled circle marks the half-hole, which is covered in a special way explained below.
The “Keys and holes” list names the pressed keys in words, so you do not have to decode the picture. Keys are grouped by hand. “Left hand 1”, “Left hand 2” and “Left hand 3” are the first three fingers of the left hand, and “Right hand 1”, “Right hand 2” and “Right hand 3” are the first three fingers of the right hand. Little-finger keys have their own names: left little finger G♯, E♭, low B and low B♭, and right little finger low C, low C♯ and low E♭. The left F key and right F key are named the same way.
Octave keys are named by position. The “First octave key” is on the back of the left thumb, and the “Second octave key” is the side key. The octave keys are covered in the FAQ below.
The staff above the diagram shows the written note with a treble clef. The oboe is not a transposing instrument, so the written pitch is the sounding pitch. If a note has two names, such as C♯4 and D♭4, both names refer to the same pitch and the same fingering.
What is the half hole on the oboe?#
The half-hole is a small hole in the first key of the top joint, which is under the first finger of the left hand. oboehelp.com describes it as usually diamond-shaped. To open it, keep the key pressed and slide the first finger of the left hand down, so the small hole is uncovered while the key stays down.
In this chart the half-hole is used for C♯5, D5, E♭5, D6, E♭6, E6 and F6. Each of these is shown in the key list as “Left hand 1 (half-hole: key pressed, finger slid down so the small hole is open)”. The Woodwind Fingering Guide uses it as a vent, like the octave keys, for the second-octave notes C♯, D and E♭. When a note uses the half-hole, that half-hole is the one you need to open, not the whole first key.