Every note from low F♯ to high C, valve by valve — the written note, the concert pitch it sounds, and how the B♭ transposition works.
Written F♯3 to middle C (C4) — the bottom of the trumpet’s everyday range.
Written C♯4 to third-space C (C5) — the heart of the instrument.
Written C♯5 to high C (C6). The fingerings repeat the lower patterns — the work is in the air and embouchure.
Up here the harmonics sit close together, so more than one fingering will sound each note, and the embouchure and air do most of the work — not the fingers. The most-used fingering is listed first; take the one that speaks and tunes best for you. (Double high C is open.)
| Written | Sounds | Most common | Also used |
|---|---|---|---|
| C♯6 | B5 | 1·2 | — |
| D6 | C6 | 1 | open |
| E♭6 | D♭6 | 2 | — |
| E6 | D6 | open | 1·2 |
| F6 | E♭6 | 1 | — |
| F♯6 | E6 | 2 | open |
| G6 | F6 | open | 1·3 |
Smoother options for specific passages, slurs and trills.
The Whole Horn plays the twelve major scales in the trumpet’s own written pitch, with a metronome to practice against.
Open the scale trainer →The standard trumpet is a B♭ instrument — it sounds a major second (a whole step) lower than written. When a trumpeter reads a written C, the concert pitch that comes out is B♭. To match a concert-pitch melody, a trumpet part is written a whole step higher than it sounds.
The standard written range is low F♯3 to high C6 ("high C"). Because the trumpet sounds a whole step lower, that is concert E3 to B♭5. Advanced players extend well above high C using the same valve patterns, which simply repeat in the upper register.
Each valve combination produces a whole overtone (harmonic) series, not a single note. With the valves open, for example, you can play C4, G4, C5, E5, G5 and C6 — you move between them with your air and embouchure, not by changing valves. That is why open, valve 1, and the other combinations each reappear several times up the range.
The 1·3 and 1·2·3 combinations are built sharp — low D (1·3), low C♯ (1·2·3) and low F♯ (1·2·3) most of all. Push the third-valve slide out with the ring or saddle while you play them. That slide exists for exactly this reason.
Open The Whole Horn, choose your instrument, and the twelve major scales transpose automatically into the trumpet’s written pitch — play along with the built-in metronome in every key.
These fingerings are cross-referenced against standard published charts. Where charts differ in the upper register, the most common fingering is listed first.