Free Trumpet Fingering Chart: Notes, Valves, and Practice

I reach for a free trumpet fingering chart when my fingers know roughly where to go, but the note still comes out wrong. That little hesitation between E and F can make a simple line feel like paperwork.

The chart helps. But it only answers one question: which valves go down? Your air, lips, and ear still have to find the note.

Here’s a clear reference for B-flat trumpet, followed by a short routine for getting those fingerings off the page and into your playing.

Your free trumpet fingering chart

These are written pitches for B-flat trumpet, not concert pitches. Written C sounds as concert B♭. If you’re reading a trumpet part, use its written notes with this chart. Don’t transpose them again.

The valve numbers run from your face toward the bell:

• 1: first valve, nearest the mouthpiece.
• 2: middle valve.
• 3: third valve, nearest the bell.
• Open: no valves pressed.

A combination such as 1–3 means press both valves together. It doesn’t mean press one and then the other.

Octave labels keep the register clear. C4 is written middle C, on the first ledger line below the treble staff. C5 sits in the third space.

| Written note | Position or register | Valves | |---|---|---| | F♯3 / G♭3 | Below middle C | 1–2–3 | | G3 | Below middle C | 1–3 | | G♯3 / A♭3 | Below middle C | 2–3 | | A3 | Below middle C | 1–2 | | A♯3 / B♭3 | Below middle C | 1 | | B3 | Below middle C | 2 | | C4 | Ledger line below staff | Open | | C♯4 / D♭4 | Below staff | 1–2–3 | | D4 | Below staff | 1–3 | | D♯4 / E♭4 | Below staff | 2–3 | | E4 | First line | 1–2 | | F4 | First space | 1 | | F♯4 / G♭4 | First space, raised F | 2 | | G4 | Second line | Open | | G♯4 / A♭4 | Second space, lowered A | 2–3 | | A4 | Second space | 1–2 | | A♯4 / B♭4 | Third line | 1 | | B4 | Third line, raised B♭ | 2 | | C5 | Third space | Open |

The paired names share a fingering and pitch here. Their spelling depends on the key or chord. This table covers low F♯ through third-space C; it isn’t a complete upper-register chart.

Save this free trumpet fingering chart or print this page from your browser. Keep the octave labels with it. A note name without its register can send your fingers to the wrong address.

Why the right valves can still give you the wrong note

Open valves can produce C4, G4, and C5, among other notes. The tubing hasn’t changed. You’re selecting a different resonance of the horn, often called a partial.

That’s why I don’t treat a fingering chart as a guarantee. If you finger C4 and get G4, the chart hasn’t failed. You’ve landed on another partial.

First, hear your target note from a reliable reference. Sing it if you can. Then play it gently, without trying to force the pitch into place.

Use a tuner as a check, not as something to stare down. If it displays concert pitch, written C will register as B♭. Some tuners offer a B♭ instrument setting instead.

Also, the standard combinations aren’t perfectly in tune on every note. Written low D4 and C♯4 commonly need the third-valve slide extended. Adjust by ear and tuner; there’s no universal slide distance.

Make the fingers arrive together

I’d start with written E4–F4–F♯4–G4:

1–2 → 1 → 2 → Open

The F♯ is the coordination test here. Moving from F to F♯ means releasing valve 1 while pressing valve 2. If those movements arrive separately, you can hear an unwanted note between them.

Set a metronome to 60 beats per minute. Play each note for two beats, then rest for two. Keep the sound comfortable.

Next, reverse the pattern. Finally, slur it slowly. The slur makes uneven valve changes harder to hide. Annoying, but useful.

Keep your fingertips resting lightly on the valve buttons. Press fully, release cleanly, and avoid lifting your fingers high above the horn. Big gestures don’t make small passages easier.

Turn the chart into jazz practice

Once the notes speak reliably, stop running them like a typing test. Give them a musical job.

Open the C major triad practice screen. Using written pitches, play C4–E4–G4–C5 with Open–1–2–Open–Open. Here, each dash-separated fingering group belongs to one note: open, valves 1 and 2 together, open, open.

Play four even quarter notes. Then try two short notes, one longer note, and a rest. Keep the rhythm deliberate rather than automatically making everything short.

Next, visit the C blues scale screen. For written C blues, the notes are C–E♭–F–G♭–G–B♭. In this register, G♭4 uses valve 2, just like F♯4.

Try E♭4–F4–G♭4–G4. Listen for the half-step pull into G. That small sound matters more than how quickly you finish the scale.

A five-minute routine you can repeat

Use the JazzValve practice screen as your starting point:

1. One minute: choose three adjacent chart notes. Say each name and fingering. 2. Two minutes: play them slowly, ascending and descending, with rests. 3. One minute: use those notes in a short rhythmic phrase. 4. One minute: look away and repeat the phrase from memory.

Keep the free trumpet fingering chart nearby, but look away once the pattern feels secure. I want the chart to settle the valve question so you can get back to listening.

Where to go next

• Trumpet Fingering Chart: Written Notes and Jazz Practice
• Trumpet Fingering Chart for Beginners: Notes That Settle