You wouldn’t believe how often I see students playing piano while using extremely awkward fingering, and I’m sure that this is something which interests beginners and intermediate players alike.
Believe it or not, this is a rather controversial topic.
While many people believe that proper fingering is essential when playing the piano, others feel that free-style is better.
Let me share with you my own perspective on this topic:
First of all, everyone has different fingers in terms of length, but one common factor is that our thumbs are shorter than our other fingers.
Also, the thumb is usually the most powerful finger we have, followed by the index finger and middle finger, and it’s these three figures which are the most used when it comes to playing piano.
Here are some tips concerning fingering which you should certainly consider:
1. The thumb should never be used for playing a black key. The only exception to this rule is when you: a) Play a musical piece which only has black notes. b) When you play a piece where they are black and white keys.
Thumbs are not meant to be used for black key because of its length.The most used fingers for black notes are the 2nd and the 3rd fingers. If you are playing certain scales that start with a black key such as Bb major, Eb major, Ab major, etc. You will use 2nd or 3rd finger to play the first scale note instead of the thumb.
2. In the event that you’re playing a piece with your right hand and you’re in a situation where some of the keys are out of reach, you should simply move your hand so that you can play the note. Of course, if the desired key is only one or two steps down from your thumb, then you can use the thumb as an anchor while are you cross your second finger over to the note in question. In this case, it wouldn’t be necessary to move to your hand, but instead, you simply move your second finger over.
You’ll notice that as soon as the second finger has played the key, the thumb will automatically follow across to play the next note to the left of the key. The best way to familiarize yourself with regards to what finger should follow, is to practice the scale regularly.
3. Identical rule applies to the left hand.
4. Whenever you have an opportunity you should watch experienced players, and you should pay particular attention to their fingering. Ideally, you should try to watch those who have plenty of experience in playing classical music; because you can be rest assured that they’ve spent several years going through the necessary repertoires. Of course, you should also try to imitate their finger movements.
One very important factor regarding good fingering is that it helps to ensure smoothness while playing musical pieces.
This is especially important in the piano work of Bach (prelude, fugues, and others) and many Classical composers. Very often, a slight change in piano fingering could cause a disruption of the whole phrasing. For improvisational and accompaniment pieces, strict piano fingering becomes less critical. In fact, every time I improvise I use different fingering combination. This is because my mood and rhythm change when I improvise, this also affects the combination of fingers I use.
If you pay attention to musical pieces edited by different editors, you will notice a change of fingering as well. I have noticed that the same “Sonatina” piece composed by Clementi have different fingering suggestions under different editors. Some editors use the 2nd finger more often, while others choose the 3rd finger.
To round everything up: When you’re improvising you can pay less attention to which finger you’re using, providing of course, you abide by the rules mentioned above.
If you get too critical about fingering, it distracts your musical thoughts and flow. After all, it is music that you are conveying. Piano playing gets rather complicated when you are trying to balance both hands, keep a steady tempo (rhythm), make sure the pedals are going in at the right time, listening to the music.
