Fingering is a crucial element in piano playing and, surprisingly, it’s often overlooked even at advanced levels. Many piano students have never adhered to any at all.

Fingering is necessary because it helps a pianist remember which one of their four fingers or thumb (in each hand) is required to play a particular note or notes.  It is a really useful skill to cultivate as without it piano playing will become haphazard and uneven. It’s difficult to achieve any kind of consistency or fluency without sticking to the same finger patterns in a piano piece.

A good teacher will write all the necessary fingerings on the music so when you practice, you will know exactly which finger goes where. This is vital for smooth fluent playing.  Initially, your piano books will show you how the fingers are numbered (see the image of my hands above). The numbers will be then placed above different notes on your written music so that you know where to place your fingers. You need to use the same fingers each time you practice your pieces so that the fingering becomes a habit. This will help you play the piece accurately every time.

Here are a few tips:

1. When playing scale type passages, or running passagework, always remember to cross your thumb under your third finger, in the right hand when ascending, in order to negotiate all the notes – this way you won’t ‘run out of fingers’. The third finger will be crossed over the thumb when descending, too. It is quite normal to twist fingers over and under in order to achieve legato, or smooth, playing.

2. When you are just learning to play, try to use the middle fingers (2, 3, and 4) on the black notes and keep the thumb and 5th finger for the white notes; this doesn’t really apply when you become more advanced.

3. To start with it’s always a good idea to write in your fingerings on your music as this will really help you to remember where you are going and it is worth remembering that all hands are different and, therefore, fingerings may need to be adjusted accordingly.

4. Learning scales and arpeggios are crucial in developing a consistently reliable use of your fingers; it is worth practising them for this reason alone, although there are many other reasons for learning scales and arpeggios, too.

Image: So You Want To Play The Piano? published by Alfred Music

Publications

Melanie Spanswick has written and published a wide range of courses, anthologies, examination syllabuses, and text books, including Play it again: PIANO (published by Schott Music). This best-selling graded, progressive piano course contains a large selection of repertoire featuring a huge array of styles and genres, with copious practice tips and suggestions for every piece.

For more information, please visit the publications page, here.