Weak Fingers at the Piano?
19 Piano Exercises to Quickly Improve the 4th and 5th Fingers at the Piano
This is a VIDEO POST on improving your your piano technique with piano exercises specially for the weak fingers. WATCH VIDEO.
Many piano players have trouble playing with the 4th and 5th fingers because they are WEAKER, and in particular, the 4th finger is the LEAST INDEPENDENT finger. This is because of the anatomy inside the hand. And it is for everyone like that.
When I work on my piano technique, I always make sure to give some extra work to the weaker fingers. By nature, the ring fingers, and small fingers aren’t as strong and fast as the other fingers in piano technique.
Chopin wrote an etude especially for that, Opus 10 no. 2 in A Minor. This etude, how easy it may look on the score, is one of the most difficult things you can play on the piano. Both Sviatoslav Richter and Vladimir Horowitz said they couldn’t play it. Richter did record it later in his life, but not too fast for sure.
In this video, I show you 19 PIANO EXERCISES for the weak fingers that are excellent in developing precisely the 4th and 5th fingers at the piano.
Don’t forget to DOWNLOAD the exercises.
Understanding the Weakness
The fourth finger, in particular, is notorious for its weakness and lack of independence compared to the other fingers. This is primarily due to its anatomical positioning, wedged between the third and fifth fingers. Consequently, lifting the fourth finger can be more challenging than lifting any other finger. Nevertheless, with the right exercises, you can enhance their independence and strength.
Strengthening Your Fourth and Fifth Fingers: Piano Exercises for Improved Dexterity
Many accomplished pianists emphasize the importance of mastering the fourth and fifth fingers. These fingers each have their unique character, and by developing them, you enrich your piano playing. Let’s delve into some exercises that can help you achieve this.
1. Hanon: A Familiar Friend
Hanon exercises serve as an excellent starting point. While they’re not exclusively designed for fingers four and five, certain exercises are particularly effective. Numbers 11, 12, 16, and 17 are noteworthy, offering variations that target these weaker digits.
2. Delving into Brahms
For those seeking more specialized exercises, Brahms’ techniques provide an invaluable resource. These exercises focus on trills, legato playing, and strengthening techniques for the fourth and fifth fingers.
- Piano Exercise 13: Focused on achieving a smooth legato, this exercise emphasizes leaving a key only when the next finger is already in position.
- Piano Exercise 18: A trill exercise for the fourth and fifth fingers, incorporating intricate patterns.
- Piano Exercise 23: A challenging exercise involving sustained thumb notes and fourth and fifth finger thirds.
- Piano Exercise 22: This exercise maintains a sustained thumb while targeting the fourth and fifth fingers, promoting a deep stretch.
- Piano Exercise 28: A chromatic scale exercise with a sustained thumb, working both hands simultaneously.
- Piano Exercise 30: A trill exercise for fourth and fifth fingers, coupled with legato patterns.
- Piano Exercise 34C: An exercise focusing on the B major tonality, enhancing finger independence.
3. Super Fingers: Unlocking Your Potential
In my book, ‘Super Fingers,’ I’ve curated a collection of 57 exercises. These exercises are meticulously designed to cultivate both finger and arm techniques, catering to beginners, intermediates, and advanced players.
- Piano Exercise 16: Accentuating the fourth finger with a forte and legato approach.
- Piano Exercise 20: Tailored for both hands, fostering legato playing and strength in four and five.
- Piano Exercise 47: Utilizing a sustained fifth finger in ascending, and a sustained thumb in descending.
- Piano Exercise 48: Focusing on the fourth finger’s sustained strength in both directions.
- Piano Exercise 52 (and 51): An excellent pizzicato exercise, further developing fingers four and five.
Conclusion on Piano Exercises for Weak Fingers
Strengthening your fourth and fifth fingers is essential for achieving a more nuanced and expressive piano performance. While Hanon exercises can provide a good foundation, Brahms’ exercises and the “Super Fingers” system offer more specialized workouts for these weaker fingers.
By incorporating these exercises into your practice routine, you’ll notice significant improvements in finger independence and overall piano playing.
Don’t forget to DOWNLOAD the accompanying exercise PDFs linked in the description to help you get started on your journey to mastering your fourth and fifth fingers. Subscribe to our channel for more piano-playing tips and tutorials, and remember to hit the like button if you found this video helpful. Happy playing!
Watch here the Video Tutorial on Piano Technique for the WEAK 4th & 5th FINGERS
Video Script
This video is all about training the fourth and the fifth finger in exercises for the weak fingers.
These are the weakest fingers of your hands.
particularly number four
and i know many students like to avoid using
particularly the fourth finger
because it’s the weakest and least
independent finger of all of them
and that’s because of the anatomy in the hand
it’s locked between three and five
and therefore
you will see that lifting the fourth finger
is far more difficult than lifting any other finger
but still with exercises
we can make it more independent
i love to use my fourth finger and my fifth finger
because i developed them well
every finger has its own character
but still the better you develop your fingers
the more rich your piano playing will get
and the exercises i use for that are
a few exercises of Hanon
but there are not many
i think Hanon
is more designed for developing
some equality and passage work
especially when you do them in different tonalities
there are a few exercises
that can be effective for four and five
to make them a little bit quicker
but if you really want to make your fingers independent
and strong you should go to take Brahms exercises
these exercises are the best exercises
that i have found from any exercises
including the exercises of Franz Liszt
they are far not so good as the ones of Brahms
but they are quite difficult
then we have the exercises of myself
i developed my own system of exercises
this is called Super Fingers
book one i take exercises off
which are for beginners to intermediates
and when you’re more advanced
but still don’t know much about using your arm
about arm technique
if you didn’t learn that
then i would also recommend you
check this first book of Super Fingers
there will be a part two
and a part three
and then a part four
transcendental difficulty
but there is a system
in them and i explain very clearly
how i use the fingers
how i use the arm
and i even write the arm movements
for the different exercises
so check it out
the link is in the description
and the exercises that i discuss in this video
you will also find a link in the description to the pdf
you can download them for free
so check it out
and let’s get to the exercises
i start with
Hanon because these are the exercises
that most of you are familiar with
they’re very good to do
but they are a little bit one sided
cause they’re all similar
i would learn all of them once
and then leave them
and maybe you can do make some
design some new exercises form them
the first exercise from Hanon is number eleven
see and what makes it four or five is
this is a repetition here
actually you can also take here number thirty from Hanon
which is a little bit similar
that’s number thirty
i don’t say that these exercises are exclusively
for the four and the five
but from the exercises of
i know these are the most effective
also number twelve you can do
here is when you go up it’s for the left hand
four five and when you go down it is for the right hand
and you can do them in different tonalities of course
then we go to number sixteen
and back…
then we have number seventeen
which i like the most of all of them
because of the stretching here
Hanon is very good for developing equal piano playing
so that all the notes are nicely equal in passage works
but they are not particularly designed for making real
strong flexible independent fingers
for that i would recommend to go to Brahms
or if you are want to find something easier
you could say pre-Brahms
then you should go to my book super fingers
that you can download
the link is in the description
so second let’s go to Brahms
there we get to some more interesting exercises
first we go to number thirteen
ben legato that’s what brahms writes a lot
with exercises
ben legato means good legato
so really only leave the key
when the next finger has already pressed the next key
so that is ben legato
real legato
not something in between
then we go to exercise number eighteen
this exercise is really for four and five ‘trills’
in four and five
and it is two against
three four against
six at the same time
so first a sustained note here
that’s a and b is
the next exercise is number twenty three
also this with a sustained thumb
and then with four five thirds
it’s actually written this
it’s very good to practice in this rhythm first
it’s a little bit pressure and release
so it’s a very good exercise
and you really feel it also in the lower arm
then we have twenty two so the thumb stays
you will feel this stretching
you should feel them in the lower arm
it’s a very good exercise
the next exercise is number twenty eight
is chromatic scales with four five
with a sustained thumb in opposite directions
yeah it’s a little bit practicing that
you have the notes correct
in the left and in the right hand
very good exercise
really makes strong your four and five
then we have the next one
number thirty is really a thrill exercise
for four five again
and then a legato in three to one
so really for a finger independence
that’s it have a good exercise
you will feel that in your muscles here in your hand
in the tiny muscles
but you should always feel most here
here your should develop your muscles
go to the next exercise it is
thirty four c
the nice thing by the way with exercises of brahms
is that they all are in different tonalities
the tonality in which you have to learn that exercise
really helps to have even more effect of the exercise
this exercise is in b major
and then we come to my own book Super Fingers
this is a collection of fifty seven exercises
meant for developing your finger technique
and arm technique combined
like in brahms
but then with explanations
and they start from starters and intermediate players
and even if you’re advanced
and you never learned anything about arm movements
i would suggest you learn from this book
there will also be a course
a video course of it
check the link in the description
then you can check it out
by the way don’t forget to download also the pdf
from the exercises that i treat in this video
there’s a pdf link in the description
you can download them for free
number sixteen
and the whole meaning of it
is to give an accent on the fourth finger
all forte and legato
a little bit with the arm
and you could make a variation on it
and then you do it like this
simple exercise but effective
especially developed for the fourth finger
then we have number twenty
which is when we go up it’s for the right hand
four five and we go down is for the left hand four five
all legato
and repeat and you can do this in different tonalities
you can always go back also to exercises
and do them in different tonalities
then we go to number forty seven
this is with sustained fifth finger when we go up
and a sustained thumb when we go down
see and this is very good for the fourth finger
down is
then we have number forty eight
right after this is a fourth finger sustained
and then we go back the second finger stays
and we go to number fifty two
etc. you could also do fifty one
there’s a really a more for pizzicato exercise
but also with four five
so these are a collection of exercises
that are very good for developing four and five
on both hands
and now that we have got to the end of this video
i hope that you have learned some new exercises
so that you can
work on your technique a little bit better
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It’s great that you have watched this tutorial and have some extra tools at your disposal to improve your piano technique. I’m curious to know what you do in order to improve your piano technique? Just drop a line in the comments.