How to Pick a Good Piano Fingering
this is a crucial part of piano technique...
Seeing how Bugs Bunny plays Liszt’s Second Hungarian Rhapsody with his feet is hilarious. But it is also intriguing to look beyond what is common to finding pianistic solutions.
To most amateurs, fingering is the only problem in which they try to find a solution. Yet, it is so much more complex than that. In this blog, you are going to learn a more in-depth approach to fingering in piano playing.
The first problem we encounter is that many scores don’t have fingerings printed for all passages, and often much worse: Awful piano fingering!
I prefer scores that don’t suggest piano fingering at all, a “clean” score. Often it is better to come up with your own fingerings or your teacher’s fingerings. But how to choose the proper fingering? And what makes a masterful piano fingering and why so?
There are two grounds to consider when choosing piano fingering. The first aspect to reflect on is piano technical reasons. And the second aspect is all about musical interpretation. So we need to balance the two by asking the right questions in every situation.
Piano Technical considerations
- Size and shape of your hands; no two hands are exactly the same
- Each finger has a slight different function and thus its own strength and weakness
- Rhythm and accentuations
- Pianistic articulation; leggiero, staccato, legato, portato
- The choice of arm movements has a direct consequence on the selection of fingering
- Finger dexterity of each individual finger at a given moment in your pianistic development
- Your experience and purpose of learning this piano piece
Musical considerations
- Musical articulation; how each note connects with the previous and following notes
- Phrasing; where does the note come from, and where does it lead?
- The character and color of sound that you want to achieve
- The character and color of sound that you want to create
- The rhythmical and lyrical character of a passage
- The tempo you decide that the final speed should be
Problem:
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Approach:
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The size and shape of your hands are to be taken into account; no two hands are exactly the same. A particular fingering can cause too much stretching in small hands, and you can’t do it.
It seems simple and straightforward, but it is not always. While we advance, we want to “stretch” our limits so we grow as pianists.
Let's explore how different considerations affect the piano fingering?
Another reason, yet most wish to keep it a secret, is the limitation of one’s finger dexterity. My teacher used to tell: “Each level pianist requires different fingerings, yet we must first try an advanced fingering before switching to an easier alternative.”
Every stage of development brings new possibilities, and never forget that new possibilities carry new responsibilities. Bear that challenging piano fingering if it makes your music come out more convincingly and give that bit of extra work!
NEVER AVOID FINGER WORKOUTS! To speed up your pianistic development we must do the work. The better your technique, the better the fingering you can take on and thus express more music.
We shouldn’t always be easy on ourselves and take the challenge to try, at least for a while, some fingering that makes good sense for achieving a specific result. It might feel difficult in the beginning, but TRY WE MUST.
Suppose it doesn’t go with certain confidence after some serious work. In that case, you can always return to the simpler variant… and yeah, so often you’ll find that easier variant too simple after trying the challenging variant.
In this example of the beginning of Liszt’s Second Ballade, I play this chromatic passage using ALL fingers switching from 1 on the note C to 5 on C♯. When executed right, this fingering results in a very frightening effect: a dark pianissimo atmosphere.
It isn’t the easiest fingering to come up with, and it took me some time to get it smooth. But after many exercises, smooth arm movement, and the correct form of the hand.
It sounds like no other fingering can achieve!
Let's dive into a few examples of piano fingering
Another Liszt example is from the Transcendental Etude No. 4 – ‘Mazeppa’.
Here, Liszt himself indicated 4-2 for each third, which is harder to do in this fast tempo than 1-3/2-4. I use this fingering but change 2-4 here and there with 2-3 so that 3 goes over 4. This creates a bit more flexibility, in my opinion.
Liszt’s idea of this fingering is to make each third sound very brilliant and “super-articulated,” and it is definitely worth the extra effort.
Articulation of the notes
Articulation, how each note stands out from the other notes, is a technical consideration as it is a musical decision. We need to ask how much clarity we like to hear, just as we saw in the previous example of Liszt’s Mazeppa.
A simple example is repeating notes on the same key. We can play them with alternating fingers on one note (1-2-3-4) like we do in Liszt’s ‘Der Totentanz’ or (3-2-1-3-2-1) in Scarlatti’s sonata in d-moll K141, both wonderfully performed by Martha Argerich.
To execute the notes fast and clearly on the same key, we need to change fingers.
Sometimes it is better to apply a fingering in which we use the same finger on each next note in passages that very rapid repeat the same note.
For example here at the beginning of ‘Scarbo’ by Maurice Ravel, the repeating note is played with both 2-3 fingers together on the same note continuously. This allows to creation of a special sound that can only be achieved when the key never comes up completely before the next strike of the same key.
This is because alternated fingers on one key give more articulation, and the tempo is almost “limitless.” Yet it isn’t always desired such an articulation. Using one and the same finger (or two together) on the same key when playing repeating notes gives a more sustained vibrating sound. It is excellent for pianissimo playing, creating a more vibrating tone like a vibrato on a string instrument.
Phrasing of the music
An important musical ground for deciding on piano fingering is phrasing.
We ask ourselves:
- What comes before a note, and where does it lead?
- Do we finish a phrase or sub-phrase in diminuendo or crescendo?
Selecting an arm movement that improves a particular phrasing may require a special piano fingering that enhances the arm movement.
In this example of Haydn’s F-dur sonata, we see short phrases of 3 notes.
To ensure a smooth execution and finish the phrase with a light detached note, avoiding accents, I play this with an upward arm movement. On the third note, I don’t play with the thumb but with the 2nd finger.
The piano fingering, in combination with the arm movement, results in a precise execution without much effort.
Here we have another example out of the Haydn F-dur sonata, in this example from the 2nd movement Adagio. Here the fingering is mainly chosen because of how the fingering enhances the sound quality of these beautiful subtle melodic passages.
The character is “poco espressivo” with a “free” sound. The arm movement goes hand in hand with the fingering; a slight up action on the first two notes followed by an upward motion towards the eighth note at the end of each small phrase. Gliding from D♭ to C in the first phrase, a quasi gliding from B♭ to A♭ with the help of a smooth arm movement.
Expression and sound color
The color of sound is one of the most important motives for choosing fingerings. Chopin was perhaps the first pianist to talk about the different characters of each finger and the importance of this when deciding on a good fingering.
Rachmaninov taught his students precisely that. I have a copy of the complete Scriabin Preludes Opus 11 with Rachmaninov’s fingerings.
I was fortunate to get a copy of this score from Jean-Marie Cottet during a lecture he gave on fingering. He studied with Gina Bachauer. Gina Bachauer was Rachmaninov’s pupil and learned all these Scriabin opus 11 preludes with him.
Those piano fingerings are unconventional, using a lot of consecutive thumbs in fast passages to emphasize those notes.
The 4th and 5th fingers are naturally weaker and thinner; therefore, it is easier to achieve specific sounds. However, that doesn’t mean that the thumb isn’t able to play a beautiful pianissimo or the 5th finger can’t play a colossal fortissimo.
I broke many strings with my 5th finger in the right hand, and there were plenty that I snapped in my student years! And often, they must exactly do that! 😉
In this example of Chopin’s “Revolution etude,” we see how the weak fingers 5 & 4 need to play vigorously and brilliantly.
I tried to avoid it by using 5-3 instead of 5-4, but it didn’t sound as well as 5-4. The key to succeeding in this passage is a fixed form of the hand.
Creativity in choosing piano fingering and arm movements will greatly increase your musical color palette.
Octave playing - Legato or Non-legato
Octaves are very interesting in piano technique. They are very frequent, and they occur in both melodic lines doubled in octaves, and in virtuosic passages. Piano octaves require a good fingering, supple wrists and smooth arm movements.
Since the stretch in the hands when using 1-4 and even more so 1-3 in playing octaves increases, it is essential to use smooth arm movements and keep the wrists as loose as possible.
In this example from Chopin’s nocturne opus 48 no. 2, we see the main melody doubled in octaves, as we often see when the expression intensifies. But the upper voice must be played “molto legato,” meaning that the note must be held down until the following note is pressed. To achieve this, I use a lot 3-4-5 in the upper voice where 3 and 4 often cross the 5th finger.
The use of the 4th and 3rd fingers combined with the correct arm movements works very well in achieving a ‘ben legato’ (real legato) in the upper voice. The thumbs as well requires lots of flexibility, and the use of a more vertical thumb that play close to the black keys.
There will be a stretch in the hand. Yet, supple wrists and the employment of the correct muscles in the lower arm make it that it feels more or less comfortable. I personally enjoy this feeling.
When we look at Chopin’s octave etude opus 25 no. 10, we see that Chopin writes ‘legato’ at the very beginning of the etude. Of course, some composers weren’t so accurate in writing pianistic instructions.
Yet, in the case of Chopin, we need to take them very seriously. Chopin was very exact in writing what he wanted. He understood the pianistic implications of what he indicates more than any other. Also, in this etude, we need to use 5-4-3 in the outer voices of both hands to realize this legato.
When learning this etude or any other octave passage, I make many outer voice exercises separated as well, and special exercises for enhancing flexible thumbs.
Don’t be afraid for a little stretching and stretch from the lower arm with free wrists.
Magic Tip
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Watch your thumbs!
Play octaves more into the keys. The thumbs shouldn't be further than one centimetre away from the black keys. So legato playing gets possible. And in fast playing you'll have octaves on black keys always at your finger tips.
Conclusion and some Last Advice
Remember that each situation is different and asks for another solution depending on your experience, musical intentions, pianistic intentions, hand shape, etc. But also know that being creative and experimental makes you a much more skilled pianist. So experiment, yet be aware of your intention.
When you find a fingering that serves your purposes best, WRITE IT DOWN. Perhaps later, you may come up with a more ‘sophisticated’ fingering, then again write it out.
BE CONSISTENT and aware of the fingering you use. Just randomly changing fingerings causes you to make mistakes and results in an insecure performance. However, the more experienced you are, the easier it is to change fingering quickly.
The best piano fingering is not always the one with the least effort.
Trying out complex piano fingering can increase your technical skills a lot. It is good to pick fingering sometimes just for practice purposes and change them later on. Thus, you can work on strengthening specific fingers, making them faster and more flexible.
Read the article: Master Method 3 Steps to Superfast Fingers
Do this in technical etudes or even difficult passages in repertoire pieces. But only if you have enough time for it, meaning you don’t need to perform it any time soon.
5 Steps towards Masterful Piano Fingering
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