FROM LEFT AND RIGHT Fingering

FROM LEFT AND RIGHT

Fingering

 

«Simplifying fast parts while complicating slow ones can solve many technical difficulties».

 

1. It is easily understood that the first thing one must watch out for when studying a piece for the first time, alongside with rhythmic and melodic accuracy, is fingering.

2. Write down the fingering as a first step, after first having tried it, that is. It is of course highly likely that you will change and improve this by the time you perfect the piece.

3. On several occasions, the various fingerings to be used depend on the tempo with which the piece is to be performed.

4. The various fingerings should be directly related to the melodic line.

5. When having to play the same note for more than once, use the same finger or different, depending on the occasion.

6. When the piece is slow and melodious, it is preferable to keep changing fingers, mainly in the direction of fifth towards first (the natural movement of the fingers, is from the fifth to the first finger and not vice versa).

7. When, however, the piece is too fast to allow smooth alteration of the fingers for the same note, or if the change will ruin the position of your wrist on the piano, then it is best -or rather necessary- to use the same finger throughout.

8. The fingering written down should be directly related to the one preceding and following the musical phrase.

9. When trying to find the best fingering, try out all possibilities; if you do not give up, this is bound to come naturally. Fingering always follows a hierarchy, starting from the best, to the second best, etc. Students must first, however, learn correctly the rhythm and notes and then the fingering.

10. When performing a piece with separate hands for the first time, the three basic elements that you should watch out for are rhythm, notes, and fingering.

11. Fingering which is convenient when a piece is performed slowly is not necessarily the suitable one for performing the piece at a faster (its normal) rhythm.

12. It is a custom to use more complicated and elaborated fingering for slow pieces or parts; these are simplified as much as possible when fast pieces or parts are to be performed.

13. Fingers (1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th) move from the loudest (1st) to the weakest (5th) analogously and sequentially. Being the strongest ones, the three first fingers are usually burdened with having to perform the very speedy parts, while the other two (4th and 5th), are not.

14. The third finger, being the middle one, is somehow more greatly balanced than the rest of the fingers, as it is positioned at the centre of the wrist, having two fingers on its left and two on its right.

15. There are several exercises that one can employ in order to strengthen the weak fingers and vice versa (that is, weaken the strong ones), yet it is neither proper nor right to reverse natural laws.

16. Watch out for the relationship between the various fingerings of a piece, as well as for the fingerings of a motif, in connection to the preceding and following ones.

17. If it is necessary to change fingers twice when playing a note, there are two ways for doing this. The first one is to change the two fingers extremely quickly, almost simultaneously; when using this method the two fingers are written side by side and are linked with a curved line. The second method is to allow for a slight delay above or below the particular note.

18. It is only when you learn a piece very well and off by heart that you can settle down to the fingerings that are more suitable for using on each occasion.

19. I frequently place the third finger of my right hand above the fourth one when wishing to give a different tone, or better, greater power to the note that is to be performed by this particular finger.

20. When studying a piece for the first time, the first thing to be decided is the correct tempo that ought to be reached. It is only then that you may - 26 - begin writing down the various fingerings, which should corespond to the natural tempo of the piece and not to the slow one employed towards the initial stages of your study.

21. The same way that a harmonic or melodic chain exists, a chain of fingerings also exists and learning how to use this can solve many problems.

22. Simplifying difficult fingerings and, systematically grouping these so that they are connected to other groups, facilitates their memorisation.

23. When making a mistake concerning fingering, you should not try to reassure yourself that it was nothing more than a slight slip; on the contrary, it is necessary to join the notes for which the mistake was made with the preceding and following musical pattern. Music represents the joining of various factors and not their separation.

24. Correct fingering is the orthodox means and method leading towards your final goal, this being nothing more apart from your perfection in playing the piano; for that reason, fingering should never become autonomy or an end in itself.

25. If you have to play the same note successively and sequentially with your third, second and first fingers, place all three fingers close to one another on the note so as to adjoin the key. In this way you save time, while maintaining finger position.

26. The different types of fingering come to the surface themselves when you are not really thinking about the particular form of fingering that you should use. In other words, when you allow your fingers to freely perform a particular musical phrase without imposing a particular form of fingering, they themselves shall reach the most accurate combination.

27. Every time you have difficulty in deciding which fingering is best to use, it is beneficial to think of the advantages and disadvantages for each type and, after having weighed the arguments for and against, to make the right, to your opinion, choice.

28. At some final stage, it may be necessary to try the several types of fingering using both hands, so as to assure that a balance exists between the left and right hand. It is this compliance and uniformity between the two hands, which is the most important factor of all in this great chapter titled: «Fingerings».

29. Every time you come across the same musical pattern, you should use the same fingering, so as to produce the same sound quality and maintain a logical continuity and punctuality from beginning to end. An exception to the rule is when having to play the same pattern twice, wishing to somehow slightly alter the sound effect the second time round; in such a case changing the fingerings is permitted.