University of Montana

ScholarWorks at University of Montana

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Graduate School

Professional Papers

1958

Resume and bibliography of piano fingering material

Barbara Ann Cornehl
The University of Montana

Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.umt.edu/etd

Let us know how access to this document benefits you.

Recommended Citation
Cornehl, Barbara Ann, "Resume and bibliography of piano fingering material" (1958). Graduate Student
Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers. 3423.
https://scholarworks.umt.edu/etd/3423

This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at ScholarWorks at University of
Montana. It has been accepted for inclusion in Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers by an
authorized administrator of ScholarWorks at University of Montana. For more information, please contact
scholarworks@mso.umt.edu.
A RESUME AND BIBLIOGRAPHÏ OF PIANO FINGERING MATERIAL

by

BARBARA. ANN GORNEHL

B. A. Whitworth College, 1956

Presented in p a r t i a l fu lfU lra en t

of th e requirem ents fo r th e degree of

M aster of Music

MONTANA STATE UNIVERSITY

1958

Approved byr

Chaizman, Board of Examiners

Dean, Graduate School

AUG 1 11958

Date
 UMI Number: EP35319

All rights reserved

INFORMATION TO ALL USERS

The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted.

In the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscript
and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed,
a note will indicate the deletion.

UMT
UMI EP35319
Published by ProQuest LLO (2012). Copyright in the Dissertation held by the Author.
Microform Edition © ProQuest LLO.
All rights reserved. This work is protected against
unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code

ProQuest'
■<z:
ProQuest LLC.
789 East Eisenhower Parkway
P.O. Box 1346
Ann Arbor, Ml 48106 -1346
i S'-S'S

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The author wishes to thank Hr* J u s tin Gray and Mr* Gerald Doty
f o r t h e i r help and guidance on t h is paper*
The author a lso wishes to thank Mr* J* George Hummel, Mrs*

Bernice Hamskill, Mr* W illiam R ichards, Mr* Jeno Takacs, and th e l a t e

Mr* Howard Vieh fo r th e use of t h e i r m a te ria ls on the subject of

piano fingering*

- ii -
 TABLE OF CONTENTS

CHAPTER PAGE
I. THE PROBLM AND DEFINITIONS OF TERMS USS)..................................... 1

The P ro b lem ........................ 2

Statement of th e problem. ................... 2

Importance of th e study ............................... 2

D elim itatio n s • • • ................................. 3

Method of p ro c e d u re ................... 3
D e fin itio n s of Terms Used . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Fingering .........................................................................................3

II. SUMMARIES OF BOOKS............................................................... U

in . SUMMARIES ΠPERIODICAL MATERIAL.................................................. 10

IV. SUMMARIES OF UNPUBLISHED MATERIAL................................................3U

V. SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIŒJS........................................................................ 36

VI. BIBLIOGRAPHY OF UNSUMMARIZED MATERIAL.......................................... hO

BIBLIOGRAPHY........................................................................................................... U2

- iii -
 LIST OF TABLES

TABLE PAGE
I. A Table fo r C orrect Fingering of Common-Chord Arpeggios. • 32

- iv -
 CHAPTER I

THE PHOBLm AND DEFINITIONS OF TEHMS USED

Fingering^ has always been a problem to many p ia n is ts . In an

a r t i c l e in a w ell known magazine th e l a t e Dr. Guy Maier, a w ell

known piano te a c h e r, used a quote from Schumann idiich can also be

ap p lied to o th er p ie c e s. Schumann, in ta lk in g about h is C aprices,

sa id r

I have furnished very p re c ise and c a re fu lly considered fin g e r­

ing fo r th e C aprices, fin g e rin g being th e pilm ary foundation of
a l l thorough p laying. The student should pay most earnest a tte n ­
t io n to t h is a ll-im p o rta n t p o i n t . . . . I n one Cagjrice, No. 6 , I have
purposely fin g ered only p a rtic u la r n o tes. But i f th e student
r e a lly cares to le a rn t h i s piece thoroughly, he must f i l l out
a l l th e blank spaces; otherw ise, i f he doesn’t make up h is mind
about th e fin g e rin g of every in d iv id u a l n o te, a p e rfe c t m asteiy
of th e piece w ill be a sheer im p o s sib ility .^

Dr. Maier concludes th e a r t i c l e by sayingr

Selah, and th r ic e Amen, H r. Schymannê A ll o f us teachers b le s s

you f o r those w o rd s....O u r students must very e a rly le a rh never
to leav e th e fin g erin g of any passage to chance.. . .Fingering must
always be c le a rly w ritte n down, memorized and s t r i c t l y adhered
t o ....T h e r e i s no other way.3

By re fin g e rin g many passages, thus sim plifying them, most

tea ch e rs would probably g et considerably b e tte r r e s u lts w ith t h e i r
stu d en ts than i s p o ssib le by n eglecting th e problem. The mere f a c t

3-See d e fin itio n s , p . 3»

^Robert Schumann, c ite d by Guy M aier in published a r t i c l e ,

p e rio d ic a l and date unknown.

%uy M aier, in published a r t i c l e , p e rio d ic a l and date unknown.

- 1 -
 - 2 -

t h a t even g re a t p ia n is ts must spend hours p e rfe c tin g th e i r fingering

should po in t up how much more le s s ta le n te d p ia n is ts need to work

on th is#
The purpose of t h i s paper i s to help p ia n is ts r e a liz e the

importance of fin g e rin g and to give them c o n stru ctiv e ideas' to hëlp
them devise fin g erin g to f i t t h e i r own needs.

I. THE PRGBLM

Statem ent of th e problem. As a help in se le c tin g th e b e st

fin g e rin g , th e purpose of t h i s study was: ( l) to summarize a l l

m a te ria l th a t could be found on th e su b ject of piano fin g e rin g ; and

( 2 ) to c aa p ile a b ib lio g rap h y of t h i s m a te ria l.

Importance of th e study. Piano teach ers w ill g e n erally agree

th a t fin g e rin g i s an im portant phase of playing th e piano w e ll, and

one th a t cannot be l e f t to chance. They w ill also agree th a t th ere

i s both good and bad fin g e rin g . In s p ite of t h is f a c t th e re are

e d itio n s s t i l l published using im p ra ctica l fin g erin g s th a t are

u n n e ce ssa rily d i f f i c u l t and th a t could be sim p lified to the playex' s

b e n e f it. Many stu d en ts accept fin g e rin g without any question as to

whether i t f i t s t h e i r p a r tic u la r hands, making many passages harder

to perform m usically. In t h i s study an a tte n p t was made to put down

th e ideas of many authors on th e su b ject of fin g erin g so th a t th e

stu d en ts and te a c h e r could e a s ily judge given fin g erin g s and a l t e r

them to f i t th e i r p a r tic u la r need.
 - 3 -

D e lim ita tio n s, The m ateirial which was av aila b le a t Montana

S ta te U n iv ersity , M issoula Public L ibrary and from p riv a te sources

was used in t h is paper. P e rio d ic a ls fro® th e year 1890 and follow­

ing were used. The m a te ria l which was not av aila b le was cmapiled
se p a ra te ly in b ib lio g ra p h ic a l form.

Method of procedure. A ll a r t i c l e s and books a v aila b le were

read and summarized and alphabetized according to authors. The

books were l i s t e d se p a ra te ly from the p e rio d ic a ls . That m aterial

which was not a v aila b le was l i s t e d in a separate b ibliography,

II. DEFINITIONS OF TEEMS USED

Fingering, The term "fin g erin g " was in te rp re te d a s: ( l ) the

marking of music notes w ith th e numerals 1 , 2, 3, L, and 1

rep resen tin g th e thumb, 2 th e index fin g e r, and on in order w ith th e

l i t t l e fin g e r being represented by th e number and/or ( 2 ) playing

th e music w ith c e rta in sp e c ifie d fin g e rs .

 CHAPTER II

SUMMARIES OF BOOKS

According to G. P. E. B ach,l th e c o rre c t use of th e fin g e rs i s

in sep arab le from th e whole a r t of performance. Playing f a c i l i t y

depends upon th e fin g erin g used w ith every fig u re c a llin g f o r i t s

own fin g e rin g . I f th e fin g e rs are not used c o rre c tly , no one can
even hope to p lay w e ll. VIhile playing, even in d i f f i c u l t passages,

th e motion of th e hand should be b a re ly n o tic e a b le . C hildren’s

hands should be tra in e d to s tr e tc h ra th e r than to skip w ith the

fin g e rs bunched.
When changing fin g e r s , th e thumb i s th e n a tu ra l one to tu rn

under, but i t should not be turned under the f i f t h fin g e r. The l i t t l e

fin g e r i s used only a t th e beginning and th e end of sc a le s. Bach’s

ru le fo r sc ale s i s , "The thumb of th e r ig h t hand i s brought in a fte r

one o r more black keys in ascending, b efo re them in descending, and
th e l e f t thumb a f te r in descending and before in ascending.”2 He

goes on to say, ”The thumb or fo u rth fin g e r plays the tone immedi­
a te ly preceding th e black key, which i s then stru ck by the second

^ a r l P h illip &ianuel Bach, Essay on th e True Art of Playing

Keyboard Instrum ents (New Torkr W. W. Norton and Company,”Tncorpor-
a te d , I 9U9 ) , pp. h l - 78 .
^I b i d ., p. 18.
 - 5 -

o r th e th ir d f i n g e r . "3 These ru le s are not w ithout exception and

th e author goes in to g re a t d e ta il i l l u s t r a t i n g th e ru le s and t h e ir
exceptions. F ingering v a ria tio n s are given f o r a l l of th e sc ale s
and in some in stan c es fin g e rs are crossed over th e o th e rs, mainly

th ir d over fo u rth .

Several fin g e rin g s are given f o r th e playing of th ird s to g eth er,

broken th ir d s , le a p s , fo u rth s , f i f t h s , s ix th s , sevenths, and octaves.

Bach b eliev e s t h a t th e p la y e r should always seek an unforced

and n a tu ra l fin g e rin g . Another th in g to remember i s th a t one cannot
always get th e degree of c l a r i t y from a weaker fin g e r th a t a stronger

fin g e r can achieve.

There are many i ll u s t r a t i o n s in t h i s chapter on fin g e rin g .

Thomas FieldenU f e e ls th a t fin g erin g h a s n 't developed w ith tech ­

nique and th a t th e cause of t h is slow progress has often been the use

of "old-fashioned" fin g e rin g w ith modem technique methods. The use

of d iffe re n t fin g e rs on repeated notes i s p a rt of th e old system,

th e fix ed w ris t and elbow making i t im possible to use th e same fin g er

because of th e s t r a in . Mr. F ielden th in k s th a t a lte rn a tin g fingering

in very quick bravura passages i s b e tt e r than using th e same fin g e r.

Another aspect o f fin g e rin g i s t h a t of arpeggios. Brahms'

3 lb id . , p .
Thomas F ield en , The Science of P ian o fo rte Technique (London*
Macmillan and Company, Lim ited, l^lt977 PP* 166 - I 8O.
 —6 —

method, and one t h a t Mr. F ielden l ik e s , was to carry each group of

notes to th e f u l l ex ten t of th e hand, ending on the f i f t h fin g e r,

in ste a d of p u ttin g th e thumb under*

The author concludes by saying, " I t i s g en erally conceded th a t,

any finger-grouping idiich begins on th e thumb i s always more c e rta in

of c o n tro l than one which begins on a f in g e r,

In a book by Andor Foldes6 th e o re tic a l questions are asked

and answered. One of th e questions asked i s whether or not any

g eneral suggestions can be given about fin g e rin g . He answers by say­

ing th a t th e re are no r ig id fin g e rin g ru le s but th a t th e student

needs to le a rn how to p la y w ith any fin g e r on any key. He also

b e lie v e s th a t fin g e rin g i s an im portant enough p a rt of th e piano

p la y e r 's se c u rity th a t once he has learned a piece with a p a rtic u la r

f i l t e r i n g , i t should not be changed. The author concludes by sayingr

I t tak es considerably longer to unlearn bad h a b its than to
acquire good, new ones. I t pays to spend sane time in fin g e r­
in g a piece before le a rn in g i t , to fig u re out th e b e st p o ssib le
method of using the fin g e rs in th e r ig h t way to th e b e st ad­
v an tag e,7

^I b i d ,, p . 178,

^Andor Foldes, Keys to th e Keyboard (New York; Oxford Univer­

s i t y P re ss, 1950 ) , p , 9hé
7I b i d ,, p , 9U,
 - 7 -

In a technique book by John Mokrejs® fin g erin g s f o r sin g le

notes and combinations of n o te s , in te r v a ls , t r i l l s , arpeggio groups,
chords, broken chords, s h if tin g , repeated n o tes, crossed fin g e rs ,

chromatic s c a le s , playing two paz*ts w ith one hand, hand over hand,
l e f t hand, f i f t h fin g e r c ro ssin g , g lissan d o , le a p s, embellishments,
s c a le s , octaves, and double t h ir d and s ix th scales are covered*

Hr* Kokrejs says th a t i t should be made a h a b it to p la y bass

notes w ith th e l i t t l e f in g e r, keeping th e hand open an octave. The

author says, "Fingering does not mean playing sin g le fin g e rs here

and th e re , but combinations of fin g e rs expressing a m usical idea -

a F igure, M otive, or P h rase."? I f t h i s i s not c le a r in th e mind,

th e fin g e rs w ill stumble. The p lay er cannot fin g e r a r t i s t i c a l l y i f
he does not know e x ac tly where f ig u r e s , motives and phrases begin

and end. He also has to know th e meaning of s lu r s , d o ts, and a l l

markings, including m usical term s.

Mr. Mokrejs goes on to say, "The fin g e rin g always corresponds

to th e m usical i n t e n t ."10 Rhythm and th e v e lo c ity of th e passage

being played should guide th e fin g erin g i n most in sta n c e s. The p lay er

8John M okrejs, The Science of F ingering (New Torkt Odowan

P ublishing Company, 19^3), pp. 3-83.

^Ib id . j p . lU.
lO lb id ., p. 79.
 - 8 -

must hear th e passage In a group, even a f te r having chosen the proper

fin g e rin g , a s, i f th e passage i s not understood in a d e fin ite way,

i t i s not p o ssib le to co n tro l th e fin g e rs and they w ill o ften get

tangled up. The s ty le w ill a lso influence th e fin g e rin g . The player
must take h is hand in to co n sid eratio n as a l l hands are d iffe re n t and

fin g e rin g must be adjusted to s u it th e in d iv id u a l needs.

Mr. Newman^^ b eliev e s th a t almost in v a ria b ly students of

in f e r i o r tea ch e rs are c a re le s s or in d iffe re n t about fin g erin g and

th a t th e reason i s th a t the importance has not been pointed out to

them. With regard to fin g e rin g he says, " I t can profoundly a ffe c t
memorizing, stag e p o ise , te c h n ic a l m astery, speed of le a rn in g , and

g en eral s e c u rity a t th e p ia n o ."12

The author f e e ls th a t a f t e r repeated playings of a p iec e, th e

student f a l l s in to some s o rt of fin g e rin g which becomes h a b itu a l and

which, i f not planned, may cause tro u b le . The b e st so lu tio n i s to

have th e student work out h is own fin g erin g before he forms bad h a b its .
T he le sso n s, when th e piece i s new, should cen ter around the fin g erin g

a n d th e student should be shown more p r a c tic a l so lu tio n s i f necessary*

The author th in k s i t i s b e s t to have an e d itio n which has not

been fin g ered by th e e d ito r so i t w ill not influence the stu d en t. But,

llW illiam S. Newman, The P i a n i s t 's Problems (New Torkt Harper,

1950), pp. 71-81.
I 2 ib id ., pp. 75-76.
i f t h i s i s not p o ss ib le , th e given fin g e rin g should be t r ie d out
c r itic a lly » When th e most u sable fin g erin g i s found, i t should be

w ritte n in and used, as try in g to break a bad h a b it i s very d i f f i ­

cu lt* The student should use h is own Judgment on how much fin g erin g
to w rite in and put i t only where th e re might be a question as to

what fin g e r to use.

Mr. Newman says th a t fin g e rin g should be as simple as possible

so as not to im pair concentration and memorization. Also th ere

should be consistency, fin g e rin g sim ila r passages the same so as not

to confuse th e p la y e r. The stro n g e st fin g e rs should be used when the

g re a te s t stre n g th i s re q u ire d . As many notes as p o ssib le should be

covered ahead of tim e so th e number of thumb s h if ts are reduced.

In th e question and answer se ctio n of a book by Abbey W hite-

side^3 th e question i s asked i f fin g erin g should be stre sse d . The

a u th o r’ s re p ly i s r

I should say th a t th e importance of a p rescribed fin g erin g

i s p r a c tic a lly n i l . I f you avoid fu ssin g about fin g erin g you
w ill never produce a la s tin g o b stacle to flu e n t passage work.
I f a rhythm i s working, a fin g e r w ill be ready to d e liv e r power.

13Abbey W hiteside, Indispensables of Piano Playing (New Torkt

Coleman-Ross Company, Incorporated, p. ^0.

l^ Ib id ., p. SO.
 CHAPTER I I I

SUMMARIES OF PERIODICAL MATERIAL

In an a r t i c l e by Myron Bickford^ on major scales only, he

p o in ts out t h a t scales beginning on w hite keys, w ith the exceptions
of F major f o r the rig h t hand, and B major f o r th e l e f t hand, use

th e fin g e rin g 1-2-3-1-2-3-U -5, and th e rev e rse . In the sc ale s be­
ginning on black keys, th e r ig h t hand has the fo u rth fin g e r on B f l a t

in every case, while the l e f t hand always uses th e fo u rth fin g e r on

th e added f l a t , taking th e scales in order beginning with one f l a t ,

w ith th e exception of th e G f l a t s c a le . For th e G f l a t sc a le , the

new or added f l a t being a white key, th e f i r s t fin g e r i s used. The

fin g erin g f o r th e F major s c a le , f o r th e rig h t hand, i s 1-2-3-U-

1-2-3-Uj th e same as th e B major sc a le in th e l e f t hand. The descen­

ding scale in the rig h t hand of F major and the ascending sc ale in
th e l e f t hand of B major begin w ith th e fo u rth fin g e r.

o
Mrs. Noah Brandt b e lie v e s th a t too many p ia n is ts accept a l l
standard piano fin g erin g e d itio n s as f i n a l , regardless of a d a p ta b ility

to in d iv id u a l requirem ents. She goes on to say th a t no ed itio n i s

i n f a l l i b l e and a l l students need to recognize t h i s . Fingering must

be made to s u it th e in d iv id u a l hand. The same s e t of fin g e rs through-

^Myron Bickford, "Some Whys of Scale F ingering," M usician,

XVIII (August, 1913), p . 520.
% r s . Noah Brandt, " P ra c tic a l Fingering I llu s tr a te d For
In d iv id u al Needs," Etude, VLIV (January, 1926), pp. 21-22.
- 10 -
 «• 11 — ^ '

out s im ila r passages enables th e perform er to concentrate h is a tte n ­

tio n e x clu siv ely on th e m usical e ff e c t. Hundreds of passages may be

sim p lifie d and p e rfe cte d by a study of in d iv id u al requirem ents.

There are piano passages in t h is a r t i c l e which are fingered

se v e ra l d if f e r e n t ways, showing why one i s more p ra c tic a b le than the

o th e rs .

The author, H a rrie tte Brower,^ p o in ts out th a t J . S. Bach

e sta b lish e d the fin g erin g o f th e C sc a le and th a t Chopin was respon­

s ib le f o r using th e thumb on th e black keys. She goes on to say th a t

th e a r t i s t i s h is own m aster in choice of fin g erin g b u t before he
becomes h is own m aster, he has to be taught by someone. There are

c e r ta in p rin c ip le s of fin g e rin g which should be observed in order to

p lay e a s ily and e ffe c tiv e ly . The author l i s t s fiv e p rin c ip le s which
govern th e fin g e rin g of a passage. They a re r ( l ) th e q u a lity of
touch req u ired , whether i t be le g a to or sta cc ato ; (2) th e phrasing

of a passage so as to brin g out th e e ff e c t wanted; (3) th e q u a lity

of tone wanted, whether i t be weak or strong; (U) each in d iv id u al

f in g e r and which p a rtic u la r e ffe c ts each one can b rin g out; (5)
th e siz e and f l e x i b i l i t y of th e hand.

The author quotes Leschetizlqr, an eminent piano tea ch e r, as

saying, ”A fin g erin g i s good when easy, provided th e e ffe c t i s the

% a r r l e t t e Brower, "The A rt of F in g erin g ," M usician, XX

(March, 1915), p . l6U*
 - 12 •

sara®."^
The author also quotes Tobias Matthay, a noted pedagogue of

London, as say in g t
When your tech n ic i s i n e f f i c i e n t , o r your knowledge of i t s laws
inadequate, th a t choice of fin g erin g assumes v a st importance,
since i t then means th e d ifferen c e between b a re ly managing a
passage, and not being able to n e g o tiate i t at all*^|

The author p o in ts out th a t th e tea ch e r should always make c le a r

to th e student why a c e rta in fin g erin g has been chosen and why i t

f i t s th e fin g e rs best*

In an a r t i c l e by I . J . Cogswell,& one ru le fo r sc ale fin g e r­

ings i s given* The r u le , which ap p lies to th e rig h t hand ascending

and the l e f t hand descending, i s r

When th e re i s a group of two black keys, the l a s t one i s to

be played by th e th ir d fin g e r and when a group of th re e black
keys, th e l a s t one i s to be played by th e fo u rth fin g e r - even
though i t means th e use of a d iff e r e n t fin g e r f o r each hand*?

This r u le i s based on th e th eo ry th a t idien th e second, th ir d ,

and fo u rth fin g e rs are supported upon th e black keys, th e thumb

passes e a s ily underneath and th e fin g e rs pass e a s ily over the thumb
in s h iftin g th e hand towards the thumb from th a t position*

^Leschetizky, c ite d by H arriett® Brower, "The Art of F ingering,"

M usician, XX (March, 191$), p* 16U*

^Tobias Matthay, c ite d by H arriett® Brower, "The Art of Finger­

in g ", M usician, XX (March, 191$), p* l6U.
^ * J* Cogswell, "Heresy Regarding Scale F in g erin g s," M usician,
TJTJ (O ctober, 1939), p . 168.
?Ibid«, p* l68*
 - 13 -

The author, J . W. Dickey,® begins by saying, "Poor fin g erin g

has been th e cause of many a ju v en ile p ia n is t 'meeting h is W aterloo'

a t a p u p il's r e c i t a l ." ?

J . W* Dickey b e lie v e s th a t th e reason f o r good fin g erin g should

be explained to th e p u p il and i l l u s t r a t e d , and th a t th e p u p il should

be given th e chance to fig u re out h is own fin g erin g s w ith th e guidance

o f th e te a c h e r. The author concludes by ssQring, "A fter c o rre ct

fin g erin g h a b its have been formed, i t becomes e a s ie r to en te r th e

f ie ld s of phrasing and o f dynamic c o n tr a s t."10

In a very short a r t i c l e by E sther D ixon,H two ru le s in scale

fin g e rin g s were given. The f i r s t ru le i s always to have a reserve

of fin g e rs , and th e second i s to use th e thumb u su a lly on th e white

keys only.

According to Maurice Dumesmil,!^ in repeated n o tes, the use of

one fin g e r i s advisable i f th e ch ief consideration i s smoothness of

®J. W. Dickey, "The P u p il's W aterloo," Etude, L (May, 1932),

p . 32U.
? Ib id . , p . 32U.

lOlbid.
llE s th e r Dixon, "Reserved F in g e rs," Etude, LXI (February, 19^3),
p . 92.
l% a u ric e Dumesmil, "Repeated Note F in g erin g s," Etude, LXXI
(November, 19?3), p . 23*
 —lU —

tone at a moderate or slow tempo. Speed makes i t imperative to change

fin g e rs, however fle x ib le the wrist may be. Changing the fingers on

the same note as in organ s ty le instead of sustaining the note with

the pedal i s recamended because relying too much on the pedal might

gradually lead to carelessness and neglect of a rich, f u l l , singing

tone.

Gustav Ernest^^ b e lie v es that some of the common notions on

fingering should be overhauled. For a long time the thumb was not

counted as a finger and the l i t t l e finger was not used e ith er. J. S.

Bach and Couperin began the trend of using these fingers because the
p osition of the keyboard had changed to make th is possib le. By sheer

force of n e c essity the thumb and l i t t l e finger were allowed on the

black keys also and, as time went on, th is use was relaxed more and

more.

The author goes on to say that there also used to be rule

that i f a certain note was repeated a number of times a different

fin ger should be used each tim e. This i s not true any more as the
fingering depends upon the nature of the piece and the e ffe c t wanted.

Nowadays p ia n ists use d ifferen t fin gers on repeated thirds and other

combinations, to o . But since chords must and can be played properly

without change of fin g e rs, the same should be possible with th ird s, to®.

Another rule that the author sta te s i s not to play a mordent's

l^Gustav Ernest, "Fashions in Fingering and Common Sense,"

Etude, XLVII (July, 1929), pp. 503~50U.
 -1 2 -

f i r s t and th ir d notes w ith th e same fin g e r. This ru le came in to

being from th e days of L isz t and even though the author agrees i t

i s a good one, he a lso b e lie v e s mordents can be played the other w ^

as w e ll, depending upon the f l e x i b i l i t y and control of th e f i t t e r s .
Technique i s only a means to an end, the end being the playing of the

music in th e most m usical manner. Thus th e author says th a t fin g e r­

ing should be chosen to achieve t h is w ith th e g re a te s t ease, whethw

i t i s according to th e ru le s o r n o t.

Otto F is c h e r ^ i s convinced th a t a common t r a i t of th e average

piano student i s c arele ssn e ss in th e m atter of c o rre c t fin g e rin g . He

b eliev e s th a t t h i s i s due to a d e sire to p lay with fluency and th e

stu d e n t’s i n a b i l i t y to grasp th e reason f o r each p a rtic u la r fin g e rin g .

The author suggests th a t a student take each p iec e, study i t and

use what he term s " fin g e r foims" in fig u rin g fin g e rin g . For example,
th e follow ing notes are w ritte n above middle C: D, B f l a t , 0 , F

sharp, and G in th a t o rd e r. H r. F isc h e r m aintains th a t i f one plays

them as a chord, F sharp, G and B f l a t with the fin g erin g 1-2-U-5»

i t w ill help in reading music and a lso th e hands w ill, a fte r a w hile,
begin to f a l l autom atically over th e groups of notes and help in the

execution.

Clement H arris^^ r e la te s t h a t u n t i l q u ite recent tim es students

iW tto F isc h e r, "Finger Forms," Etude, XLIV (A p ril, 1926), p . 270.

^^Cleraent Antrobus H a rris, "Black N otes," Bfcude, XLIX (October,

1931), pp. 697-698.
 - 16 -

were to ld th a t th e thumb and l i t t l e fin g e r must not be used on black

keys except in chords. On th e o th er hand a t the opposite extreme i t

was claimed th a t they should be used w ithout any r e s tr ic tio n whatever.

The author says th a t th e re should be a lim it to th is usage because

these fin g e rs are sh o rte r than th e others and i f th e hand i s held

s u f f ic ie n tly f a r over th e keys so they can reach th e black keys, i t

i s th en hard f o r th e second, th ir d , and fo u rth fin g e rs to play white

k^ys. A g rea t deal depends on th e siz e and shape of th e hand. A

p lay er w ith weak hands would have d i f f ic u lt y in g e ttin g the c o rre ct

weight and tone on th e white keys since playing in the middle of th e

key p resen ts problems.

The author saysr

The thumb and l i t t l e fin g e r may be f r e e ly employed on black

n o tesr
1. When th e hand i s strong enough not to be stra in e d by the
heavier touch of a key near i t s p iv o t.
2. When chords are being played.
3. When t h e i r (th e thumb and l i t t l e fin g e r) playing black
keys does not make i t awkward fo r the other fin g e rs to
p lay w hite ones.
U. When th ey (thumb and l i t t l e firm er) do not have to play
w hite keys in th e same passage*i&

Mr. H a rris concludes by saying t h a t ease and convenience should

be th e c r i t e r i a of p laying, and he has w ritte n t h is a r t i c l e from th is

p o in t of view.

In another a r t i c l e by Clement H a r r i s , 17 th e author concerns him-

l 6%bid.. p . 698.
17ciement Antrobus H a rris, "The Most Useful of All Fingering
B uies," Etude, XLVIII (August, 1930), p . 239.
 - 17 -

s e l f with one ru le and i t s explanation. The ru le given i s f

In groups of not more than four n o tes, the in te r v a l of a

fo u rth o r more in compass, of which the innermost key i s white
and th e outermost b la c k , th e l a t t e r key should be played with
th e fo u rth fin g e r.
Mr. H arris says th a t th e sim plest way of in d ic a tin g a scale

i s to name the note on which th e fo u rth fin g e r f a l l s , because th e re

i s only one note to remember.

Edwin Hughes^9 p o in ts out th a t in th e six te e n th century, organ

keys were th re e to six inches wide and toward th e end of th e s ix ­

te e n th century, t h i s went out of fash io n , but th e octave span was

s t i l l about two inches wider than to d a y 's instrum ents. He says th a t

th e f i r s t example of marked fin g erin g was in 15?1 when only th e

second, th ir d , and fo u rth fin g e rs were used. With Bach, the thumb

and l i t t l e fin g e r came in to use because of the new p o sitio n of the

hand on th e keyboard.

The author emphasizes th a t to make hard and f a s t ru le s to f i t

everything i s f u t i l e . Fingering i s a means to an end, and tone,

p hrasing, shading, and accentuation are a l l lin k ed with fin g erin g and

th e b u ild of the hand. Two th in g s idiich must always tak e precedence

in th e choice of fin g e rin g are* " . . . C la rity in th e p re sen ta tio n of
th e m usical id ea , and E ffectiveness in i t s d e c l a ma ti o n. "20

iQi b l d . , p . 539.
^^Edwin Hughes, "Fingering a t the P ia n o fo rte ," Musician, XXII
(May, 1917), pp. 336-337.
2 0 ib id ., p . 337.
 - l8 —

Plsgrars should discover th e c a p a b ilitie s of each fin g e r and be

guided by t h e i r advantages and diadvantages, as th e fin g e rs w ill

never be a lik e in a b i l i t y , according to Mr. Hughes.

Mr. H u gh es^ l gives many h in ts f o r fin g erin g a t the keyboard.

When a strong accent or tone i s wanted th e strong fin g e rs should be

used. In fig u re r e p e titio n s , the playing may o ften be sim p lified by

d istin g u ish in g between rhythm groups and fin g e r groups. The pedal

can help much in fin g e rin g , e sp e c ia lly in leg ato passages where i t

can bind th e passages to g e th e r.

The author says th a t th e change of fin g e rs on the same key i s

organ technique and does not need to be used on the piano, as th e

pedal w ill connect th e tone e a s ie r . When th e re i s quick re p e titio n

of th e same key i t i s b e st to change fin g e rs but in slow tempi th is

i s not n ecessary. Sometimes i t i s p o ssib le to s trik e a note w ith

two fin g e rs where more sureness and stre n g th i s wanted. S liding

from black keys to w hite i s o ften found u s e fu l. D if f ic u lt passages,

e s p e c ia lly cadenzas, may be divided between th e two hands so the

m usical content can be played w ith g re a te r ease and m usical!ty . The

crossing of the thumbs appears in seme e d itio n s of Schumann's works

and in a few of Chopin’s , but Mr* Hughes b eliev e s i t should not be

done, as i t i s very awkward.

The author s ta te s th a t in a new composition the p lay er should

2lEdwin Hughes, "Fingering a t th e P ia n o fo rte ," M usician, XXII

(June, 1917), p . h lé-U l? .
 - 19 -

give th e marked fin g e rin g s a thorough t e s t and then make any a lte r a ­

tio n s which may be necessary* The choice of fin g erin g depends a g reat
d eal upon th e f i n a l t«tç)o of th e p iec e, as when i t i s played slowly

many more fin g erin g s are p o ssib le than when playing a t f in a l speed*

A b ility in th e choice of fin g e rin g comes w ith time and experience

ju s t l ik e everything else*

According to Gladys Hutchins on, stu d en ts u su a lly make simple

th in g s d if f ic u lt* This Is e sp e c ia lly tru e in working out fin g erin g

f o r th e b a ss, idiich involves th e l e f t hand. The author i s convinced

t h a t i f th e tea ch e r would req u est th a t th e student f i r s t p lay th e bass

in s o lid chords t h is would be a g rea t tim e sav er. She concludes by

saying, "A ll pieces should be analyzed in t h i s manner*"23

In an a r t i c l e by A ustin Keefer, th e author po in ts out th a t

choosing a fin g e rin g i s a personal and in d iv id u a lis tic question,

but a m atter of g re a t importance to every perform er. I t i s la rg e ly

a personal h a b it as a r t i s t s , even though they d i f f e r from each other
in t h e i r choice fo r c e rta in passages, u s u a lly fin g e r th e ir own

passages in th e same manner. Paderewski once sa id th a t, "Once a

comfortable fin g erin g was discovered, i t was advisable to s tic k to i t

^^Giadys Hutchinson, "The Road to C orrect F ingering," Etude

LI7 (Ju ly , 1936), p . lao*

23 lb id *

^^Austi Roy Keefer, "Logic in Choice of F ingering," Etude,

^^Austin
XLVIII (October, 1930), p* 718.
 - 20 -

and t h a t u s u a lly th e most simple and obvious method of fin g erin g

was th e p re fe ra b le one*2^
Hr* Keefer goes on to say th a t young students in p a rtic u la r

should be guided by th e teach er in th e i r choice of fin g e rin g . L e ft-

handed p ia n is ts re q u ire a d if f e r e n t fin g erin g than right-handed

p ia n ists* Fingering i s such an in d iv id u a l thing th a t i t must be

t r i e d out ju s t lik e try in g on a new shoe*

26
Hope Kraramerer firm ly b eliev e s th a t a few ru le s of fin g erin g

should be tau g h t beginning stu d en ts and th a t fin g erin g should be

in s is te d upon by marking every note* The f i r s t ru le i s t i f two notes

are a second a p a rt, use adjacent or fin g e rs a second a p a rt; i f a

t h ir d a p a rt, use fin g e rs a th ir d a p a rt, etc* The second ru le given

i s , f o r two notes more than a f i f t h a p a rt, use fin g e rs a f i f t h

apart* For playing of chords, th e thumb and f i f t h fin g e r should

be used fo r o u tsid e notes*

Guy M a i e r 2 7 s ta te s th a t a r t i s t s use th e fo u rth fin g e r in octave

playing to achieve le g a to , and a lso to f a c i l i t a t e speed in c e rta in

kinds of passages* However, both b r illia n c e and endurance are

lessened by th e use of th e fo u rth finger* Use of the f i f t h fin g e r

25ignace Jan Paderewski, c ite d by A ustin Roy Keefer, "Logic in

Choice of F in g erin g ," Bbude, XLVIII (October, 1930), p* ?U8*

Z^Hope Krammerer, "H elpful Rules on Learning to F in g e r," Etude,

XLV (October, 1927), P* ?U0.
2?Dr* Guy M aier, "The T eacher's Round Table* Fourth and F if th
Fingers in Octave P laying," Etude, LXI (October, 19h3), p* 6U0 *
 - 21 -

in playing octaves i s b e tt e r f o r th e hand. The student should

develop th e stren g th of th e f i f t h fin g e r a s, " I t i s the most

im portant fin g e r of all."^®

In another a r t i c l e by Guy Maier^? a question i s asked when

to change fin g e rs on rep eated n o tes. Dr. Maier answers by sayingt

Only change fin g e rs on repeated notes (a) i f i t f a c i l i t a t e s

th e playing of th e n o te s , (b) i f you cannot get the proper
co lo r by using th e same fin g e r, (c) i f i t makes you f e e l
better.^®

Another question i s asked i f the p ia n is t should use th e f i r s t

and fo u rth fin g e rs in b lack key octave playing. Dr. M aier's answer

i s , "Using th e fo u rth fin g e r on black key octaves depends on siz e

and span of hand, also on th e speed, tone q u a lity and q u a n tity re ­
q u ired . "31

The author goes on to say th a t mazy persons w ith sm all hands

fin d i t im possible to use fo u rth fin g e r octaves a t a l l in rap id

passages. Tor average hands slow leg a to octaves req u ire the fo u rth
on black keys. In long, su sta in ed , b r i l l i a n t passages th e hand

w ill t i r e quicker using th e fo u rth f in g e r, but fo r rap id passages

28 lb ld , p . 6Ug.

29Dr. Guy M aier, "The T eacher's Round T able," Btude, LX

(August, I 9U2 ) , p . $28.

30lbid.
31lbid.
 - 22 -

req u irin g evenness th e fo u rth fin g e r on black keys i s more effective*

This i s because th e use of th e fo u rth fin g e r makes fo r eeoncany of

in-and-out movement.

Two au th o rs, M allet and Omstein,32 b e liev e th a t few p upils

re a liz e th e impoirbanee of deciding upon th e b e st fin g erin g before

commencing to p ra c tic e a new piece* Wrong h a b its are formed which

take a long time to break down* Once a bad fin g erin g i s learned,
c e rta in fin g e rs follow each o th er almost without thought and, being

muscular h a b its , th e y are so subconscious th a t they are almost

im possible to a lte r* The student should analyze and work out

p r a c tic a l fin g e rin g so p ra c tic e tim e i s not wasted. The authors

say, "Uniform ity, wherever p o ss ib le , i s Very h e lp fu l in m atters of

f i n g e r i n g *"33 The authors b e lie v e th a t a l l decisions should be

p r a c tic a l. They go on to say, "Whatever f e e ls e a sie st f o r the hand

i s th e b e s t, u n less in sim plifying one d i f f ic u lt y , you unnecessar­

i l y com plicate what follows*"3lt

I t i s th e authors* opinion th a t many tim es th e re are passages

where more than one fin g e rin g i s p o ss ib le , and th a t one w ill be

comfortable fo r one type of hand w hile another i s p refe rab le fo r

32pauline M allet and Prévost O m stein, "P rin c ip les of Finger­

ing in Piano P laying," Etude, XLIII (October, 192$), pp* 691-692*

33 ib id *, p* 691.
3 llb id .
 - 23 -

d if f e r e n tly fom ed f in g e rs . This i s why th e student should le a rn

to work th e m atter out f o r h im self. I t i s u su a lly h e lp fu l, when

fig u re s re p e a t in sequence, to use as n e arly the same fin g erin g as

p o ssib le f o r sim ila r fig u re s . One p o in t i ll u s t r a te d by scale

fin g e rin g i s th a t i t encourages th e student to cover as many notes

in advance as p o ss ib le . This prevents waste motion. Slow p ra c tic e

i s th e most b e n e fic ia l as i t i s only p o ssib le to analyze th e mechan­

ism of p o sitio n s and fin g e rin g when playing slowly. Whenever

p ra c tic a b le a strong fin g e r should be used where any unusual s tr e s s

i s re q u ire d . The authors say:

The development of th e pedal in th e modem piano has, more

than any o th er sin g le f a c to r , a lte re d th e o rie s of fin g e rin g .
Notes which had to be h eld by the fin g e rs to be connected may
now be m le ased and connected by th e use of th e p ed al. By
using the pedal as a t h ir d hand to hold and connect what i s
necessary, th e r e s u lt w ill sound e x a c tly the same as i f these
notes had been held by th e fin g e r s . 35

The authors mention sev era l d if fe re n t phases which help in

fin g e rin g . In t r i l l s , i t w ill be found e a sie r to skip a fin g e r

ra th e r than to use adjacent f in g e rs . Octavesare b e tte r played

w ith th è thumb and f i f t h fin g e r idien th e passage l i e s oh white keys.

I f black keys e n te r, th e thumb and fo u rth fin g e r can be used on the
b lack keys, depending upon th e p lay e r and passage. When skipping to

low bass notes th e student should use th e f i f t h fin g e r and not be

allowed to skip to t h ir d or second f in g e r, as the f i f t h i s th e sa fe s t

35ibid.
 - 2b -

finger# Although th e fin g e rin g of th ird s and six th s has been some-
what conventionalized, much in d iv id u a l choice can be used. The
im portant m atter to b e a r in mind i s to choose a fin g erin g th a t w ill
as n early as p o ssib le perm it playing th e upper voice legato* The

lower voice should be played sta c c a to to f a c i l i t a t e t h i s and the

hand must be held a t an angle w ith th e keys ra th e r than s tr a ig h t.

The w rist should be towards th e body and th e fin g e rs po in tin g away.
This makes i t p o ssib le f o r th e th ir d fin g e r to reach to a sharp

above th e fo u rth or f i f t h f in g e r s .
The authors conclude by saying th a t although fin g erin g i s one
of th e p o in ts in piano study which i s most shirked by stu d en ts, i t

i s one th a t needs most c a re fu l and d e ta ile d co n sid eratio n . Much

p a in fu l esqjerienee can be avoided by e sta b lis h in g , from the be­

ginning of study, c o rre c t h a b its of fin g e rin g .

According to Eugene M a rk s, 36 th e general e ffe ctiv en e ss of a

passage depends to a la rg e ex ten t upon th e fin g erin g choice. If

a poor fin g e rin g i s se le c te d , th e r e s u lts are wrong n o tes, in c o rre c t

accentuation, weakened rhythm, and many other f a u l t s . Natural

fin g e rin g helps and lea d s to c o rre c t and accurate d e liv e ry of the

m ental conception. The hand should assume and hold the most n a t­

u r a l p o sitio n p o ssib le to th e m usical fig u re being played.

The author ssys th a t f o r th e rig h t hand, g en erally speaking.

36Eugene Marks, "Designing N atural F ingering," Etude, XLVIII

(January, 1930), p . l u .
 - 25 -

th e low est note should be taken w ith th e thumb and the highest with
th e l i t t l e finger* The fin g erin g of d iff e r e n t passages should
always be made to s u it th e hand of the p a rtic u la r player*

An author37 of an a r t i c l e in the Musician p e rio d ic a l ssgrs th a t

a good fin g e rin g method i s a n e c e ssity because without i t , easy

passages become d if f ic u lt* A ll passages can be divided in to two

c la sse s as f a r as fin g e rin g i s concerned - scales and chords* The

follow ing ru le s were givenc

(1) One fin g e r f o r each note in n a tu ra l position*

(2) Never make unnecessary contractions*

(3) Never make unnecessary extensions*

(li) The thumb i s not to be used on a black key unnecessarily*

(5) Do not change th e p o sitio n o f the hand unnecessarily*

(6) The second, t h i r d , and fo u rth fin g e rs may pass over the
thumb, and in r a r e cases over the l i t t l e fin g e r, but
never ovw each o th e r, a t l e a s t in passages of sin g le
notes*

(7) A ll r e p e titio n s of th e same fig u re should be fingered

w ith th e same fingering*38

Karl Raekle39 gives fiv e ways to fin g e r a chromatic scale*

37"P rin c ip le s f o r F in g erin g ," M usician, XXVI (September, 1921),

p* 12,
38lbid*, p* 12*

39Karl Edmund Baekle, "Fingering th e Chromatic S cale," M usician,

XVI (Ju ly ,1 9 1 l), pp. Ù50-U51*
 - 26 -

They a re r (a) thumb a lte rn a tin g w ith second fin g e r, using th ir d

fin g e r on th e f i r s t black key of each group; (b) thumb a lte rn a tin g
w ith t h ir d fin g e r, using second fin g e r on th e ex tra white keys;

(c) same as (a) ascending r ig h t hand, descending l e f t hand, and same

as (b) in th e opposite d ire c tio n s ; (d) thumb used a fte r second,

th ir d , fo u rth , and f i f t h fin g e rs re sp e c tiv e ly ; and (e) thumb used

a f te r t h ir d and fo u rth fin g e rs a lte r n a te ly , w ithin two octaves*

The author p o in ts out th a t th ese a re ju s t a few of th e many

ways to fin g e r a chromatic scale*

K arl RacklekO b e lie v e s th a t fin g erin g can cause th e success

o r downfall of a p i a n i s t , but th a t th e re i s no standard of fin g e r­

ing* D ifference in s iz e , stre n g th , and f l e x i b i l i t y of hands i s the

reason f o r so many fingerings*

According to th e author, th e tea ch e r should t e l l th e student

to use th e thumb as l i t t l e as p o ssib le on black keys, even though

th e re a re eases where t h i s i s b e tte r and necessary* Phrasing i s the

f i r s t guide to a good fin g e rin g , whether th e passage be leg ato or

staccato* The process c o n sists in d ividing the phrases in to n a tu ra l

hand p o sitio n s and each p o s itio n should include as many notes as

possible* There should be as few p o sitio n s as possible*

W la r l Edmund Raekle, " P rin c ip le s of F ingering," M usician,

XVIII (October, 1913), p* 661.
 - 27 -

According to A delia R andall,^^ major sc ale s can be put in to

two c la sse s - those which are fin g ered lik e the C major sc ale and

th o se which are not* The succession of fin g e rs used in a l l of the

sc a le s i s 1-2-3-1-2-3-L , and th e rev erse of these numbers* Those

sc a le s beginning w ith a w hite begin w ith th e f i r s t finger* The

author says, "Flay toward th e l i t t l e fin g e r and use the thumb on the

w hite key immediately follow ing a black one*"^^ This would be

reversed fo r th e r ig h t hand descendiez and the l e f t hand ascending*
To fin d where th e fo u rth fin g e r comes fin d where 1-2-3-1 comes

and t h is solves th e fin g e r problem f o r th a t key*

T* It* Rickabyb^ s ta te s t h a t fin g erin g must be c o rre c t and so

f i m l y e stab lish ed as to be p r a c tic a lly automatic* Fingering semns

to h inder the progress of th e average p u p il, and even th e g re a tly

ta le n te d p u p il, i f not c a re fu lly planned* In deciding what the b e s t

fin g erin g w ill b e, th e c h arac ter of th e passage to be played and th e

siz e and shape of th e hand and fin g e rs must be taken in considera­

tion* Conventional ru le s f o r sc a le s and arpeggios are o ften not

found in th e music being played* Therefore one’s own i n i t i a t i v e

must be used* The same se t of fin g e rin g f o r one passage does not

^ A d e lia M* R andall, "Scale Fingering S im p lified ," M usician,

m (May, 1911), p . 307.
U2ib id *
l* Hickaby, "Finding the Right Fingers at th e Right Time,"
Etude* 3X11 (October, 192U), p* 666#
 “ 28 "

s u it everyone* The teacher and pu p il have a very good opportunity

to use judgment and common sense. The fin g erin g to be used depends

e n tir e ly upon what has to be played. In order to have good fin g e r­

in g , which could be sa id to c o n sist of having a fin g e r conveniently
ready f o r any key, some th in k in g and planning must be done. Many

tim es th e young p u p ils do awkward th in g s f o r which th e teacher must

be on guard, l ik e crossing one fin g e r over another. Sometimes a

passage may be fin g ered se v e ra l ways. The student should t r y a l l

p o ssib le ways and choose th e e a s ie s t. He should also le a m to th in k

ahead w hile playing so he w i l l have a fin g e r ready f o r each n o te.

The teach er should t r y to develop i n i t i a t i v e on th e p a rt of th e

p u p il as f a r as p o ss ib le , so he w ill le a rn to use good fin g e rin g .

V ic to r Seroffbb begins by saying, "Fingering i s one of th e most

im portant item s in piano t e c h n i q u e . A n y group of n o tes, played

whether i n succession or to g e th e r, should be w ithin the comfortable
reach of th e hand. A lso, c o rre c t fin g erin g i s c lo sely bound up with

c o rre c t p h rasin g . A wise procedure would be to group notes in to a

chord th a t i s convenient f o r th e hand, and then follow th e fin g erin g

of th e chord. Every p iece should be c a re fu lly fingered a f t e r the

f i r s t read in g . From then on, the student should always p lay with

b&Victor I . S e ro ff, "New Fingering P rin c ip le s of Value to

Teacher and S tudent," Etude, LXVI (May, 19h8), p . 299.

h*Ibid.
 - 29 -

th e same fin g e rin g , as i t w ill help n o t only the execution of th e

p ie c e , but th e memorizing, to o . The author says, "Fingering should

be worked out as i f th e p ia n is t i s going to p lay th e piece a l l

le g a to .

In fin g erin g of runs in double no tes, consider th e upper

p a rt th e leading p a r t, and fin g e r i t as le g a to as p o ssib le , a-

Toiding a l l jumps. S lid in g w ith th e second fin g e r from* a black

key to a w hite key i s sometimes u s e fu l.

Mr. S ero ff b eliev e s t h a t e d itio n s have been done always w ith

a good reason f o r th e fin g e rin g and u su a lly by someone w ith long

experience in th e f i e l d and th a t they should be t r i e d .

According to Mr. Vantyn,^? th e perform er should a rriv e a t a

fin g e rin g whether i t be a d i f f i c u l t or easy composition and not change

i t except under very exceptional circum stances. Changing fin g erin g

a l l th e time can only be a hindrance to good in te rp r e ta tio n . By

playing a c e rta in s e rie s of notes over and over again, always using
th e same fin g e rin g , the b ra in w ill auto m atically group notes and

f in g e r s , and th e mental e f f o r t w ill p r a c tic a lly be reduced to a

minimum. I f fin g e rin g i s c o n tin u a lly changed, eveiything must be

done w ith the f u l l e s t of a tte n tio n and th e re i s no p o s s ib ility of

bGlbid.
^7Sidney Vantyn, "Learning How to F in g e r," Etude, XLIII (May,
192^), p . 323.
 - 30 -

giving undivided a tte n tio n to expression and o th er th in g s needed to

p lay m u sically . When w ritin g a fin g e rin g , the p o sitio n of the hand
should be th e e a s ie s t p o ssib le , by idiich i s meant the most natural*
The author says th a t i t i s im possible to la y down ru le s which

w ill meet a l l problems. The number would be v a st and lim itle s s .

The te a c h e r should show the p u p il how to a rriv e a t th e d esired r e ­

s u l t , and reason, lo g ic , la b o r, and p a tien ce w ill guide and help him

to reso lv e d i f f i c u l t questions of fin g e rin g . In choosing a fin g e rin g ,

th e f i r s t th in g to be done i s to fin d how to group the notes so th a t

th e re may be a minimum of mov«aent of th e hand. Every one of th e

fin g e rs has q u a litie s and d e fe c ts p e c u lia r to i t s e l f , which should

be e x p lo ited s c i e n t if i c a l ly . The p lay e r should always work fo r

e q u a lity of to n e.

In a very sh o rt a r t i c l e G ertrude W a lk e r U S s ta te s th a t fin g e r­

ing th a t s u i t s the p u p il and enables th e perform er to give a smooth

re n d itio n o f the composition must be used. The student should fin d

f o r him self a new and e a s ie r method of re n d itio n idien possible*

F* van Werkhovenit? emphasizes th a t th e use of th e rig ^ t fin g e r­

ing i s ju s t as im portant as follow ing th e notes c o rre c tly and th a t a

^SOertude Greenhalgh Walker, "The C orrect F ingering," Etude,

UCI (October, 19lt3), p* 68!**
U9p, van Werldioven, "The Importance of a C ertain F ingering,"
Ehude, L (Harch, 1932), p* 17U*
 - 31 -

te a c h e r should help th e student along t h i s l in e . I f th e same fin g e r­

ing i s used c o n siste n tly i t helps in memory work because th e fin g e rs

bee (me accustomed to touch. Many p u p ils neglect using the weaker

fin g e rs (fo u rth and f i f t h ) and avoid stre tc h in g th e hand, lo sin g th e

opportunity to develop th e hand. In order to achieve th e rig h t
m usical e f f e c ts , proper fin g e rin g i s necessary.
 - 32 -

TABLE I

A TABLE FOR CORRECT FINGERING (F GCMMON-GHOHD ARPBGOIOSU?

Kays Hands F irs t Second Third

P o sitio n P o sitio n P o sitio n

, F#, Gb, -M B.H. 1 2 h - 1 2 it - 3 1 2 it - 5

Kf E, Df, D#, Eb, -m L.H. $ - k 2 1 5 - it 2 1 - it 2 1

1 R.H. 1 2 3 2 1 2 it 1 2 it 5
I -m L.H. 5 - h 2 1 it 2 1 - 2 - 3 2 1

Db, -H R.H. 2 1 2 it 1 2 it 5 2 it 1 2
G#, -m L.H. 2 - 1 it 2 3 - it 2 1 it 2 1 - 2
B -« R.H. 1 2 3 5 2 3 1 2 2 1 2 3
B -K L.H. 5 - 2 3 1 2 3 1 - 2 2 - 1 3 2

B - m R.H. 1 2 3 « 1 2 it 5 2 •• 1 2 3
B - m L.H. - It 2 1 5 - it 2 1 it 2 1 - 2
Bb -M R.H. 2 a. 1 2 it 1 2 it _ 5 1 2 it .. 5
Bb -H L.H. 3 2 1 - 2 5 - it 2 1 5 - 3 2 1
Bb -m R.H. 2 h 1 2 2 1 2 it 1 2 it 5
Bb “O L.H. 3 2 1 - 2 2 - 1 3 2 ? - 3 2 1

Noter Mr. W irtz intended th e ta b le f o r playing arpeggios as

a te c h n ic a l exercise and npt from p rin te d n o te s. To use th e ta b le ,

th e p la y e r must f i r s t fin d th e key in which he wants to p lay . This

can b e found in th e l e f t hand column w ith a major key being designated

by a c a p ito l M and a minor key by a sm all m. The f i r s t p o sitio n

b&Conrad W irtz, "Table f o r C orrect Fingering of Coramon-Chord

Arpeggios," Etude, %LH (May, 1921^), p . 302.
 - 33 -

begins w ith th e f i r s t note of th e arpeggio, th e second p o sitio n

w ith th e second n o te, etc* The p lay er should use th e fingehing

f o r th e f i r s t p o s itio n , r ig h t hand, which i s marked to th e rig h t

of th e key, and rep e at th e s e rie s of fin g e rs up to th e dash as many

tim es as th e number of octaves t o be covered. The fin g e r marked

a f t e r th e dash i s used fo r th e top note only*

In descending th e p lay e r would begin w ith th e fig u re a f te r

th e dash and then repeat th e remaining s e r ie s , backwards, u n t i l

back to th e s ta r tin g p o in t. The second and th ir d p o sitio n s should

be taken in sim ila r manner*

The l e f t hand s t a r t s w ith th e fig u re marked before th e dash

and th en tak es th e remaining s e r ie s , repeating them as o ften as

needed*
 CHAPTER I?

SUMMARIES OF UNPUBLISHED MATERIAL

According to Mr. V iehl teach ers should not l e t th e i r students

get th e idea th a t an e d ito r whose name appears on th e cover of a

music book i s th e l a s t word in fin g e rin g . This id ea , he b e lie v e s,

has caused a b a r r i e r between many piano students and th e i r goal.
Kany tim es i t i s thought th a t t h is b a r r ie r i s caused by a lack of

ta le n t. High te c h n ic a l attainm ents have been achieved by students

adopting an independent a ttitu d e toward th e subject of fin g erin g ,

and th ese students have used more r a tio n a l methods than many edi­

to rs . The id ea th a t fin g e rin g provided by the e d ito r should be

follow ed a t a l l cost i s a f a l s e one. I t i s up to th e teach er to

guide the student and not l e t him s e t piano music e d ito rs up on a

p e d e sta l w ithout questioning c r i t i c a l l y th e fin g erin g s given.

The author says th a t th e f a c t i s known th a t v irtu o s i work

out t h e i r own fin g erin g and make re d ic a l changes from p rin te d

fin g e rin g , even in th e b e st e d itio n s . In order to achieve the best

r e s u l ts , th e g reat ho st of l e s s g ifte d students must re s o rt to the

same procedure.

The author s t a t e s t h a t many e d ito rs fo r th e p ublishers are

f i r s t of a l l f in e m usicians and only secondarily p ia n is ts . Many

to w a rd Vieh, "Essay on F in g erin g ," unpublished a r t i c l e ,

borrowed from the au th o r, pp. 1-7.

- 3b -
 - 3$ -

e d itio n s are fingered so as to th ro v th e hand in to a stra in e d

p o sitio n , h u t t h i s should not be allowed. Such a passage should
be refin g e re d u n t il th e s tr a in d isappears. A high degree of a t­
tainm ent i s p o ssib le to those of ta le n t who work out t h e i r own

method of fin g e rin g .

According to Mr. V ieh, th e ru le which sa id th a t when a

key i s stru ck sev eral tim es in succession d iffe re n t fin g e rs must

be used should be fo rg o tte n . This ru le has done much damage.
Also th e in flu en ce of th e ru le preventing the use of the thumb

on black keys i s s t i l l seen in the work of most modern e d ito rs .

By th e use of th e thumb on black keys many d i f f ic u lt i e s in awk­

ward passages are dim inished. In stead of trying to make wide,

le g a to reaches w ith the hand, the pedal should help in the e f f o r t.

There are freq u en t o p p o rtu n ities where many d i f f i c u l t i e s may be

helped by re d is tr ib u tio n of th e notes between th e hands.
 CHâPTES V

SÜMMAHT AND CONCLUSIONS

A il one of the authors agreed th a t fin g erin g i s one of

th e most im portant aspects of good a r t i s t i c piano playing. They

agreed th a t most students are c a re le ss about fin g erin g and th a t

te a ch e rs should i n s i s t th a t t h e i r p u p ils use good fin g e rin g . The

authors also agreed th a t bad fin g erin g makes easy passages d i f f i ­

c u lt . For some p la y e rs, not changing or rev isin g fin g erin g means

th a t th ey cannot p lay the p a r tic u la r piece w e ll. Following are

th e main ideas th a t the authors thought most im portant as re la te d

to fin g e rin g r

There should be as much uniform ity as p o ssib le and a m ini­

mum movement of th e hand.
F ingering should be as simple and n a tu ra l as p o ssib le to
f i t th e in d iv id u al hand.

Given fin g e rin g should be c r i t i c a l l y analysed and changed

i f necessary.

The te a c h e r should help th e student to become aware of the

problem and guide him, l e t t i n g him do h is own fin g e rin g .

The p lay er should a rriv e a t a d e f in ite fin g erin g and not

change i t .
The p lay er should know each of h is fin g e rs and i t s p o ssi­
b i l i t i e s and fin g e r accordingly, using th e stro n g est
fin g e rs f o r th e stro n g e st n o tes, e tc .

The p lay er should spend th e tim e fin g erin g a piece when i t

i s new b efo re bad h a b its s e t in .

Hhythm, v e lo c ity , s ty le , and th e whole m usical in te n t should

be a guide to fin g e rin g .

- 36 -
 - 37 -

F ingering a ffe c ts memorizing, technique, and th e whole se­

c u rity of th e player*
When notes are repeated, i t i s u su a lly b e st to change fin g e rs
when th e tempo i s very f a s t and not to change when i t i s
slow.
The use of th e thumb on black keys i s p erm issib le, but should
not be done unnecessarily*

In th e playing of le g a to passages, the pedal should be an

aid to th e f ilte r in g *

A mordent' s f i r s t and th ir d notes are b e tte r played w ith

d if f e r e n t fin g ers*
S lid in g from a black key to a white key i s sometimes useful*

In octave playing of a passage which req u ire s endurance,

th e f i r s t and f i f t h fin g e rs should be used whereas in
slow leg a to passages, th e f i r s t and fo u rth fingei*s should
be used. The f i r s t and fo u rth fin g e rs are sometimes used
to f a c i l i t a t e speed, but th e s itu a tio n depends upon the
passage and th e hand*
In th e playing of th ir d s and s ix th s , the upper voice should
be fin g ere d so i t can be played legato*

The follow ing i s a l i s t of th in g s which th e authors agreed

should not be done*

Do not cross the thumb under th e f i f t h fin g e r .
Do not cause s t r a in on th e hand because of fingering*

Do not change th e fin g erin g a f t e r i t has been decided upon.

Do not cross th e fin g e rs over one another*

Do not cross th e thumbs*

 - 38 -

THE NEED FOR FURTHER STUDY

W ithin th e scope of t h is study i t was impossible to cover

a l l of th e i n tr i c a t e sid e-p ath s of fin g e rin g . The author was lim­

ite d to th o se fin g erin g problems f o r which th e necessary documentary

m ate ria l was a v a ila b le .

One of th e fin g erin g problems not covered by the study i s

th e crossing of one fin g e r over another, in which process the lower

fin g e r crosses over the next hig h est in an ascending sc ale in the

r ig h t hand, using fin g e rs or k-3-h-3» One obvious example

of t h i s use would be Chopin's Chromatic Etude, Op. 10, No. 2.

A fter having done reseach on th e su b je ct, th e author i s more
convinced th an before of th e importance of fin g erin g in piano play­

in g . The author agrees w ith those who b e liev e th a t th e teacher

must i n s i s t and guide th e student in m atters of fin g e rin g . I f help

i s not given many stu d en ts who could become p ro fic ie n t p ia n is ts

may f a l l by th e wayside o r become discouraged. The author b eliev es

th a t even though fin g e rin g i s c a re fu lly planned out in th e begin­

ning stages of a piece th e re are tim es th a t i t may have to be

changed l a t e r when th e speed of playing i s increased. But once

th e student has found a fin g erin g th a t serves adequately he should
not change i t .

A ll of th e a u th o ritie s agreed th a t stro n g est fin g e rs should

be used fo r stro n g est n o tes, e tc . This author b eliev es th a t th e

piano student should s tr iv e f o r co n tro l and stren g th of every fin g e r
 - 39 -

and be able to use them, in many in sta n c e s, interchangably.

The author i s convinced th a t fin g erin g i s an in d iv id u al

problem to every piano p la y e r. There r e s ts with almost every p iece,

new o r old, a problem of fin g e rin g p e c u lia r to th e very succession

of n o tes, to the in d iv id u a l hand, and to th e e ffic ie n c y of th e

p la y e r, a lso taking in to co n sid eratio n th e s ty le of th e piece and

th e speed of th e passage. No one can say th a t what i s good fo r

h im self i s good f o r an o th er. A paper of th is type can be used

only fo r suggestions and can give th e p lay er ideas on how to choose

th e b e st fin g e rin g . Then he must go ahead on h is own and m aster

th e a r t .
There would be many problems which would undoubtedly a ris e

in a fu r th e r study of th e fin g e rin g problem. From a conversation,

th e author quotes Jeno Takacs, V isitin g P rofessor of Piano a t Mon­

ta n a S ta te U n iv ersity , as saying, "A fu r th e r research of fin g erin g

problems might be continued to an almost i n f in i t e l im it."

 CHAPTER VI

BIBLIOGRAPHY OF ÜNSÜMHARIZED MATERIAL

The follow ing m a te ria l was not a v ailab le to th e w rite r.

BOOKS

Amev, E lle n . Conscious Control in Piano Study. New York: Harold

Flammer, I n c ., 1^21. ^9 pp.

Bloekley, John. The P ia n is t' s Catechism. London: Ascherberg,

Hopwood, and Crew, 1955* 78 pp.
Bonpensiere, L u ig i. New Pathways to Piano Technique. New York:
P hilosophical L ib rary , 1953» I ? 8 . pp.

Ching, James. Piano Playing. London: Bosworth, 19U6.

Garroway, W ill. Pianism. New York: C. F isch e r, I n c ., 1939. 206 pp.

H arrison, Sidney. Piano Technique. London: I.Pitm an, 1953* 77 pp.
Helmann, Jacob N. The Consciously C ontrolled Piano Tone. New York:
The author, 195Ù.

K ullak, Adolph, (tra n s ^ re v is e d , and e d .l A esthetics of Pianoforte

Playing. New York: G Schirmer, 1093. 326 pp.

Leimer, K arl, ( tr a n s . and ed.X Rhythmics, Dynamics, Pedal and Other

Problems of Piano P laying. P h ila d e lp h ia : Theodore Presser Co.,
---------------

Mason, Daniel G. A Neglected Sense in Piano Playing. New York:

GL Schirmer, l9 l2 . 93 pp.

Schütz, Arnold. The Riddle of th e P i a n is t's F in g er. New York:

F isc h e r, 1 9 i i 9 ^ 3 ^ T ^ 7 'p P ^ ------------------------
W hiteside, Abby. P i a n is t's Mechanism. New York: G. Schirmer, 1920.
57 pp.
Woodhouse, George. A R e a lis tic Approach to Piano Playing. London:
Augener, 1953. ^ pp.
- ItO -
 - 1(1 -

PERIODICALS

Berge, F*, "Some Hints on Modem Fingering," Etude, XXXVIII

(September, 1920), p . 588.

B randt, Mrs. N., " P ra c tic a l Fingering and How to Study I t , "
Etude, XXXVm (SQ)tember, 1920), pp. 591-592.
B sringer, 0 ., "Fingering F acts f o r S elf-h elp P u p ils," Etude,
XXXIX (June, 1921), pp. 369-370.

D arpet, L ., "Fingering of Major S cales," Etude, XXXIX (June,

1921), p . 368.
H ipsher, E. E ., "Fingerings That Help", Etude, XLI (September,
1923), pp. 593-591(.
K in scella, H. G., "What i s th e Best Fingering?", Etude, XLI
(June, 1923) , p . 376 .
 BIBLIOGRAPHY

BOOKS

Bach, C arl P h illip Baanucl* ( tr a n s . and e d .) . Essay on th e True

Art of Playing Keyboard Instrum ent s . New York* W. W. Norton
and Company, Incorporated, 19^9. 550 pp.
Fieldon, Thomas. The Science of K an o fo rte Technique. London*
Macmillan and Company, tim ite d , 19U9. 193 pp.
Foldes, Andor. K e^ to th e Keyboard. New York* Oxford U niversity
P ress, 1950. 65" pp.

Mokrejs, John* The Science of Fingering. New York* Odowan Pub­

lis h in g Company, 19È3. ÏÏ3 pp.

Newman, William S. The P ia n is t ' s Problems. New York: Hai-per, 1950.

13a pp.
W hiteside, Abbey. Indispensables of Piano Playing. New York*
Coleman-Ross Company, Incorporated, 1955. 147 ppi

PERIODICALS

B ickford, Myron. "Some Whys of Scale F ingering," Musician, IV III

(August, 1913), p . 520.

Brandt, Mrs. Noah. " P ra c tic a l Fingering I llu s tr a te d fo r In divid­

u a l Needs," Etude, XLI7 (January, 1926), pp. 21-22.

Brower, H a rrie tte . "The Art of F ingering," Musician, XX (March,

1915), p . 16U.
Cogswell, I . J . "Heresy Regarding Scale F ingerings," M usician,
XLI7 (October, 1939), p . l6 8 . “ “
Dickey, J . W. "The P u p il’s W aterloo," Ebude, L (May, 1932), p . 325.

Dixon, E sth er, "Reserved F in g ers," Etude, LXI (February, 1953),

p . 92.
—52 —
 - 1*3 -

Dumesnil, Maurice* "Repeated Note F ingerings," Etude, LXXÎ

(November, 1953)» p . 23*
E rnest, Gustav. "Fashions in Fingering and Common Sense," Etude,
XLVII (Ju ly , 1929), pp 503-50l*.
F isch e r, Otto L* "Finger Forms," Etude, XLIV (A pril, 1926), p . 270.

H a rris, Clement Antrobus. "Black N otes," Etude, XLIX (October,

1931), pp. 697-698.
H arris, Clement Antrobus. "The MostUseful of A ll Fingering Rules,"
Etude, XLVIII (August, 1930), p 539.
Hughes, Edwin. "Fingering a t the P ia n o fo rte ," M usician, XXII (M;gr,
1917), PP 336-337. — -------
Hutchinson, Gladys. "The Road to Correct F ingering," Etude, LIV
(Ju ly , 1936 ) , p . LlO.
Keefer, A ustin Roy. "Logic in Choice of F ingering," Etude, XLVIII
(October, 1930), p. 7U8 .

Krammerer, Hope. "Helpful Rules on Learning to F inger", Etude,

XLV (October, 1927;, p . 7U0.
Maier, D r. Guy. "The T eacher's Round Tables Fourth and F if th Fin­
gers in Octave P laying," Etude, LXI (October, 19U3), p . 61*0.
M aier, Dr. Guy. "The T eacher's Round Table," Etude, LX (August,
191*2), p . 528. ~

M allet, Pauline and Prévost O m stein. "P rin cip les of Fingering in
Piano P laying," Etude, XLIII (October, 1925), pp. 691-692.

Marks, Eugene F. "Designing N atural F in g erin g s," Etude, XLVIII

( January, 1930), p . 1Î*.

"P rin c ip les fo r F ingering," M usician, XXVI (September, 1921), p . 12.

Rackle, Karl Edmund. "Fingering th e Chromatic S cale," M usician,

XVI (Ju ly , 1911) , pp. 1*50-1*51.
Rackle, Karl Edmund. "P rin c ip le s of F ingering," M usician, XVIII
(October, 1913), p . 66I .
 - Wt -

R andall, A delia M. "Scale Fingering S im p lified ," M usician, XU

(May, 191b), p . 307.
Riekaby, T. L& "Finding th e Right Fingers a t th e Right Time,"
Etude, XLII (October, 192b), p . 666.

S e ro ff, V ic to r I . "New F ingering P rin c ip le s of Value to Teacher

and S tudent," Etude. LXVI (May, 19b8), p . 299.
Vantyn, Sidney. "Learning How to F in g e r," Etude, XLIII (May, 192$),
p . 323.
Walker, Gertrude Greefthalgh. "The CSrrect F in g erin g ," Etude, LXI
(October, 19b3), p . j8b.
Werkhoven, F. van. "The Importance of a C ertain F ingering," Etude,
L (March, 1932), p . 17b.
W irtz, Conrad. "A Table fo r C orrect Fingering of Common-Chord
Arpeggios," Etude, XLII (May, 192b), p . 302.

ÜNFÜBLISH® MATERIALS

Vieh, Howard. Essay on F in gering, pp. 1 -7 .