| LearnJazzPiano.com archives: fingering question | |
| knotty -- 06/06/2007, 05:36:50 -- #35363 | |
| I started playing my morning scales in diatonic 3rd instead of do-re-mi. The question is about fingering. In C, I think I got it comfortable, I'll do with RH: 1-3-2-4 1-3-2-4 ... in F, it took me a bit longer to figure it out: RH (starting on F) 1-3-1-2 1-3-2-4 1-3-2-4 1-3-2-4 etc ... in Bb, I'll use my thumb even more, RH starting on Bb: 1-3-1-3 1-3-2-4 1-3-1-3 1-3-2-4 1 etc .... Is that good? | |
| 7 -- 06/06/2007, 08:38:39 -- #35363 | |
| Thirds, whether harmonic or melodic, are often fingered 1-2 1-3 2-4 3-5 C-E D-F E-G F-A To do your little exercise, I suppose you might want to try something like 1-2 1-3 2-4 1-2 1-3 2-4 1-2 1-3 2-4 etc | |
| Barry -- 06/06/2007, 12:03:06 -- #35363 | |
| I agree with 7 but I would also suggest that you avoid thumbs on the black notes where you can by using 3-5 and starting on a 2nd finger for scales that begin on a black note. So, in F I would play: 1-2 1-3 2-4 3-5 1-2 1-3 2-4 etc I would also start the Bb scale on a 2-4 as well... | |
| knotty -- 06/06/2007, 12:12:52 -- #35363 | |
| Thanks, just what I was looking for. | |
| knotty -- 06/11/2007, 06:44:30 -- #35363 | |
| Works great, would have not thought of 1-2 1-3 for some reason. But what about descending? Barry's fingering works great going up, but going down, I can't pass from 1 to 5, can I? | |
| Barry -- 06/14/2007, 17:52:11 -- #35363 | |
| Descending in F I would probably simply go: 4-2 3-1 4-2 3-1 4-2 3-1 Basically, as long as you try and avoid thumbs on the black notes and make sure your fingering allows you to maintain a legato then it doesn't matter that much... Hope that helps | |
| 7 -- 06/15/2007, 10:42:24 -- #35363 | |
| As Barry said "as long as you try and avoid thumbs on the black notes". This is of course an impossiblity in keys like B, F# and Db. So make sure that your thumb falls on a black note that has another black note right next to it so that you can pull off the transition smoothly. The whole deal about avoiding the black notes is that it's almost impossible to transition to an adjacent white note. I would expand Barry's finergings above to include the 2-1 fingering: 4-2 3-1 2-1 4-2 3-1 2-1 4-2 3-1 2-1 | |
| 7 -- 06/16/2007, 01:43:41 -- #35363 | |
| maybe The truth be told, 2-4 2-4 2-4 2-4 seems to work just fine in most situations. And you don't have to worry about all those extra maneouvres. | |
| knotty -- 06/17/2007, 14:21:12 -- #35363 | |
| interesting, thanks. My teacher made a comment once that all these fingering questions made students sound all the same. That I should find my own. I believe 7 you're not Monk's biggest fan, but he certainly comes to mind. Sometimes however I get stuck on parts of a piece, not realizing I can sound much better using proper fingering ... there I go off topic again... thanks for the help! | |
| DrJazz -- 06/27/2007, 18:11:06 -- #35363 | |
| It might be worth pointing out that there TWO common methods of fingering double thirds, and that these fingerings are the same whether you are playing the thirds together, or as single notes. The first fingering method is called the TWO-GROUP method, because only two hand positions are used. For C major it would be: 12 13 24 35 - 13 24 35, and repeat in successive octaves. Reverse it on the way down. The other method uses THREE hand positions. For C major it is: 13 24 35 - 13 24 - 13 24. These fingerings are the same for all keys, but you have to work out where to start the pattern, and this is where avoiding the thumb on black notes comes in. If the scale starts with a black note, the first two notes will be 24 or 35 depending on what comes next. The exception is F# major, where you have no choice but to put the thumb on F#. If using the 'two-group' fingering the larger group (12 13 24 35) has to start on the note B. Both sets of double thirds fingerings are given for ALL keys (major and minor) in the ABRSM book 'A Manual of Scales and Arpeggios' (published in the UK by the Associated Board). This great boklet is very reasonably priced and covers all sorts of other useful stuff too... Tim | |
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