definitive fingering for 3rds, 6ths etc??

[stevie]

having bought many exercise books and started to work on double notes, in particular 3rds and 6ths...i have notes quite a few discrepancies, practically every different book has their own fingering, and even multiple fingers to choose from on the same scale in the same book.
all this is very confusing, which ones should i use?
its obvious that they all 'work' but with varying degrees of efficiency.
are the different fingerings all suited to different hand types, or is there really a definitive universal fingering?

thanks

[jeremyjchilds]

In order to keep the 6ths together..
I teach my students to always start  the sharp keys on whichever finger will ensure that the 4th ends up on f# (so for G, put your left 4th on b...) this allows your fingers to have a constant signpost.

For flat keys, and C... just start with you 5 finger everytime

Please note that the above is only for major scales...

For 3rds, there is no easy way that I know of...just use the same fingering...so for c, put your R.H. 3rd on E...

[allchopin]

Here's a list of many of the famous pianists' fingerings for thirds.  I prefer Chopin's.
https://rapidshare.de/files/3479365/Various_chromatic_thirds_fingerings.pdf.html

[stevie]

yes! this is exactly what i mean, on godowsky's there are even 2 fingerings...very confusing.

in fact, ive used none of those, in studying the chopin 3rds etude, i used the 2-2 slide from Bb - B and Eb - E, this is a bit similar to the chopin one you use, which instead uses the 1 - 1 slide on B - C and E - F

ive grown used to the former, i have to wonder what advantages there are in any of these, are some more suited to velocity and some more suited to evenness?

also, in the 6ths chromatic scales in the books i have there are almost as many options as with chromatic thirds...

maybe this is one for bernhard...or has he probably already discussed this somewhere?

[ted]

I think that beyond sensible principles, the fingering of any double notes is too dependent on personal hand structure, speed and desired effect to be universally "definitive". I have found, in general, that trying many fingerings and touches pays dividends in the end, especially in unorthodox music, jazz and so on, where astonishingly beautiful effects are sometimes produced by really silly looking fingerings. Therefore there is nothing to be done but carefully working through and thinking about each example.

[stevie]

lol, i was afraid someone way gonna say that...