Fingering

[kriatina]

Hello,
I would like to know how others work out the “fingering”
when they approach a new Sonata?

I sometimes write down my own fingering on the score, here and there as a reminder,
but on more difficult pieces I write down my fingering over every note
and on very easy scores I don’t feel it is necessary to write anything down
as the fingering offers itself in a logical way.

Is this method a common way of getting used to the score?

I have been looking at Bach’s Aria from the Goldberg Variations
(an Aria I would love to play one day).  
I have seen the suggested fingering of this Aria and it was obviously written down
by a “very big hand” which would not suit my smaller hand at all.

How do you work this out for yourself?
Do you write down your own fingering over every new score/note yourself?

Or could it be detrimental in the long run
to write down the fingering over every single note
rather than remain persistent in just trying to play from the score
without following (and getting involved with) the written fingering?

Thanks from Kristina.

[p2u_]

I would like to know how others work out the “fingering”
when they approach a new Sonata?

I work out my fingerings meticulously, but I write down only the FIRST finger of a NEW hand position.

Paul

[nyiregyhazi]

I work out my fingerings meticulously, but I write down only the FIRST finger of a NEW hand position.

Paul

A personal trick I use (on much the same lines) is to write brackets over notes that fall into each hand position. It gives an extremely clear visual indication of fingering and when you get used to thinking in chunks you start to rarely need individual finger indications at all. It gets students to compound large amounts of information into a single sensation. I take it as far as using a single bracket for places where the thumb moves between a couple of notes, but where the rest of the fingers don't need to be repositioned.

[kriatina]

Thank you very much, Paul and nyiregyhazi for your valuable advice,
it is very much appreciated and I shall apply and try it straight away.

Thanks again from Kristina.

[j_menz]

I find that there is a bit of my subconscious that deals with fingering, so I leave it to do its work.  The only time I need to get involved is where it yells out for help, or where what it comes up with doesn't work satisfactorily.  So for much of what I play I am simply not consciously aware of what fingering I use.

I never mark fingering on the score - even where I have had to work it out - it's one of the things I do memorise and don't need the visual cues.

[iansinclair]

I basically agree with j_menz.  With an additional thought: it is quite common for me to find that a fingering which seems to work just fine at a slow speed doesn't work at all at performance tempo.  Don't know why, but there it is.  So as he says -- I work it out as I go along, quite unsconsciously.  And never write it down...

[outin]

I have to write down parts of the fingering to remember them later. It takes a lot of time, because I work them out easily but cannot remember what I did after I lift my hands off the keys.

It seems that my 2-3-4 fingers generally have more than one way to play just as comfortably and if I don't memorize the fingerings properly I change between them without even thinking. After memorizing the notes I often need the score to check out which fingering I had decided to use 

[kriatina]

Thank you again,  j_menz, Ian and outin
for your kind thoughts and valuable suggestions.
I shall go from here and see how I can adapt them
into my own style of learning.

Thanks again from Kristina.

[joe891212]

This post regarding fingering is an issue I am going through at the moment.  So I decided to post my comment here instead of beginning a new post. 

I positively - after some considerable practice - write down fingering.  I have been working on the Second Piano Concerto of Rachmaninoff.  I agree with the post that slower tempo fingering doesn't not necesarily work at performance speed.  I practice a new work with a considerable amount of staccato work.  Fingering that works for this method may not work for fast moving sections.  So I will rework passages.  That's why I will write down the final fingering to be used for performance...note for note...or at least for certain Rachmaninoff passages.  The reason I do this is to make sure that I'm not changing the fingering during a performance, which can be hazardous.  I make sure it is engrained in my fingers as well as my head. 

One problem I run into is I find myself altering fingering after considerable time on the piece.  For some reason an easier hand or finger position will naturally occur.  I will write these alterations down right on the score.

I was sent via email a copy of the First Movement of the Rach 2 by a known concert artist, who generously shared this copy with me.  It was printed in Russia.  He had written down his fingering in numerous passages.  Still there were some passages I did not use his fingering.
Fingering can be a really tough issue. 

If anyone has any fingering work for the Second Piano Concerto, I would love to take a look at it.

Thanks so much!
Joe

[kriatina]

Hello, Joe,

Of course I am a long way off the point
at which I could play Rachmaninoff,
and I send you all my best wishes for it.

Kind regards from Kristina.