Knowing Where your fingers are!

[peterb20]

Im getting towards the middle of Alfreds first book, where a sixth finger is required!! 

How are you supposed to keep track of which finger is on which key? Is it a case of looking at the music with an occasional glance down at the keyboard to see whats going on? Its not so much of an issue a the moment as ive only introduced a 6th note,  but I can imagine further down the line it may get more important, so I dont want to learn bad habits!

Also if im going to play a piece from a standard music book, rather than this tutorial book which tells me which finger should start where, how would I know which finger should start on which key to give myself the best chance of completing the phrase? (for example if I play the first note, C, with my first finger, but then realise a couple of bars along that fingers 4 and 5 havent been used but I need to go lower than the original C, do I just suck it up and move my whole hand down, or should I have looked forward to see what was going to happen and position my hand accordingly in the first place?

[adodd81802]

Im getting towards the middle of Alfreds first book, where a sixth finger is required!!  

How are you supposed to keep track of which finger is on which key? Is it a case of looking at the music with an occasional glance down at the keyboard to see whats going on? Its not so much of an issue a the moment as ive only introduced a 6th note,  but I can imagine further down the line it may get more important, so I dont want to learn bad habits!

Also if im going to play a piece from a standard music book, rather than this tutorial book which tells me which finger should start where, how would I know which finger should start on which key to give myself the best chance of completing the phrase? (for example if I play the first note, C, with my first finger, but then realise a couple of bars along that fingers 4 and 5 havent been used but I need to go lower than the original C, do I just suck it up and move my whole hand down, or should I have looked forward to see what was going to happen and position my hand accordingly in the first place?

Hi Peter. So back in the day it was frowned upon to look down at your fingers. And in some methods it's still frowned upon.

I am not a great sight reader and almost always play from memory where possible. Unless your lessons particularly dictate that you are not to look down, I would not pressure yourself in any way, especially when learning, to not look at the keys.

Also these are all likely new motions that you should not be expected to guess or "hit and hope". isolate that part where you will have to move to the 6th, practice it look down at the keys and slowly bring it back to the passage, you will soon find as you come up to the passage, you will be able to play it and likely without looking down.

With regards to your second question, your fingers and hand movements should be controlled by "phrases". I'm not sure how much of a beginner you are, but those curvey long lines over the top of groups of notes or pairs of notes indicate slurs and phrases and this helps indicate what fingers you should use.

Generally phrases should be completed in one movement of the hand or one continuous motion with no breaks.

imagine it as taking one breath singing a range of notes, then when the phrase ends you take a new breath. This is more music theory, your questions are good ones.

[iansinclair]

Two thoughts... first, there's nothing wrong -- at least in my humble opinion -- in looking at the keyboard to see what your fingers are doing!  Most pianists do -- the cocktail pianist at the local lounge doesn't, perhaps! -- but watch most pianists and they do.  One of the advantages of memorising your music is that you can do that without losing track of where you are!  But most organists also look at the keyboards (and, not infrequently, the feet!) even though they almost invariably have the music right there on the rack.  So don't worry about that.

Second, however, you will find that as you gain experience you will become more and more comfortable about feeling where your fingers are going, even over rather wide intervals (two octave jumps, maybe not; octave and a third, quite likely).  This ability just requires practise.  And more practise.

On the related topic, though, of how do you know where to put your hand.  You will find, again as you move to more complex music, that you are constantly shifting your hand position to provide decent fingering.  This is sometimes simply a matter of holding a note with one finger while shifting the whole hand around that finger to get the next note (the thumb often gets involved here, since it is so flexible!) but commonly it involves changing fingers on a note (or a chord!) to free up other fingers for the next bit of the piece.

[brogers70]

Two good answers already. I'd just add that the more you practice scales and arpeggios the more natural fingering will become. Over time, you'll be able to look at a string of notes and decide what finger to start with so that you end up where you want to be. It takes time to get used to, and it will definitely get easier. If you are working out fingerings, rather than sight reading, and you are unsure of the best way to start a phrase, it can be helpful to work backwards. Start with where you want your hand to be at the end of the phrase and work backwards until you see what fingering you need to use at the start.

And, as the others have said, don;t be afraid to look at the keys. YOu'll need to do so less as time goes by, but don't worry about it.

[pianoplunker]

Im getting towards the middle of Alfreds first book, where a sixth finger is required!! 

but I need to go lower than the original C, do I just suck it up and move my whole hand down, or should I have looked forward to see what was going to happen and position my hand accordingly in the first place?

Which is easier : A) Sucking it up and moving your whole hand down or

                        B) Position your hand accordingly in the first place.

Option B is much more promising


 

[peterb20]

All Good advice, thankyou!! I would like to rate up your posts, but as im new, i dont have the power sorry!!