A mistake with a fingering is more important than a mistake with a note. Fingerings often embody important, but subtle, rhythmic information.
Simply put, there is no such thing as a "correct" fingering. For any composer.
Can you provide a copy of that fingering? Would be interesting to see.
... I may feel gratitude and relief that this person (if he knows a thing or two) is taking me seriously. In fact this may be more meaningful than any expressions of "oh how lovely", or "wow, you play this difficult work wonderfully" or just a hidden dismissiveness of "good playing".
Ranjit, you responded to one single line of what I wrote out of context. I would ask you please to consider the whole.
I did not quote the whole reply as I felt it would go too long.Looking back, I realized that I worded the question as "what would you think..." So, of course, you answered the question perfectly well.
I was actually wondering if this was something that, say, a good piano teacher would say if one is able to play effortlessly with a given fingering.
I can imagine a good teacher saying "the passage would be more logical/appropriate to alternate the octaves 1-4, 1-5"
.... but I can't imagine him/her saying point-blank that "the fingering is wrong" unless it is particularly egregious, and not thought out at all.
To my ears, this sounds as if the person had remembered a particular fingering note by note.
I have seen the videos of a few good piano teachers on Youtube (Paul Barton, Josh Wright, etc.), and they usually suggest a few fingerings which people generally use, often backed up by an explicit reason of why they work, and then encourage the viewers to try them out, and decide which one fits their hand best.
You assume because it sound a good to your ears then it also Sounded good to the listener.
It may be that you already have an opinion, and you want to see that opinion reflected. otoh, we are here to help each other and learn from each other. Also your post as a whole suggested that you were a learner. For example, when you say you learned a piece "on your own" - if you were an advanced, taught pianist you would not stress the "on my own" - things like that.There are assumptions in the wording of your question, which also points to inexperience.
The problem is that as I understand it, you have not had any experience working with a teacher to be able to tell what a good teacher would do, and how to work with such a teacher.
"ranjit":If you expect people, not only on this website, to take you seriously, then you should not use the words "piano community."
Accordingly, words like: "But the question wasn't about this specific person; rather, it was about fingering in general, and how it is regarded in the piano community at large."
"ranjit," you have a lot of very well experienced pianists who have posted a response on this very important particular thread. You had best just "shut up," listen, and then learn.
Note: Most places I have not marked in the treble clef are fingered 1-2-5.
Always RH: I am curious why in m. 1 you have chosen that fingering - why not 1 3 5, for example? Does it have anything to do with the upcoming F in m. 2? Meanwhile in m. 4 you have exactly the same notes as in m. 1, but you have chosen a different fingering. Why? In m. 11 you again have 1 2 4 for the same interval. For m. 12 I don't know how strict the "rule" is about avoiding having the pinky on a black key (the C#).
I joined Pianostreet expecting higher standards than what I read in this particular post. Bach himself would tear his hair (or wig) out if he read these comments. For Pete`s sake the prelude in C is just a few chords in arpeggio form with a very simple bass. It sounds lovely but it is a very simple composition for any one to play unless he/she is a very beginner. Even some of the "Klein Preludes" are more difficult to play. Bach himself notes that anybody with some taste should be able to play them.If in order to play a very simple piece of music there are so many discussions about how to finger it, can you imagine the billions of combinations and permutations to be discussed just on fingering about Bach`s compositions?. What a waste of time!.Therefore I`m dis-membering myself???, giving up membership from this site and joining Pianomotorway to progress a bit quicker.
Therefore I`m dis-membering myself???, giving up membership from this site and joining Pianomotorway to progress a bit quicker.
I joined Pianostreet expecting higher standards than what I read in this particular post. Bach himself would tear his hair (or wig) out if he read these comments. For Pete`s sake the prelude in C is just a few chords in arpeggio form with a very simple bass.....
Can't find Pianomotorway on google.
I'm not sure about these "standards". When I work with an excellent teacher, then apparently "simple" pieces are exactly the ones that such teachers often see butchered through a lack of insight and depth. If that piece is played as "just a few chords" etc. that is pretty shallow. "Standards" are not about difficult or flashy repertoire or pieces slated as "grade xx". The kinds of questions asked are serious questions. AND this is the student's corner.I've noticed that you did not respond to my response to your post in this thread.The other post is advice about Fuer Elise, which includes imagining oneself courting someone of the opposite sex - it was not bad feedback per se, but I did not find it to be of extremely high standards or depth, if the standards are being judged here.Perhaps you were looking for advanced (grade level) music to be discussed?
If you avoid scales and arpeggios, then you will always be stuck in one of two camps: complete reliance on finger numbers; a complete and utter inability to navigate the keyboard.
I think Argerich and Volodos might want to disagree with that.
You don't have to practice scales and arpeggios to play fast, it's not a magic bullet. If you can play fast - properly - you can play scales and arpeggios fast. That`s true but aren`t we going the wrong way then?, it is like learning to drive by driving first without tuition.
Maybe you can amplify a bit on how you apply that.There are some composers where scale fingerings work, some composers where correct fingering isn't crucial, but Bach is neither, and we're talking about a Bach piece here.
Both artists are part of a bunch of people who say they never practiced scales and even say it's useless. Despite this, I think they are able to navigate the keyboard quite well.Their ability to play complex works at sight (and improvising in Volodos' case), with a wonderful interpretation, suggests to me that they can do this navigation without complete reliance on finger numbers.Thus, in my opinion, neither are stuck in one of the two camps you claim one always will be stuck in if they avoid scales and arpeggios.
…It's like learning to paint circles if you can already paint wheels perfectly.