Have you often checked piano videos to see what the masters use for fingering?

[bobbys]

I often find the fingering on the music doesn't seem compatible with my hands.  So I just play the passage over and over (only one hand of course) trying different combinations.  It takes hours to do a 5 minute piece if you are comprehensive and patient but then you have that fingering for life (unless you're growing!). 

So then I got to wondering if its easy to see how the masters do it? For slower passages of course.  Doesn't mean what they use should be what you use but still it can provide some insight.  It would also be interesting to know the size of the hands of  performer.  When you find someone with similar sized hands as yourself you should be using similar fingering. 

Take the C or F major arpeggio.  I've found it feels more comfortable (especially the crossover) to start with the second finger yet I was taught from day one to always start with the thumb.  Perhaps this is done because in most music utilizing arpeggios they often don't go for more than two octaves so it may be more comfortable to start with the thumb as only one crossover is involved. 

I just think fingering is often overlooked and it shouldn't be.  We shouldn't just blindly do what they say.  Its a suggestion, nothing more.  Most of the time it will be the best but most isn't good enough.  Not when you may be playing that music for decades forward.  It pays to get it right from the beginning. 

[ranjit]

So then I got to wondering if its easy to see how the masters do it? For slower passages of course.  Doesn't mean what they use should be what you use but still it can provide some insight.  It would also be interesting to know the size of the hands of  performer.  When you find someone with similar sized hands as yourself you should be using similar fingering. 

I personally think this can be incredibly useful, and is something a lot of people neglect. I have done this for slow passages, and for fast passages. In the process, my observation has gotten better, so I can immediately observe and replicate the way my teacher or someone else is fingering a passage. It can be at any speed. On YouTube, you can reduce the speed to 0.25x or 0.5x, which is a very useful feature. And it's not only the fingering, you can pick up all sorts of ideas from watching performing artists either live or in a video. I think what we should be careful of, and what I see a lot, is people taking it too literally. It's important that you take the idea of what the performer is doing and not just (or not only) the exact way in which they are executing it. For example, several people seem to obsess over Horowitz's use of flat fingers, and use it as an example to illustrate that there are no "rules" when it comes to piano playing. But this is incorrect. Obviously every pianist will have their differences, but what's important as a student is to observe and try to figure out the underlying logic and the benefits/problems of each approach you come across.

[mrcreosote]

I'd like to - what does the young Rubenstein use for the beginning of Chopin's Heroic - on the 3rd set of 4ths in the RH.

[ranjit]

I'd like to - what does the young Rubenstein use for the beginning of Chopin's Heroic - on the 3rd set of 4ths in the RH.

13 24 24 15 25 14 25

Edit: According to this video, at 0:25 --

[lelle]

13 24 24 15 25 14 25
,
Edit: According to this video, at 0:25 --

That's super interesting! I have always used 13 24 25 14 25 14 25, will have to try that one out.

[mrcreosote]

From Schirmer's Chopin Album for Piano
14  23  13  14  25  14  25

Myself, I've always played notes with the wrong hand if it was easier.  In this case, I played the bottom note with the left hand on the 1st 4th leaving:
2  13  13  14  25  14  25 

None of these fingerings flow like the others, but it sure doesn't seem to bother ol' R!  But after watching him play it so effortlessly, he challenges me to play all the notes in the proper hands.

When I watch anyone play this piece, I pay special attention to see if they have the tiniest difficulty with #3

[lelle]

That Schirmer fingering is odd. 23 on a fourth? Really? That's unnecessarily stretchy unless you got Rachmaninoff hands.

[ranjit]

I thought the 14 14 by Rubinstein was very clever. You slide from one note to the other and it somehow works, in a way which I wouldn't have expected.