I would like to see a video about flat key fingering. The book Scales, Chords, … has a choice of fingerings and the Piano Grove Major Scales Fingering chart has another choice. For example, Bb Major, the book says for the right hand to start on finger 4 or finger 2 while PG says to start on finger 3, huh? why? Seems to me the pattern might be how the fingers lay on the black keys. There must be some general fingering rule for all keys without memorizing which finger to start on.
Grant
Hi Grant,
Yes this can be a little confusing as there are no ‘set-in-stone’ fingerings for scales.
For the right hand fingering of scales that start on black keys (Bb, Db, Eb, Gb, & Ab) my thumb always lands on the white notes C and F - in all 5 scales. For me that is what helps me to visualise the fingering and then I can choose which finger to start the scale based on what is most comfortable.
I find that when I have those C & F ‘thumb anchor points’ in place, the rest of the fingering flows and feels very natural. Give that a try and let me know what you think.
I created the followed document which outlines LH and RH fingerings for all major scales, and also has some tips to help to memorise the finger patterns (as many keys follow the exact same fingerings).
Check out the PDF download here if you haven’t already:
Major Scale Fingerings.pdf (3.8 MB)
Use this PDF as a guide and perhaps tweak it in places if you have a preference of finger to start on.
It’s worth noting the some jazz musicians invented their own unique fingerings for scales. Thelonious Monk being one of the more famous examples with his very unorthodox fingering technique for scales and arpeggios.
Let me know if the black key tip helps and I can create more lessons on this area if needed. I’m currently beefing up some of the beginner courses on the website and I can certainly add more instruction and guidance on fingering technique.
Hi Hayden,
The black key fingering tip helps.
Do you have tips about how to learn the minor keys? I don’t see a fingering chart for minor keys.
Grant
Brilliant, I’m glad the black key tip helped Grant.
Would it be useful to create a similar document to this one but for minor scales?
Major Scale Fingerings.pdf (3.8 MB)
For minor scales we have:
Many of these scales follow the exact same fingering as the major scales so i will find the best way to turn this into an exhaustive but also succinct document.
