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I don't know if this is super common or not, but I often play two notes that are right next to each other with the same finger. This is particularly when they are part of a large chord.
I think it is OK. I do that too with really huge chords because I have small hands. Occasionally I have even seen editions where they recommend this "trick" with huge chords.
I think this is more accurately described as the thumb on two notes. Are there any other specific examples of using another finger on two notes? Maybe very rarely the fifth finger on two notes, but I can't recall any specific examples.
No true idiosyncrasies I am aware of. I tend to use whole hand positions, i. e. all five fingers working, instead of moving the hand to use the stronger fingers. This is probably a consequence of doing mostly improvisation, where time restriction prohibits devising the optimal solutions essential for playing pieces. This is laziness, not idiosyncrasy, and for me it doesn't matter that much anyway.
I guess this is the most common approach, choosing fingerings which are just based on the facility they allow. But sometimes people make fingering choices for artistic purposes - like Liszt using 2-4 for thirds, or at the end of Rachmaninoff's D minor etude from op.39, where the left hand ascending melody is played only with the thumb. I've never consciously picked a fingering for a purpose like that, though I'm interested if anybody else has done that before?
The Schnabel edition of the Beethoven Sonatas is supposedly filled with tons of examples of Schnabel choosing fingering that appears awkward to facilitate some musical idea. I think Beethoven did this in the fingering for a passage in one of his early Sonatas, perhaps the A major from Op. 2. It's a famous example because he rarely wrote any fingering in at all.
I think perhaps the notion that choosing a fingering for musical purposes is separate/opposite from choosing a fingering based on facility is incorrect. Assuming one is always wanting a passage to sound the best from a musical point of view, the example you gave of using only the thumb on a left hand passage might be the easiest fingering to achieve the musical idea.
I don't know if this is super common or not, but I often play two notes that are right next to each other with the same finger. This is particularly when they are part of a large chord.
I think it is OK. I do that too with really huge chords because I have small hands. Occasionally I have even seen editions where they recommend this "trick" with huge chords.
I think this is more accurately described as the thumb on two notes. Are there any other specific examples of using another finger on two notes? Maybe very rarely the fifth finger on two notes, but I can't recall any specific examples.
That sort of thing happens quite frequently in Ravel's music.
Well, it's obviously varied depending on the situation, but I have noticed some habits. I too tend to use 1-5 for all octaves, unless the piece calls for a very legato approach. I also like to use the same finger on the repeated notes, but this usually occurs when the tempo is slow. For something like the Ravel Toccata, I would alternate.
I also don't usually like to divide things between my hands unless I have to. I have been learning the Prelude to Le Tombeau de Couperin and the edition I use has many parts fingered to split the melody between hands, and I found myself altering much of it (but still using some splits).
I don't know if this is super common or not, but I often play two notes that are right next to each other with the same finger. This is particularly when they are part of a large chord.
I think it is OK. I do that too with really huge chords because I have small hands. Occasionally I have even seen editions where they recommend this "trick" with huge chords.
I think this is more accurately described as the thumb on two notes. Are there any other specific examples of using another finger on two notes? Maybe very rarely the fifth finger on two notes, but I can't recall any specific examples.
That sort of thing happens quite frequently in Ravel's music.
One of the hardest things for me in Jeux d'Eau was the fingering of the clusters of notes in the A Major theme that appears towards the beginning, and then towards the end but over more octaves. The fingering itself makes complete sense, but the execution is difficult because two clusters are played with 4-5 and 2-3 and the next with the thumb itself. I had a tough time keeping the 4-5 and 2-3 notes from separating.
Last edited by didyougethathing; 01/03/1301:46 AM.
I always change fingers on repeated notes unless it is impossible.
I can understand -and agree- in rapid passages, but in slowish music such as the F minor section from the Andante of the Mozart K330? Changing fingers in the left hand is counter-productive and the resultant thumping tends to challenge the melody above. IMO it is totally unnecessary to do so there. (It is a piece I know very well, and my piano teacher certainly never recommended it.)
In my right hand I trill better with 35 than 23. I don't know why.
Could be one of your fingers gets stuck in the "up" or "down" position, and isn't timed right with the other finger. Do you trill better with 13 and 24 than 23? That would be a strong indicator that it's a coordination issue.
Every day we are afforded a new chance. The problem with life is not that you run out of chances. In the end, what you run out of are days.
I'll change fingers on a couple of repeated notes in fast passage work, but if its a long string of them like in Appassionata (or if its a lyrical melody like in 4th Ballade) then I won't change.
In my right hand I trill better with 35 than 23. I don't know why.
Could be one of your fingers gets stuck in the "up" or "down" position, and isn't timed right with the other finger. Do you trill better with 13 and 24 than 23? That would be a strong indicator that it's a coordination issue.
Well, it's not like I can't trill well with 23, but 35 seems more consistently obedient.
Ah, the D-flat at ms.130 (I felt like listening to your Appassionata -you did a very fine job). This reminds me of a most illustrious example of that gimmick.
Out of curiosity, why did you use the fist? I don't think it is of particular advantage there. In ABM's case I suspect it was merely for tone control.
Because I found it gave me the best balance of power and accuracy, that's all. I wouldn't say it was a gimmick, I wouldn't have done it if there wasn't a good reason.
You're right, "gimmick" was not the best choice of word. In fact I do believe that the relationship with the instrument is so individual that "if it works it is good" is the best philosophy to follow.
In my right hand I trill better with 35 than 23. I don't know why.
Could be one of your fingers gets stuck in the "up" or "down" position, and isn't timed right with the other finger. Do you trill better with 13 and 24 than 23? That would be a strong indicator that it's a coordination issue.
Well, that's food for thought. I've always preferred trilling with non-adjacent fingers but I've never thought about why I avoid adjacent ones. I'm going to have to pay attention and see if you suggestion is the reason. Thanks!
When the hand is stretched, I am almost always using 4 where everyone else uses 3, even though I can reach with 3. For example, chords that look like C Ab C (going up) are all done with 145. I also try to trill with 34 everywhere, because I can :P
There's this rising chromatic scale at the beginning of the recap of Beethoven's Waldstein sonata, first movement, that I finger as 4-5-4-5 a la Chopin...hahaha.
Working on: Chopin - Nocturne op. 48 no.1 Debussy - Images Book II
There's this rising chromatic scale at the beginning of the recap of Beethoven's Waldstein sonata, first movement, that I finger as 4-5-4-5 a la Chopin...hahaha.
