Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Pianist Corner Why do people press black keys with multiple fingers?

Damn, I wish post titles could be longer. What I mean is that I've often noticed how world-class pianists will sometimes use three or even four fingers at the same time to press a single key, usually a black one. At first I thought it was to give their fortissimo more strength than would be possible with one finger, but they seem to do it even when they play softer dynamics. And often you can notice they play it with one finger first and then just rest the other fingers on top of the same key, which means those extra fingers aren't actually doing anything useful! Watch at 2:03 how famous Youtube pianist Kyle Landry presses the F# with the 4th finger and then rests the 5th finger on top of it for no apparent reason: https://youtu.be/ppxlu2kIJlg?t=121, and at 2:08 he presses the same F# with his 3rd finger and rests the 4th and 5th on it after the key is already fully depressed.

This is an entirely different case than for example Anna Fedorova's switching her 4th finger with the 3rd finger on the A# at 3:10 : https://youtu.be/rEGOihjqO9w?t=186 , which I believe was done so she could more easily reach the D# further down with her 5th finger. Since Kyle Landry takes his hand off from all the notes after he uses the multiple fingers, it was clearly not done to facilitate playing the next keys.

Then Fedorova hits a G# in the bass with no less than three fingers at 4:04 : https://youtu.be/rEGOihjqO9w?t=241 . "It's an intense passage, certainly this must be done to allow for a stronger quality to the sound", I thought.

But then she does it again with the A# and G# at 4:32 (three and two fingers respectively) in a pretty soft passage. https://youtu.be/rEGOihjqO9w?t=270 . I'm stumped at this point.

Fedorova is not the only one I've seen doing this, I've noticed this behavior on several professional classical pianists. I reckon Kyle Landry is not among those, but he stated he's been playing the piano hours per day ever since he was a child for 10 years, and that he just follows his instincts for fingerings and such. So could this multiple fingers business be a case of misdirected instincts, to go beyond what is actually necessary?

I think it's merely a case of comfort. I often do the same for black key octaves. Feels more solid. I'd assume this is more common with people with larger hands.

Fingering is pretty individual, and depends on the pianist's own anatomy - the size, shape and flexibility of his wrists, hands and fingers - and what feels 'natural' to him.

There are no hard and fast rules with fingering. Any rules that exist are figments of the imagination, and are meant to be broken .

BTW, just because the composer wrote fingerings in, doesn't mean that we have to - or even should - follow them. If he plays with three fingers on one note, that's his prerogative; yours is to play with as many fingers as you deem necessary - no more, and certainly no less........

To keep from falling off. Or for umph.

There is also what I call "splinting," lapping 3 over 2 and using both fingertips on a black key. I don't think anybody else uses that term. It's a great, if rarely used, technique for nailing the notes at the end of Debussy's Les collines d'Anacapri, for instance. Or for security on quiet, exposed notes.

Sometimes I use splinting on isolated white keys.

First of all, create the effect unison of two or more votes:

https://arioso7.wordpress.com/2011/...ward-wrist-and-hand-rotation-two-videos/ - start of third bar. B.Bartok specifically wrote it in notes .

I do that too for several reasons:
- To prevent slipping which is a frequent problem for me
- To feel more secure about hitting the notes (I have very small fingertips so black notes can be risky
- To help me relax the other fingers and avoid unnecessary tension

What? I don't understand anything. Did you perhaps reply to the wrong thread?

Not votes but voices; I hope it is clear now!

I have these problems too, especially with the 5th finger of my left hand!