Is it "legal" to use your thumb to press down two keys when making a chord? Do you know any works where this is actually intended? I'm learning a Brahms piece that seems to call for this but it's at least as likely that I'm just an idiot. Thanx all.

[ August 21, 2001: Message edited by: wghornsby ]

wghornsby,

I have recently been scanning and playing through "Morning Song" by Australian Composer, Kerin Bailey...
Being a jazz piece, it is only but LOGIC to use the "thumb on 2 keys technique"...when i say "only but logic", i mean that its the only easy way to hit each chord without hesitation....
in answer to your question, i think it is very necessary to use your thumb on 2 keys.

hope that helps a little..!?
P.S plus, who would notice and confront you for this technique...its very HARD to see?
but, a very good question all the same!

It is absolutely correct to use the thumb on 2 keys when the situation calls for it- even Chopin used this fingering. Fingerings are usually what works best for you and what is the most efficient, so using the thumb on 2 keys is logical. In many of Chopin's and Liszt's pieces for instance, I use the thumb on 2 keys when large, abstract chords call for it.

[ August 22, 2001: Message edited by: CrashTest ]

WGHornsby: Yes!

CrashTest: Absolutely!

There is a piece (I think the Prelude Op. 23 No. 4 by Rachmaninoff, but I don't remember for sure) which had a big chord, with C# and D on the bottom. The only way I found to play it was to use my thumb on D and the first knuckle of my thumb on the C#. This was a little awkward, and not terribly reliable, but it worked.

Oh there are a few pieces that call for it, Chopin's little A Major Prelude, his Scherzo in c# minor for starters.

Joe, I forgot about the place in the C# Scherzo. Maybe that's what I was thinking of. It's been a while since I played these...

Thanx everyone. I will now mash them down guilt-free!