Right Hand Fingering Tips
The main rule is to use whichever fingers feel most comfortable, using different fingers, so that you minimise the movement of your hand.
- Definitely try to avoid the ‘1 finger’ playing style, which means your hand is moving around a lot and makes it hard to play smoothly and limits development of your piano playing
Song lyrics are often written in lines and the melody of a line of lyrics can often be considered to be ‘a phrase’. Usually in the right hand part, your thumb would play the lowest note in a particular phrase and your little finger (finger 5) would play the highest note. If you are unable to reach a note, then you need to move your hand to a new position, with the minimal movement of your hand being the key objective.
The video lessons for Amazing Grace (in the online course) demonstrate how this is done.
For example, the first phrase in the melody of Amazing Grace is 5 1 3 1 3 2 1 6 5
so I would recommend the following fingering:-
5 first finger (thumb)
6 second finger
1 third finger (middle finger)
2 fourth finger
3 fifth finger (little finger)
Left Hand Fingering Tips
The main rule is to use whichever fingers feel most comfortable, but the recommended left hand fingering for chords is:-
little finger, middle finger and thumb
eg for chord 1, little finger plays note 1, middle finger note 3 and thumb note 5.
It is best to keep the same fingering for all chords, so your ‘muscle memory’ learns the ‘chord shape’ quicker.
If you have difficulty playing the recommended fingering, it is ok to use alternative fingers eg middle finger, second finger and thumb. It is usually best to use your thumb for the top note in the chord, to avoid putting unnecessary strain on your hand.