One of my regrets is that I didn’t take the piano pedagogy course during my university studies. It conflicted with a shift that I had working in the library on campus, and I thought the few dollars a week were more important than a class that would have been extremely beneficial in the long term. Also, I had no intentions of becoming a full-time career piano teacher, but that’s another story.
Had I taken the course, I’m sure I would have learned a lot of what I had to figure out on my own over the years. Mostly through teaching, but maybe also through having to learn mountains of repertoire as part of my accompanying job, I figured out the reason for fingering in good editions – to signify a change of hand position from one 5-finger position to another. All of these hand position changes can be broken down into 5 categories:
Contractions – what I used to call “hand squishes” for my young students (I now use the correct term) – when, for example, in the RH you go from 3 on E to 1 on D, shifting your hand position up a semi-tone.
Shifts – while holding one note, change fingers.
Extensions – extending a finger beyond the 5-finger position, which will then pull the whole hand into another position.
Crossings – thumb under any of the other fingers, or any finger over the thumb.
Jumps – I guess this could technically be thought of as a large, leaping extension.
I haven’t seen any book that explains this better than Mary Gae George’s Artistry at the Piano Level 2 Musicianship book. Each of the first four fingering skills are mastered through keyboard patterns, then a series of short pieces. By the time the student is finished with a particular fingering skill, it will be firmly established in their brains and fingers. The Lesson that covers extensions also, logically, introduces triads and their inversions. The same book includes the introduction of syncopation, and legato pedalling, which is presented clearly and systematically.
This, along with its counterpart Repertoire book and Patterns for Piano by Jon George, has become one of my favourite teaching tools. It is the first book I think of when I have a transfer student who has had anywhere from 2-5 years of lessons. These gold-mines of books are available from Artistry Alliance.
I love these five categories of fingering skills. Thanks for this, LaDona. So much better than the “get ‘er done” technique that I used as a teenager
Wouldn’t it be interesting to create a set of exercises that are followed by Grade 2 Repertoire. I’m thinking of Mouse in the Coal Bin with Shifts and the Rameau Menuet with Contractions. Hmmm, something to think about.
Thanks for your comment, Anne. I didn’t have any systematic teaching of technique so I try to make it as organized and comprehensive as possible. If we only rely on learning skills from the repertoire, too much will get left behind. I look forward to seeing your new set of exercises for grade 2!!