Supporting Piano Education
Article written by Andrew Eales
In a previous article, I considered the importance of establishing a stable five-note hand position in the early stages of piano playing. There are many important reasons for doing so, which you can read about in my post here:
The importance of five-note hand positions
Let’s remind ourselves that teaching beginners to play in a stable five-note position has several important technical and musical benefits, and isn’t simply the construct of a book-based approach.
As I also explained, it is wise to use a range of different five-note positions, rather than locking into just one. This allows the player to experience major and minor tonality, and explore a growing range of the piano.
In this follow-up, I will consider the three most basic ways that we can begin to move beyond the five-note position. These form the basis of an effective fingering technique at elementary level:
- moving to a new position
- connecting with the thumb
- and stretching the hand.
These foundational techniques can be introduced as soon as the player is able to maintain a stable five-note hand position, and all appear in Piano Time 1, a method book I often use with children and have reviewed here.
I believe that learners should be encouraged to recognise, play around with, and understand these three strategies, which they can later use to create their own fingering alternatives as they progress.
Penelope Roskell’s Essential Piano Technique series covers these techniques in the Primer B and Level 1 books. This series provides wise insight and helpful material for developing the foundations of an efficient, healthy playing approach from beginner to late intermediate level.
Moving to a new position
Moving to a new position is likely to be introduced in the first lesson, simply hopping around the piano finding the notes and recognising the pattern of black and white keys. Early five-note pieces can also be attempted in different hand positions, for example by transposing to a different key, or moving hands an octave higher or lower.
Early in their learning, players might encounter pieces such as the famous Largo from Dvořák’s New World Symphony, which require movement to a new hand position between sections. And soon, using the written fingering in their music book, players will freely and happily move to new positions from one phrase to the next in pieces.
Piano Time 1 includes the wonderful piece Rainbow Jumps by Pauline Hall, which beautifully introduces crossing hands, the relaxed arm movement brought to life in the imagery of the title. This is another example of moving hand position, and a creative one which players always enjoy.
The development of hand-eye coordination is the key challenge for learners here. Nascent music memorisation is also needed, as the player will need to momentarily look away from the notation in order to gauge their position.
As larger jumps between positions are used, it is the forearm which leads the hand. Relaxed freedom of movement in the wrist, elbow and shoulder are all essential. This ultimately lays the foundation and paves the way for the large movements across the instrument needed in the advanced left hand patterns found in Chopin Waltzes and Joplin Rags.
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Connecting with the thumb
Transitioning from one hand position to another midway through a phrase by passing the thumb under the hand, or the fingers over the thumb, is routinely taught and practised with the use of scales and arpeggios, hardly needing further comment here.
The importance of scales in the development of effective fingering technique is so well understood that teachers will often introduce one very early in lessons, perhaps C major, or B major (which more neatly matches the reach of the young player’s fingers on the keys).
I think that it is useful to note that the function of scales in connecting one hand position to another within the same key is the main reason for their unique importance and technical value.
Playing the included hand positions as blocks of notes in each hand separately gives learners a clear sense of how they are then connected by the passing under of the thumb. This can help learners more quickly establish their recognition of the patterns involved in each key.
There are many other benefits to playing scales, which I have written about in detail in my article Why Bother With Scales?
Stretching the hand
In its relaxed, natural state, the hand will position itself on the piano keys playing five consecutive notes: the five-note position. However, as we know, the fingers can fan out, and thus stretch to accommodate larger intervals.
The thumb is particularly mobile in this regard, and as the hands grow to their mature size, most players can comfortably stretch an octave or more. However, introducing the interval of a sixth is a sensible starting point for this. Playing consecutive sixths in the hand is also a good way to incorporate wrist mobility and awareness of hand weight in early lessons.
I have long used Walter Carroll’s lovely The Little Brook for this (found in The Joy of Graded Piano Grade 1 book). The piece formerly appeared in Piano Time 1, but has been replaced there by the equally gorgeous Boti Waterfalls composed by William Chapman Nyaho, which is a very effective piece.
The first 20 exercises in Hanon’s The Virtuoso Pianist systematically explore the technique of stretching the hand to transition position, using every combination imaginable. Rather than forcing our way through these studies, I find it more useful to encourage players to focus on just one, playing slowly, and in a variety of keys.
It is important to note that stretching the hand away from a five-note shape can involve contracting the hand as well as expanding it.
An example of such contraction is found in the established fingering of the chromatic scale. The three-note broken chord pattern uses both contraction and expansion, and though sadly no longer included in the ABRSM scales syllabus, remains a critically important exercise..
I have previously explained how arpeggios help players develop precision playing all available stretches of minor 3rd, major 3rd, and perfect 4th. You can read more about this here.
Principles of written fingering
Fingering suggestions given in sheet music will generally assume that the player understands the stable five-note position, so imply consecutive fingers for consecutive notes unless an alternative is suggested. This is one of the main reasons why the stable hand position is an educational priority for piano players.
Written fingering suggestions also assume that the player will understand and be able to proceed effectively from one hand position to another by moving position, connecting with the thumb, and stretching. Finger numbers are included to guide these transitions, facilitating a natural technique. They are never a guide to pitch, which must be read independently.
Once we have assimilated and can apply these basic principles of fingering technique, we can also work out effective fingering strategies of our own when none have been included in the notation, or when the options shown on the score don’t suit our individual hand shape.
There are many other, more advanced fingering techniques which the player will learn at intermediate level, such as finger substitution, alternating fingers on repeated notes, crossing fingers other than the thumb, playing two notes simultaneously with the thumb, executing glissandos, and so on. I think that it is perhaps a mistake to introduce these too early.
Developing core piano playing skills empowers us to embrace the pathway of progress with confidence, and with a framework for successfully forming a free and natural piano technique. With these foundations in place, we can reach more effectively towards our musical goals, shaping phrases with care, and playing with finesse and beauty.
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