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Playing Scales On The Piano Using Thumb Under and Thumb Over Methods

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I used to hate practicing scales. I didn’t think they sounded as nice as a playing song would, so I avoided practicing scales as much as possible. Scales are actually a very important part of acquiring piano technique and thus improving your ability to learn and play music quickly.

Scales and arpeggios are the most basic of piano passages. Despite their importance, the most important method for playing them are usually not taught at all.

There are two main ways to play a scale. The first is the very well-known “thumb under” method and the second is of course the “thumb over” method. With the thumb under method, the thumb is brought under the hand to pass the third or fourth finger. The thumb over method treats the fingers like the four other fingers, making the motion much simpler. Both of these methods are required to effectively play a scale, but each is needed differently. Using the thumb over method helps facilitate fast, technically difficult passages, while the thumb under method uses slow, legato passages, or when certain notes need to be held while others are being played.

Throughout history, several piano teachers had no idea about the thumb over method. This caused a lot of problems as long as students did not progress to advanced levels. With the right amount of effort and work, it’s actually possible to play fairly difficult passages using the thumb under method. Even some very accomplished pianists think that the thumb under method is optimal. This is because they have subconsciously learned how to effectively use the thumb under method in such a way that it works as well as the thumb over method.

This modification is very important because it is physically impossible to play such rapid scales using the thumb under method. And so, it is very important for students to begin to learn the thumb over method as soon as they have achieved the novice stage and before the thumb under habit becomes ingrained in too many passages that should be played using the thumb over method.

A lot of students begin playing slowly and then ramping up their speed. They can get by using the thumb under method at slow speeds while consequently acquiring the thumb under habit. They then find out that as the get up to speed, they need to use the thumb over method.

This change can be difficult, frustrating, and time consuming to master because of the strong, developed habit of using thumb under. In fact, the thumb under motion is one of the most common causes of speed walls and flubs. Once the thumb over method has been learned, the student should always become used to playing runs except when the thumb under method presents better results.

The main muscles for the thumb lie in the forearm, just the same as with the other four fingers, but the thumb has other muscles in the hand that are used for moving the thumb sideways with the thumb under method. Therefore, using those extra muscles for the thumb under method makes it a much more complicated motion, which can in turn result in more mistakes.

Teachers who teach the thumb over method claim that for those who exclusively use the thumb under method, 90% of their mistakes actually originate from the thumb under method.

Elise’s Musical Tip For The Day:

You can actually demonstrate the disadvantage of the thumb under method by experiencing the loss of thumb motion with its “tucked-in” position. To do this, first stretch your fingers out. All of your fingers, including the thumb should have mobility up an downward. Wiggle your thumb up and down rapidly. You’ll notice that the thumb can move about 3 or 4 centimeters vertically quite easily and without rotating your forearm. Now, gradually move your thumb underneath your hand while keeping up the rapid wiggling motion. As it goes under your hand, it loses much vertical motion until it actually becomes immobile and almost paralyzed as it likes underneath the middle finger. The muscles that are used when your thumb is underneath your hand are much more clumsy in mobility, which is making mistakes with the thumb under method is very common.

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