Introduction to Piano Fingers

October 4th, 2009

Piano Hands

Where do I place my fingers on the keys? How do I know if I’m doing it right? What’s the best position? Curled or flat fingers?

These are just a few of the common questions that many piano players wonder when they find themselves struggling to make sense of a piece and position their hands and fingers to play the notes. In most beginner books, the fingering is shown in each piece to help guide students for later levels and also to help improve finger/muscle dexterity and motions.

Since everyone has their own idea about finger positions, there are no real “rules” about where and how to use them to play the piano keys. Different people have large hands, small hands, short fingers, long fingers… and so even these physical characteristics create differences in finger positioning.

One overall rule you can follow: The fingers should be in the most relaxed and powerful positions possible. Here’s a small exercise you can follow to test this:

1. Make a tight first.

2. Open your fingers and stretch them as far out as you can.

3. Relax your fingers (still stretched outward but without your forced stretching).

4. Place your hand on a flat surface with all of your fingertips resting on the surface, with your wrist being at the same height as your knuckles.

5. Notice anything? Your hand should be forming a dome-like shape. Because your fingers are relaxed and not stretched, they tend to curve a little bit.

6. Your thumb should be pointing slightly downward and bending just slightly toward your fingers so your thumb is parallel to your other fingers.

7. Many people don’t notice, but they tend to position their thumb slightly outward, away from the other fingers. It’s very important to keep the thumb parallel to the other fingers when playing chords and wide spans because you are less likely to hit adjacent keys. It also positions the thumb so the right muscles are used to raise and lower your thumb.

8. Your fingers should be slightly curled downward and meeting the piano keys at angle (approximately 45 degrees). This is very important, because it allows your fingers to play the black keys.

9. Look at all of your fingertips in this position. They should trace an approximate semi circle, from your pinky to your thumb.

10. This is an ideal starting position for playing the piano. Obviously, as you gain more experience and advance to higher levels, you can modify it to suit your own playing style.

11. When you place both hands in this position, side by side, your thumbnails should be facing each other. You can use the part of the thumb directly below the thumbnail to press the keys (as opposed to the joint).

12. Your other fingers contain a bone that comes very close to the outer skin of your fingertips. Inside the fingertip (away from the fingernail), your flesh will be slightly thicker. This fleshy part of your fingers should come in contact with the piano keys, not the fingertip itself.

Elise’s Musical Tip For The Day:

This exercise is just a really simple one to familiarize yourself with the mechanisms of your own hands. They are just suggested starting positions, but as you begin to play, these rules will most definitely change and even fly right out the window after some time. Depending on a lot of things (speed, dynamics, key combinations, and so on) you may need to stretch your fingers straighter or curl them even more. Again, this all depends on your personal style and what you are playing.

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