Hot answers tagged fingering
14
Memorizing your scales accomplishes at least these four things:
Trains your fingers to play common patterns found in music. There are a lot of scales in music. They're just so satisfying, why not write them?
They can be a controlled environment for practicing other techniques, such as playing fast, playing in octaves, and playing fast in octaves.
It trains ...
11
Using the 4-th alternatively with the 5-th on black keys is mainly done for the following reason: legato, especially on semitone steps of the scale.
On the right hand, you have better control of the transition to and volume of the higher note of the octave which is the more important for the tone and the listener. You can do smoother scales that way.
By ...
9
Short answer: the fingering can be the problem, but there are other possibilities, one of which is finger placement.
Congratulation for your study of the soprano recorder. Hope you are having fun.
-> The fingering you show in your question is a typical fingering for a baroque soprano recorder.
I presume you have a baroque/english-model recorder because ...
9
I think the key is muscle memory. The only way to improve this is by specific repetitive movements. In your question you state: "quick interchanging between my 2 and 3rd finger." Presumably there is a song you are working on that requires this, so the part you are having trouble with, do that move over and over again until you no longer have a problem doing ...
8
Major 7th Voicings
These are some GM7 chords; move them around as needed.
Edit: Just in case it wasn't already clear, by "move them around as needed", I mean if you ever find yourself in a situation where you want to play a chord with a different root than G (I know, seems unlikely, but you never know), just move the chord shapes up and down the neck until ...
8
There's nothing wrong with starting on the third finger. I would think most people would be taught it that way, because then it's consistent with the fingering you would use as you go up an octave (i.e., if you start on A♭4 you should play A♭5 with the third finger).
Some pianists might start with the second finger on the right hand, however. The ...
8
Naturally, someone with small fingers won't be able to make the larger reaches in some pieces. Some stretches aren't reachable even by people with average size hands. Not every piece is for everyone. In particular there are some Bach, Beethoven and Rachmaninoff pieces requiring stretches of an octave or more (though I couldn't tell you which ones ...
8
You should do whatever it takes to improve your practice and thus performance of the piece. In almost all cases, this means gratuitous writing and penciling of all accidentals and missed notes and fingerings. If it will ever help you, write it down. Your goal is not having something be easy to read or being clean: your goal is to play it perfectly. If that ...
8
I am not an expert in human physiology, but I believe the constraint you describe is completely normal. I think it has something to do with a shared tendon? Needless to say, my hands behave the same way. You should be able to lift the fourth finger higher if you raise the pinky at the same time, yes?
What I do know about human physiology is that each joint ...
8
They are assuming you are using finger 4 on the top D#.
The reason to switch from 2-1 is that if you ended up with 3rd finger on the G# and 4th finger on D# above, it is too far of a stretch. If you are playing the high D# with 5th finger it won't feel so uncomfortable, but then you can't connect the melody notes with finger legato. The finger switch ...
7
Altissimo is just a name for notes above what is (or used to be, at least) considered higher than the "normal" range of the instrument. Most saxophones can play up to written F or F-sharp above the treble staff normally just by using side keys that open tone holes farther up the saxophone to make the air column shorter along with the octave vent opening. ...
7
The barre chords are a hurdle for the beginner, and only become easier with practice. The strat should not be an issue; I play barre chords on an acoustic strung with .013 - .056 and fairly high action - much more resistance than you're likely to have. (I've also been doing it for 40 years...as I say, practice).
Some people wrap their thumb around the neck ...
7
Wherever possible you should be trying to use a finger per fret, in the case of the B chord in your picture your fingering is wrong.
Your index finger should be barring from the A string on the second fret (B note), with your ring finger covering the D,G,B strings on the 4th fret.
The you should strum the chord from the A string, if you are having trouble ...
7
EXCELLENT question!
The answer actually rather like "Why does stopped french horn sound up a half step when closing the bell lowers my tuning?"
Horn players routinely adjust their hand position to close or open the bell of the instrument, thereby changing the tuning. When they need to adjust themselves down, they close the bell, and when they need to ...
6
It sounds to me like you're playing the white keys too far in. If you back up a little, your third finger will be reaching forward ahead of your index finger and there should be no rubbing.
Since the black keys are raised, this should actually help you play more smoothly as well. If you play in too far, the distance your fingers have to reach for the ...
6
There are six canonical two-octave major scale fingerings for guitar, three with the root on the E-string and three with the root on the A-string, and they come in pairs---meaning, each root-on-E-string scale is paired with an root-on-A-string scale. You'll see what I mean in a moment.
Here are the root-on-E-string scales, in the key of A:
Pattern 1 ...
6
These arpeggios are very irregular, which does not help your case. If you're not convinced that your ideas for fingering are the best for you, I'd suggest getting a few different editions of the music and seeing what the editors suggest. IMSLP has 2 editions freely available online here; the score submitted by Feldmahler has suggested fingerings.
These ...
6
With experience and practice, you won't think about the order in which you place fingers for a chord like this. You'd place all your fingers at the same time.
In the meantime, I would tend towards 1-2-3-4 -- your stronger first two fingers can anchor the hand before you place the other two.
6
Thumb on C, second finger on Db, fifth finger on C. You need a wide hand for that, and the ability to stretch almost an octave from the 2nd to 5th finger. Playing both notes with the thumb seems awkward because of the way the thumb has to bend for it. If you can't reach all 3 notes, try it leaving out one of the notes and see which two notes sound best.
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6
It is certainly acceptable to play notes in various ways - whether or not the conductor wants you to do that is up to him, but you should certainly be able to get higher volume by using two strings.
Not sure what you mean by 'sacrifice assurance' - if you are worried about your position, you should just look at where you are moving to after this not. If it ...
5
Music is not like sports, where a 5-foot-tall basketball player or 7-foot-tall jockey will have difficulty making money at it.
With small hands and short fingers probably won't be asked to play the Rachmaninoff concerti with the Berlin Philharmonic, but let's face it, how many of us ARE asked to play the Rachminoff concerti with the Berlin Philharmonic?
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5
4-2-3-1 or 3-1-4-2 repeated should do it. The second might be a little easier due to the placement of the sharps.
That's if you want to use only your right hand, though! The left's not doing anything so you might as well take advantage of it. Something like the below:
4
I would suggest barring your index finger across the 9th fret, and use your middle and ring fingers for the other notes, until you reach the last 5 notes. Move your index finger to the 8th fret of the B string, and then use your ring, middle, then index finger on the 12th, 10th, and 9th fret respectively on the D string.
Hope this helps! :)
4
In jazz, guitarists often use shorthand chords when comping, which are four-note basic Barre chords that usually use the 7th or can be easily modified to add the 6th, major-7th, flatted/normal/sharp 9th, flatted/raised 5th, etc.
For instance:
G7
which is played with the middle finger performing the barre on the third fret, and the ring-finger pressing ...
4
You should be able to lay all major/minor chords in first inversion as 5-3-1 (or 1-3-5 in the right hand). In most cases, F# Major included, doing anything else will generally cramp your fingers and make it harder to play.
The A# one could alternatively be played 4-2-1. This might help if you're having trouble stretching with your pinky to the black key.
4
The opening of the Sarabande, Bach Cello Suite No.2 has a D written to be played on both the D and the G string simultaneously, so Bach seems to have thought it was OK - this is not for volume but colour. Some editions call for the D to be played using 1st finger, others 2nd finger, but it doesn't seem to diminish the quality of the open D string. It is ...
4
There's no such thing as finger independence(read finger equality most of the time). All our fingers are different, and they're all connected too! For instance, would you ever expect any of your fingers to match your thumb in strength? Or take your index finger and press it to your palm. Your other fingers will move as well.
The key to evenness and ...
3
There are a ton of scales in classical music. They tend to be hidden, though, with only a few notes at a time. Take, for example, Mozart's Rondo alla Turca: It's main theme has a snippet of a scale, and its middle section is almost entirely made up of scales. The 3rd movement of Beethoven's Moonlight sonata has brief runs to build up tension. Bach's ...
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