Changing position (on piano) with fifth finger

Question

The two images below show an exercise set I was contemplating practicing. The fingering is my own and would focus a lot on changing position with the fifth finger for the part playing eighth-notes. I thought the fingering could be used in all keys.

Is there anything about this exercise that would be harmful or counter-productive? Could it risk tendon strain, or is it contrary to standard piano methods? Am I overlooking a more typical fingering?

I can't find a good method book with these kinds of running eighth-note figures in all keys. This exercise is my own attempt to make one. But, I don't want to use it if it's bad technique.

Answer 1

It is not the exercise nor fingering that can cause tendon strain, it is how you use your arm (or elbow) to place the fingers where you want them. It is how much weight you leave or press into the keybed after you strike the notes. It is about whether or not you play with tendon straining flat fingers or with curved fingers with a slight forward shift with a forearm shape. It is contingent upon whether or not you twist your wrist (ulnar deviation, radial deviation).

In other words, driving a car doesn't wear out the tires. Driving a car with poor alignment wears out the tires. Driving a car with a bend in the frame wears out the tires. What is "right" can still be very wrong.

Answer 2

This is a good exercise and not harmful. Finger patterns like this are common.

"The Virtuoso Pianist" by Hanon is full of exercises like these. It's been a standard exercise book for a long time.

Answer 3

If the first example came up in a piece, you'd probably break the finger pattern in a different place (A or B in my example).

But a comprehensive set of exercises will include stretching all the finger pairs (C might have been one of your first exercises), and a one note stretch is hardly excessive except for very small hands. For instance, a standard LH fingering for the C major arpeggio is 5421 (D).

Answer 4

I recommend against exercises that focus so heavily on expanding between 4-5 and 3-5. Stretching between 3-5 and 4-5 is prone to stressing the tendons across the top of the hand and tends to promote twisting laterally at the wrist, which can also lead to tendon and muscle irritation. Although music sometimes demands 3-5 or 4-5 stretches, an exercise that repeats them frequently I would stay away from.^*

In the setting of a piece of music, it is rarely necessary to shift positions using 3-5 or 4-5. Encountering that situation would always prompt me to look to find a better option.

The contraction exercises are less risky, but here, too, there's typically a better fingering option.

Were I to encounter in a piece the proposed exercise patterns, my most likely fingerings would be:

1. 4-3-2-4 3-2-1-2 or 5-4-3-5 4-3-1-3
2. 5-3-4-3 2-3-4-1 or 4-2-3-2 1-2-3-1
3. 3-2-3-2 4-3-2-1
4. 4-3-2-1 2-3-4-1

Position shifting aside, there are times when one does need to expand between 3-5 and 4-5. To design exercises, I would create patterns that open the entire hand. This tends to flatten the hand, which naturally expands the space between those fingers while also shortening the difference in distance to the keyboard. (One of the core issues is that 5 is so much shorter than 4 or 3. The difference is mitigated by a flatter hand.)

Here are right-hand exercises I might consider. The same principles could be applied to the left hand.

X: 1
T: 3-5 / 2-5 Expansion Exercise
M: 4/4
K: C
L: 1/8
"1"C"3"G"5"c"2"G "5"d"3"A"1"D"3"A | EBeB fcFc |

X: 1
T: 3-5 / 4-5 Expansion Exercise
M: 4/4
K: C
L: 1/8
CBcA dBAB | B,ABG cAGA |

X: 1
T: 4-5 Expansion Exercise
M: 4/4
K: C
L: 1/8
CBdB Dcec | Edfd Fege |

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^* _{Hanon does includes these expansions, but there are two key differences: 1) Hanon allows for the hand to contract after each expansion, and 2) the expansions go from shorter finger to longer finger, which is less stressing than the reverse.}