"Moonlight" sonata fingering

Question

I noticed there is a similar post here:

Strange fingering in "Moonlight" sonata

but that does not answer my question. I can't even play the first triplet.

I use finger 5 to play and hold the uppermost D#. Finger 1 on the lowermost D#. But then I find I can't use finger 2 and 3 to play the F# and G#.

My hands are kind of smaller than normal people. Don't know if that's only my problem. How do you people play this?

I've got another problem here in the figure above. This one I am sure is not my problem only. How to play the fourth triplet? My solution is to play the A and B both by the thumb (with pedal). Is that the standard way?

Answer 1

The two D#s you're playing with thumb and pinky. With small hands, one way to play the F# and G# if you cannot reach with index and middle, is to play D# with the tip of the thumb and the F# with the base of the thumb,and G# with index, leaving the top D# sounding with pinky on it still. It means putting your hand further away from you, so you're pressing the black keys further along them than usual. That keeps it all legato.

Another is to flick the index from playing F# to G#. It's a little less smooth than Ludwig intended, but it works, given that the top D# carries on sounding, along with the left hand chord. Not ideal, and a little unorthodox, but we have to do the best we can with what we have.

Answer 2

You should be using the sustain pedal, so you don't need to keep your 5th finger on the upper D# the whole time.

For the second one, yes, using 1 for both the A and B is standard.

Answer 3

For the second one,

I use my left hand to play the B. It sacrifices the bass after the pedal change, but given the phrase is getting brighter at the that point - I think it's a worthy exchange for the legato.