Music: Practice & Theory Stack Exchange is a question and answer site for musicians, students, and enthusiasts. It only takes a minute to sign up.
Sign up to join this community
I notice that a lot of people recommend playing a G root position dominant 7th chord in the left hand with the fingers 5, 3, 2, 1. But to me, 5, 4, 2, 1 is more comfortable.
Is it considered "bad" practice to play root position dominant 7th chords this way? Is there a reason the fingerings 5, 3, 2, 1 seem to be played more often than 5, 4, 2, 1?
One source to refer to is Cooke, Mastering the Scales and Arpeggios:
Cooke uses the fingering 5-4-2-1 for a root position dominant seventh chord in the left hand.
One reason to use 4 instead of 3 on the third of the chord (B natural for G7 in C major) is it leaves the third finger free to "C" for common chord changes like G7 to C.
Another resource for scales and arpeggios: Knott, Scale and Arpeggio Manual.
...Part II has the chord materials. Knott seems to use the third finger as standard, however that part starts with a discussion about how to choose between the 4th and 3rd fingers in the left hand. Essentially, choose the finger physically closest to the piano key to play.
A long time ago a professional pianist recommended to me: Cortot, Rational Principles of Piano Technique.
That edition is in Italian, I can't find an English version online. At any rate, page 86 has this figure:
...although the clef is treble I believe the finger numbering above the staff are right hand and those below are left hand.
Those are probably the two most viable options. I suppose you are playing in root position, pinky on G. The following chord, 9 times out of 8, will be C in some form, and if one wants to play a second inversion of it, it's easier to keep pinky on that G, and then with 5 3 2 1, there's two fingers to lift to play C and E, whereas with 5 4 2 1, there's a 5 3 1 option for the C triad. But, really, the matter is fairly insignificant, and will hinge more on each individual's hand, and fingering disposition.
