Piano fingering for basic triads in B flat major

Question

I'm trying to re-train my hand to use better fingerings. Recently I looked at my fingering for something very basic: primary triads.

I want to adapt the fingering for all 24 keys and both hands.

I think my fingering for C major is straight forward. That same fingering seems to work in B flat major too, but I also tried an alternate fingering. C major and alternate B flat fingerings are...

...a few details about how I am approaching things:

• C major, bar 4, I keep my finger 5 on the G for the first note and sort of contract my thumb (1) in for the C. Is that kind of shift in position OK or standard? It seems better to hold 5 on G from bars 3 to 4, get the rest of my finger on the C chord, and then switch to 4 on the G. Better to contract my hand than to reach finger 4.
• Bb major, bar 1 to 2, thumb on a black key is sometimes avoided, but in this case 1 and 3 are both on black keys in bar 1 so the hand is sort of pulled up onto the black keys together, then in bar 2 fingers 3 and 5 drop down to white keys pulling away from the black keys, I then switch to finger 2 for the Bb, because it naturally reaches the black key easier that the thumb.
• Bb major, bar 4, last note, I push my hand in a bit to get 1 onto the Bb, it a little awkward, but it gets my hand back into position for the repeat and the Eb chord. Keeping finger 2 on the Bb and then trying to reach 5 up to the G of the Eb chord seem an even more awkward option to avoid.

I'm trying to find economical fingerings that fit the hand well.

Some aspects of these fingers feel a little unnatural. If I'm not concentrating, I might use other fingers. But, I can't really tell if that is simply old habits taking over versus bad fingerings.

I'm willing to put in the time to re-train, but don't want to devote that time to bad fingerings.

Am I headed down the path of bad fingering?

Answer 1

Whenever you are trying to find the best fingerings, I recommend you try to play the line/phrase with moving your hand as LITTLE as possible. For the first four bars, I think in the 2nd chord in the 2nd measure, you should play the fingering (top to bottom) 5-3-2. This will give you the least move into the next chord.

For the last four bars, they are almost perfect. This is optional but I like to use this fingering to keep my and from moving too much. So, in the first chord of the second measure of the last four bars, I recommend using the fingering 5-3-1 and the next chord 5-3-2.

I hope that helps!

Answer 2

Am I headed down the path of bad fingering?

No. The fingerings presented are fine, and appropriate considerations have been made in constructing them.

Here are some additional ideas toward this or some future exercise.

• The "canonical" fingerings for close-position triads in all keys are: 1) root position = RH: 1-3-5; LH: 5-3-1; first inversion = RH: 1-2-5; LH: 5-3-1; second inversion = RH: 1-3-5; LH: 1-2-5. These are the hand positions that are traditionally drilled into piano students as they learn the basic triads.
• In the OP key of C, measure 4, I would prefer 5-1-3-1 over 5-1-2-1 in the first half of the measure. That allows me play it as well as the previous and subsequent chords shifting only my thumb. 5, 3, and 2 remain "dedicated" to G, E, and D, respectively, which I find more economical.
• In the second Bb measure, I prefer 1-2-4 to 2-3-5. It fits my hand better, but it's easy to see why a different hand shape/size would find 2-3-5 best.
• Using 1 on the very final note, for the reasons given in the OP, I agree with entirely. It is slightly awkward, but it's the best option given the return to G.