reznet
09-23-2006, 02:26 AM
Greetings,
I purchased the Total Keyboard Wizardry book and am working through it from the beginning, as I am a keyboard beginner. I've got to page 9 which lists the "Basic Major 1-5 Exercise" and have a question about the fingerings. For those who don't have the book, the excersize is to play the first 5 notes of a major scale in a short 2 measure pattern, and then repeat up a half-step. There are fingerings listed for the first phrase, which is in C major, and says to use RH 1-2-3-4-5 for the first 5 notes of C major. That's all fine and good but there are no fingerings for the C# major phrase. The back of the book has a list of major scales along with fingerings, and says to use 2-3-1-2-3 for C# major.
My confusion arises from the wording of the exercise:
This exercise can help you to learn the basic five-finger pattern that can be used for the first five notes of any major scale. Concentrate on placing your fingers in the correct places on the keyboard so that they can play smoothly without fidgeting for the correct notes. Make sure that you cover all twelve patterns; some patterns such as C major are easier because they cover sequential white keys, but C# major may feel extremely awkward the first few times you try to find the pattern.
This leads me to think that I'm supposed to use the same fingerings for each pattern. I tried, and it is possible to use 1-2-3-4-5 for each scale, and it's indeed awkward to play black notes with my thumb, but if I use the "standard" fingerings for each scale, then I have to play the 2nd finger twice in a row when switching from the C major pattern to the C# major pattern (C major pattern ends on a D, and the C# major pattern starts on a C#, so 2nd finger D to 2nd finger C#).
On the recording that came with the book, I cannot tell what fingers are being used. It's my understanding that sometimes you do need to play black keys with your thumb, so I can't deduce which fingerings I should be using, and I don't have a private teacher to ask. I'm hoping someone here who has the book can explain what fingerings I should be using for each pattern: the standard scale based fingerings (2-3-1-2-3 for C#) or the C major fingerings for each pattern (1-2-3-4-5).
Thanks in advance,
Jeff
I purchased the Total Keyboard Wizardry book and am working through it from the beginning, as I am a keyboard beginner. I've got to page 9 which lists the "Basic Major 1-5 Exercise" and have a question about the fingerings. For those who don't have the book, the excersize is to play the first 5 notes of a major scale in a short 2 measure pattern, and then repeat up a half-step. There are fingerings listed for the first phrase, which is in C major, and says to use RH 1-2-3-4-5 for the first 5 notes of C major. That's all fine and good but there are no fingerings for the C# major phrase. The back of the book has a list of major scales along with fingerings, and says to use 2-3-1-2-3 for C# major.
My confusion arises from the wording of the exercise:
This exercise can help you to learn the basic five-finger pattern that can be used for the first five notes of any major scale. Concentrate on placing your fingers in the correct places on the keyboard so that they can play smoothly without fidgeting for the correct notes. Make sure that you cover all twelve patterns; some patterns such as C major are easier because they cover sequential white keys, but C# major may feel extremely awkward the first few times you try to find the pattern.
This leads me to think that I'm supposed to use the same fingerings for each pattern. I tried, and it is possible to use 1-2-3-4-5 for each scale, and it's indeed awkward to play black notes with my thumb, but if I use the "standard" fingerings for each scale, then I have to play the 2nd finger twice in a row when switching from the C major pattern to the C# major pattern (C major pattern ends on a D, and the C# major pattern starts on a C#, so 2nd finger D to 2nd finger C#).
On the recording that came with the book, I cannot tell what fingers are being used. It's my understanding that sometimes you do need to play black keys with your thumb, so I can't deduce which fingerings I should be using, and I don't have a private teacher to ask. I'm hoping someone here who has the book can explain what fingerings I should be using for each pattern: the standard scale based fingerings (2-3-1-2-3 for C#) or the C major fingerings for each pattern (1-2-3-4-5).
Thanks in advance,
Jeff