Also you can more easily anticipate where the fingers cross over the thumb.ģ) The thumbs never land on a black key. This means that it's easier to coordinate the hands. If you master playing G flat major with this type of fingering, and think of it as a sort of default or standard pattern, then you'll be able to adjust it slightly to play other scales that use several black keys.Īdvantages to fingering this way include:ġ) It is easy to find where your hand position should be on the piano, and to figure out the fingering.Ģ) The thumbs always get played by both hands at the same time. So you can hover your hands over the groups of black keys and figure out the fingerings pretty easily.Ī good scale to practice this on is G flat major, since it uses all 5 black keys.

And if you have to use fewer than 5 black keys, you use the finger on the white key that would have been on the black key next to it. Then you place your thumbs appropriately. This applies to both the left and right hands. And every time you play the group of three black keys (F sharp, G sharp and A sharp, or G flat, A flat and B flat) you use the second third and fourth fingers of your hand.

The idea is that each time you play the group of two black keys (C sharp and D sharp, or D flat and E flat) you use the second and third fingers of your hand. I was taught this method by my piano teacher. I chose this fingering by using a method that works on all scales that use a lot of black keys. Minor scales would use the same fingering.

Thus, the fingerings would be the same sequence as written above, but in reverse. For A flat major, these are the fingerings I'd use:ĭescending scales would have the fingers placed in the same positions on the piano as the ascending scales.

Flat major scales