• Ask Jermaine: “The key to proper piano chord fingering”

    in Chords & Progressions,Piano

    I’m back with another “Ask Jermaine” question of the week — this time about piano chord fingering.

    This question is from Danny in the UK:

    “Jermaine, hope all is good & well. I finally made it to seventh chords!! (Pheww). When building a major/minor 7th in all 12 keys, what is the correct piano chord fingering?”

    My answer:

    Hey Danny,

    Congratulations on making it to seventh chords. The thing about seventh chords is once you know your basics (major, minor, dominant, diminished, augmented), you can pretty much play any desired bigger chord on demand – ninths, elevenths, thirteenths… because those are merely comprised of stacked sevenths + triad chords (another lesson).

    Proper Piano Chord Fingering

    I have good news and bad news.

    The bad news is when it comes to piano chord fingering, things aren’t exactly black and white. In fact, you’ll be hard pressed to find one common answer out there.

    The good news is proper piano chord fingering not as hard as you think since seventh chords have 4 notes and if you’re going to play them in one hand, you only have 5 fingers to choose from. That naturally leaves few options.

    Remember, each finger is labeled 1 through 5 with the thumb always being 1 and the pinky always being 5.

    So on your left hand, it’s: 5 (pinky) – 4 (ring) – 3 (middle) – 2 (index) – 1 (thumb).

    On your right hand, it’s: 1 (thumb) – 2 (index) – 3 (middle) – 4 (ring) – 5 (pinky).

    (Here’s an article illustrating the piano chord fingering layout above.)

    For my beginners, if you’re playing 3-fingered “triads,” you’ll most likely be using 5 – 3 – 1 on left and 1 – 3 – 5 on right for your piano chord fingering. The only exception is for chords that require a wider finger span. In those cases, you can do 5 – 2 -1 on left and 1 – 2 – 5 on right.

    Also, fingers 2, 3, and 4 are best for black keys. Try to avoid the thumb or pinky on black keys if you can help it.

    4-finger piano chord fingering

    For 4-finger chords (aka tetrads), you’ll most likely be using 5 – 3 – 2 – 1 for left and 1 – 2 – 3 – 5 for right hand fingering.

    But like I said before, this isn’t written in stone so if you need, for example, finger 3 for a melody note that is passing by, use 5 – 4 – 2 – 1 on left and 1 – 2 – 4 – 5 on right.

    As the chords get bigger and more flexibility is required, you can use your own discretion.

    Some piano chord fingering pointers

    • Keep in mind where you’re going next or what the melody is doing. If you’re making one finger do extra work, it can slow you down.
    • You’ll be better off choosing a chord fingering that allows for more mobility rather than sticking with the “textbook” in every situation. So instead of having to lift a finger from one chord immediately to another, if you’ve chosen the best piano chord fingering for your situation, you can simply swap in a “free” finger for speed.
    • Strategically space out your fingering so you have room for things in between your chord tones.
    • Remember to slow things down in the beginning. There’s no harm in going super slow. What you’re looking for is accuracy and precision. If you’ve worked out the proper piano chord fingering at a slow tempo, speeding it up will be eventually be a piece of cake.

    Remember, everyone’s different and there is no one size fits all when it comes to piano chord fingering. From different hand/finger sizes to situations requiring a “stretch,” you’ll continually be adjusting. But use these piano chord fingering tips as a start.

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    Hi, I'm Jermaine Griggs, founder of this site. We teach people how to express themselves through the language of music. Just as you talk and listen freely, music can be enjoyed and played in the same way... if you know the rules of the "language!" I started this site at 17 years old in August 2000 and more than a decade later, we've helped literally millions of musicians along the way. Enjoy!




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