finger positions

Question: I have just signed on a Special Needs student. She is 9 years old. Her favorite song is Happy Birthday. Mum said they play that every day! I know we normally teach this at the end of Foundation Level 1 but I would like…

• Last updated 2 years ago
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I have noticed pianists do something I have never been shown nor taught. They play a note and then change the fingers so that note is still being played but the hand is being set up for the next steps. Is this something that is…

• Last updated 2 years ago
• adapting fingering, changing finger, figuring out fingering, finger adaptations, finger change, finger positions, finger substitution, finger substitutions, finger switch, fingering, switching finger

I have a new adult student in her late 50s who started with me last week. She was given a lovely digital piano from her husband for Christmas and given subsequent traditional lessons with the piano salesman which didn’t work out for her although her…

• Last updated 3 years ago
• arthritis, deformed hand, finger positions, hand, hand position, hand positioning, hand positions, position, positioning, positions, posture, wrist position

One of my students is struggling with playing chords because her fingers are doing what you see in the photos. Can anyone help me know what is going on? Are there any exercises or things we can do to help her? Have her hold a…

• Last updated 3 years ago
• bending fingers, chord, chord fingering, chord placement, chord strategies, chords, deformed fingers, finger, finger exercises, finger positions, finger strength, fingering, fingering chords, fingers, forming chords, joint, joints, knuckles, playing chords, stiff fingers, strengthening fingers, weak fingers

I’m learning to play Squidgies Boogie in level 4. I’m having a hard time understanding how to transition between the IV and I chords because I think “IV” ends on the very C that “I” should start with. I don’t see Neil’s hands do this…

• Last updated 4 years ago
• billy at the footy, changes, finger positions, hand position, hand positioning, hand positions, Martian fingers, Martian hand, position, position change, positioning, positions, Squidgies, Squidgies Boogie, transition chord

What about fingering for chords? Sometimes my new students want to play the basic chords with 1, 2, and 5 instead of 1, 3, and 5. I have been trying to get them to do 1, 3, and 5… But maybe it doesn’t matter. Marsha,…

• Last updated 4 years ago
• +9 chords, adapting fingering, add9 chords, alternate fingering for chords, building chords, chord, chord alterations, chord fingering, chord placement, chord strategies, chord structure, chords, family chords, figuring out fingering, finger, finger adaptations, finger positions, fingering, fingering chords, fingers, forming chords, learning chords, playing chords, root chords

An 8-year-old student came up with an alternate fingering for Greensleeves that I thought was both insightful and helpful for kids with small hands, and I told her I was going to share it here, and that Neil Moore might even see it. In the…

• Last updated 4 years ago
• adapting fingering, developing generative skills, figuring out fingering, finger adaptations, finger positions, fingering, fingers, FL3, Foundation 3, foundation level 3, generative, generative learning, generative students, Greensleeves, Neil Moore, self generating, self generative, self-generate, self-generation

In teaching Humpty’s Twins (Jackson Blues arrangement 3), I generally teach RH3 for the middle note of all the chords. I had a student today ask why not RH4 for the middle note of the top chord. Thoughts? I teach the same way, and just…

• Last updated 4 years ago
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When describing finger positions, is the octave below middle c described as low c, low d, etc? Is the next octave bass c, bass d, etc? Or do I have that backwards? I believe the octave below middle C is bass C, and then further…

• Last updated 10 years ago
• C position on piano, finger positions