Have you ever found yourself faced with these questions?
Which fingers should I use for this passage? How can we make this section easier? Can I use the same fingering from another scale? And this chord, how do I do it? Etc.
These are frequent questions I hear from those who study the accordion. And the most immediate answer to all of them is: it depends! Yes, I know this may disappoint some, but the truth is that there are many aspects to consider when deciding which fingers to use in a given situation. Not only that! As we will see in this post and the next ones, fingering should first and foremost be a suggestion! In this first moment we will focus on the right hand, analyzing the main aspects that influence the choice of fingering.
The accordion took advantage of much of the tradition of piano technique, which in turn inherited the same user (the “musician”) interface as other keyboard instruments, such as the organ and harpsichord. Therefore, playing the accordion keyboard, at first, naturally follows the already established fingerings for those instruments. As we know, these fingerings take into account some general principles:
1. The keys should be played in the most natural way possible, avoiding too much effort and always looking for more comfortable positions and paths for the hand and fingers.
2. Each pair of neighboring fingers (1 and 2 or 2 and 3, for example) has an opening capacity. In this sense, we have the pair 1-2 as the one that allows the greatest opening, followed by the pair 2-3. Pairs 3-4 and 4-5 come in last place, approximately tied. For this reason, in addition to the fact that they are very useful in several other activities (writing, for example), fingers 1, 2 and 3 end up being used much more than fingers 4 and 5, also having more strength and agility.
3. Neighboring keys (by tone or semitone) call for neighboring fingers; non-neighboring keys call for non-neighboring fingers. This principle is very obvious and based on it, for example, the C-D-E (neighboring) keys could be played with the fingers 1-2-3 (or 2-3-4, or even 3-4-5) neighbors. The C-E-G arpeggio (not neighboring notes) could be performed with fingers 1-3-5
4. Short fingers (thumb and pinky, or fingers 1 and 5) avoid black keys, which are shorter and, therefore, more difficult to access for these fingers;
5. If necessary, the thumb (finger 1) has more ability to play black keys, compared to finger 5;
6. In seven-note diatonic scales – the most common type – there is an alternation between thumb passages: now under finger 3, now under finger 4, concluding the scale with 3 + 4 = 7 notes. For example, in the ascending G major scale we use the fingering 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 … In the ascending F major scale, we use the sequence 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 … etc.
Having presented these six basic principles that point the appropriate fingering, it is necessary to remember that, like all principles, they must guide the choices, and not be taken with excessive rigor. Yes, as there are several situations in which other factors interfere with the choice of fingering. And here we will meet some.
The Static hand
In studies for beginners, it is common to use exercises (or short compositions) that can be performed without the need to move the hand. In these cases we will have “each key with its finger”. This is the simplest and most comfortable scenario, as typing occurs “naturally”. This is what happens with the Asa Branca composition, in which only five notes are used, in degrees 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5. In this case, these keys can be played with fingers with the same degree number. See below.
The Moving Hand
Most of the time, however, playing a song on the keyboard requires hand displacement, and that’s where fingering problems begin. In such cases, different keys are played by the same fingers and the opposite also occurs. Firstly, it is necessary to take into account the context to better decide for this or that fingering. So, for example, conventional fingerings for scales – where the hand has to move – work very well… but only when studying scales! In a repertoire situation, we have a completely different story! It can be said that we will seldom find a complete scale in one or two octaves in a musical score, much less from the first degree of that scale! Instead, melodies (like phrases in improvisation) are constructed from fragments of scales. Therefore, it is easy to understand that conventional fingering for a given scale is unlikely to work in the context of a given song. This is even more true when we consider two other factors: how we arrived at the current note/key and where (direction and distance) we want to go. Furthermore, the position this note occupies – within the following scale – also affects fingering. To better understand this problem, see the example below.
Above the staff is the suggested fingering (suitable…) for the excerpt, while below the staff I wrote the fingering based on the scales of D mixolydian (measure 1), E minor and B mixolydian (b13) (measures 2 and 3). As you can see, there are differences between the two fingerings (2 notes in the first measure and 6 notes in the second and third measures). Furthermore, note the strange finger jumps marked by the brackets if we are going to perform the excerpt respecting the fingering of the original scales. Therefore, what is prescribed for scales does not always work in musical contexts, especially when we mix fragments of scales in different pitches/keys. In these cases, other factors take precedence in choosing fingers. And this will always depend on what comes before and after the section under analysis.
When we talk about moving hand, we are also talking about hand jump, a vital resource, for example, when playing arpeggios. In this way, fingering can – and should – receive good assistance from a precise jump of the hand, which reduces the effort on the thumb when passing under the other fingers. To do this, dedicate time to studies that improve precision in hand jumps.
Size Matters
Still with reference to the keyboard, we should keep in mind that there are considerable differences between them. Taking the piano keys as the standard, it’s obvious that accordions keys have a smaller width. Not only that! Even among accordions there is an even narrower pattern of keys, found on so-called “reduced” instruments. A classic example is the Maestrina model, from Scandalli. This smaller accordion pattern, they say, was created to allow the construction of lighter instruments and, thus, better serve young or female students, less able to support heavy instruments. Therefore, a fingering that was written with a “professional” accordion in mind may be unsuitable for use on a “reduced” instrument, and vice versa.
Regarding dimensions, it is also necessary to consider the size of the musician’s hand. A tall person, who has longer hands and fingers, may have difficulty, for example, playing a G major chord with fingers 1-3-5 (or even 1-2-4), preferring 1 -2-3. This same person may also have trouble performing the F# minor triad, since the width of their 2nd (or 3rd) finger may make it difficult for them to press the A key, which is located between two black keys (G# and A#). Naturally, this problem will be even worse if it is a reduced accordion.
So, how to solve this dilemma?
As in any learning situation, learning the accordion goes through three main phases.
Initially, the student receives a set of information/rules/guidelines that allow them to take their first steps. In this first post about fingering, we present some of this information as general fingering principles.
Then, practical exercises are used that condition the body (fingers, hands, arms, etc.) to better make music with your instrument. The courses offered by Accordion4ever aim to provide a series of exercises and repertoire aimed at this conditioning.
Finally, with time of practice, the hand itself gradually incorporates certain habits that help it form spatial awareness. It’s as if the hand gains “eyeless vision”, reaching with increasing precision to any key in the vicinity (in fact, the number of good accordionists who need to look at the keyboard while playing is close to zero). Simultaneously, a certain power of predicting the “path of the fingers” milliseconds before playing the section is born and developed. The hand acquires an autonomous consciousness, which places it in the exact location, with the exact shape and with the correct finger for each situation.
These are our first considerations on the fingering problem.
Feel free to express your thoughts and share your experiences on the subject discussed here.
To understand how accordion left hand fingering works, check out our Bass Mastery course.
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Good luck!
