I noticed in last issue of The Etude rules for fingering scales, which has moved me to give you the rules used by myself in teaching scales. I have found them exceedingly easy to remember, and they have made scale players of some very unpromising pupils. They were given me by my teacher in the long ago, and benefited me greatly. They are two, viz :—
Rule for fingering scales with flats, and the natural scale :—
Always put thumbs (both hands) on F and C.
Rule for sharp scales : —
Always put thumbs (both hands) on I and IV degrees of scale.
Besides being easy to remember, this gives a feeling of union between the two hands, and causes a swing (if I may so term it) in scale playing, which adds much to the crispness of the performance.
Of course, in the scale containing F flat or C flat, the thumbs fall on these keys. N. L. M.
[The thumbs are used twice in each octave, but the fourth finger but once, hence the rules that govern the placing of the fourth fingers are particularly valuable.— Editor.]
