Piano Technique: Major Scale Fingering

Lesson Goal: To quickly internalize the common practice Major Scale Fingerings in all keys… showing finger choice and placement over two octaves in both hands…

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Prerequisites

Basic music reading… LOVE of music… and the discipline to study and practice.

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Study & Practice Notes

1. Easy piano fingering is so much more than knowing which finger goes on which key.
2. If you want to take your playing to the next level, you must also consider where and how your fingers make contact with the keys.
3. Think of the piano as 12 different instruments, each one in its own unique, and sometimes quirky, layout of black and white keys.
4. Never allow your fingertips to get welded to the key surface. Keep moving by playfully sliding, pulling, rocking, rotating, and pivoting from one musical place to the next.
5. Expert piano technique isn’t just about fingers and fingering… It’s also about full body choreography! (learn more: Piano Technique).

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About the Design of these Charts

1. These charts are visually designed to encourage you to center yourself… both physically and mentally… on middle D (the green triangle). Such centering is a critical for developing your visuospatial keyboard awareness.
2. All the fingertip locations shown are approximate. Feel free to adjust to suit the natural size and shape of YOUR hands and fingers while using musical fingering principles.

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Major Scale Fingering Charts

Here are the standard fingerings for the Major Scales… over two octaves in both hands… showing the approximate locations of your fingertips… arranged chromatically ascending…

C Major Scale

Notice that the left hand fingering is a mirror image of the right hand fingering! This pattern applies to all “sharp” keys except B major.

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Db Major Scale

Notice that your thumbs play all Cs and Fs, just like the C major scale. This applies to all “flat” keys except Gb, which has a Cb instead of a C…

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D Major Scale

Notice that this has the same fingering pattern as the C major scale. This applies to all “sharp” keys (G, D, A, E, and B)…

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Eb Major Scale

Notice that your thumbs play all Cs and Fs, just like the C major scale. This applies to all “flat” keys except Gb, which has a Cb instead of a C…

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E Major Scale

Notice that this has the same fingering pattern as the C major scale. This applies to all “sharp” keys (G, D, A, E, and B)…

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F Major Scale

Notice that your thumbs play all Cs and Fs, just like the C major scale. This applies to all “flat” keys except Gb, which has a Cb instead of a C…

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Gb Major Scale

Notice that fingers 2-3 fit naturally on the group of the two black notes and that fingers 2-3-4 fit naturally on the group of three black notes. This pattern is common to all three major scales with 5 black notes (Gb, Db, and B)…

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G Major Scale

Notice that this has the same fingering pattern as the C major scale. This applies to all “sharp” keys (G, D, A, E, and B)…

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Ab Major Scale

Notice that your thumbs play all the Cs and Fs, just like the C major scale. This applies to all “flat” keys except Gb, which has a Cb instead of a C…

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A Major Scale

Notice that this has the same fingering pattern as the C major scale. This applies to all “sharp” keys (G, D, A, E, and B)…

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Bb Major Scale

Notice that your thumbs play all Cs and Fs, just like the C major scale. This applies to all “flat” keys except Gb, which has a Cb instead of a C…

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B Major Scale

Notice that this has the same fingering pattern as the C major scale. This applies to all “sharp” keys (G, D, A, E, and B)…

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Major Scale Fingering Charts, All Keys (PDF)

In high resolution for easy reading on the music stand…

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If you learned something here today, consider buying Frank a cup of coffee using Venmo.

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learn more… Piano Technique