Which Finger do I Use? by Robin Brown (for the musically minded)
Which finger do I use?
Answer: Any finger you like!
Fretting about which fingers to use may distract from having fun, or put some children off because it seems too difficult. At the beginning, there is a lot to learn and understand, and if a child feels overwhelmed, he/she will decide he doesn’t like playing the piano and not try again.
A young child should first master the concept of following the colours. Let him/her try out all the songs in any order he chooses. Let him/her have the joy of hearing a tune that he played himself.
There is no fixed “correct” fingering. In fact, for a young child, I wouldn’t bother at all, as I believe there is merit in letting a child experiment and figure it out for himself. A look through our videos will show you a young child using all the “wrong” fingers and technique, but later videos show they are not a handicap. What would be a handicap is thinking it’s too difficult, causing a child not to try at all, or to give up too soon.
So remember, for a young child, it’s all about HAVING FUN and CAPTURING HIS INTEREST. Once he/she is comfortable playing several tunes, you can at the very most gently suggest he uses all his fingers rather than just one.
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