B MAJOR SCALE FINGERING

A# MAJOR SCALE FINGERING

A MAJOR SCALE FINGERING

G# MAJOR SCALE FINGERING

G MAJOR SCALE FINGERING

F# MAJOR SCALE FINGERING

F MAJOR SCALE FINGERING

E MAJOR SCALE FINGERING

D# MAJOR SCALE FINGERING

D MAJOR SCALE FINGERING

C# MAJOR SCALE FINGERING

C MAJOR SCALE FINGERING

Names of White and Black Keys

Exercises

Exercises with fingerings for two octaves of major scales. The numbers that you can see above the notes are indicating which fingers the notes should be played with. (The exercises are for the right hand, see link to left hand exercises at the bottom of page.)
1 = thumb | 2 = index finger | 3 = middle finger | 4 = ring finger | 5 = little finger.

C major scale
G major scale
D major scale
A major scale
E major scale
B major scale
F major scale
Bb major scale
Eb major scale
Ab major scale
Db major scale
Gb major scale

Fingerings

Fingerings are about which fingers you should use and consequently the position of the hand when playing piano. There are rules and instructions for fingerings in general and depending on the situation.

When exercising on scales it is important that you use the right fingerings. Doing this in the right way gives a foundation for a development of good technique. Sometimes you will see instructions that tell you which fingers to use by the numbers 1-5 on piano sheets.

1 = thumb | 2 = index finger | 3 middle finger | 4 = ring finger | 5 = little finger

Some general tips about how to position your hand and use your fingers

The way you move your hands and which fingers you use will affect the outcome of your piano playing. If you, for example, are using few fingers with high frequencies, it will result in disjointed transitions when smooth transitions are required. Here are some rules of thumb:

1. First the most obvious: don't use your index finger exclusively.
2. Include all the fingers, this makes the movement of the hand more smooth and economical.
3. In most situations, you should avoid playing on the black keys with your thumb.

Learn to play piano without looking down on the keyboard

Most people who study the piano will sooner or later learn how to read notes. The challenge of reading notes are often overestimated – the real challenge is to read and play simultaneously. The only way to read and play at the same time is to not look at the keyboard. The more notes on the score, the less time for you to look down at the keyboard without losing the accurate tempo.

This is something that takes much practice to achieve, but an important foundation is to position your hand correctly and use good fingering technique. By using all the fingers you don’t have to change the position of your hand as often or make long “jumps” with the same finger. This is critical when playing with only short glances on the keyboard.

The right practice

In the picture below, you can see the notes of the C major scale. Above the notes there is also numbers.
The first sequence is 1-2-3-1-2-3-4-5 and it involves a movement with the thumb going under the index and middle finger. After you reach the next octave you turn around and this time it is the other way around: you move your middle and index finger over the thumb (5-4-3-2-1-3-2-1).

The secret as you can see is to move the thumb under the fingers (index and middle) and lift the same fingers over the thumb. By this method you can reach eight notes (one octave) on the keyboards by minimum movement of the hand.

For the most common scales you can find fingerings written out together with scale pictures on this site. In cases the fingerings are not written it should not be a huge problem for you. If you minimize the contact with the thumb and the black keys you will in most cases naturally find the right fingerings

Piano Pentatonic Scales

The pentatonic scale is frequently used in lots of popular music styles. There is both pentatonic major and minor – the minor more often used in this case. Note that C minor pentatonic has identical notes as Eb major pentatonic but in another order, D minor pentatonic has the same notes as F major pentatonic and so on. Knowing this will make it easier for you to memorize the scales.

Minor Pentatonic Scales

Here are pictures and notes of the minor pentatonic scales. These scales are very common in many styles, but not at least in pop and rock music. See also Major Pentatonic Scales.

Cm

Notes: C, Eb, F, G, Bb, C
Fingerings (LH): 1, 3, 2, 1, 2, 1
Fingerings (RH): 1, 2, 3, 1, 2, 3

C#m / Dbm

Notes: C#, E, F#, G#, B, C#
Fingerings (LH): 2, 1, 3, 2, 1, 2
Fingerings (RH): 2, 1, 2, 3, 1, 2

Dm

Notes: D, F, G, A, C, D
Fingerings (LH): 3, 2, 1, 3, 2, 1
Fingerings (RH): 1, 2, 3, 1, 2, 3

D#m / Ebm

Notes: D#, F#, G#, A#, C#, D#
Fingerings (LH): 3, 2, 1, 3, 2, 1
Fingerings (RH): 1, 2, 3, 1, 2, 3

Em

Notes: E, G, A, B, D, E
Fingerings (LH): 3, 2, 1, 3, 2, 1
Fingerings (RH): 1, 2, 3, 1, 2, 3

Fm

Notes: F, Ab, Bb, C, Eb, F
Fingerings (LH): 4, 3, 2, 1, 2, 1
Fingerings (RH): 1, 2, 3, 1, 2, 3

F#m / Gbm

Notes: F#, A, B, C#, E, F#
Fingerings (LH): 3, 2, 1, 2, 1, 3
Fingerings (RH): 2, 1, 2, 3, 1, 2

Gm

Notes: G, Bb, C, D, F, G
Fingerings (LH): 1, 3, 2, 1, 2, 1
Fingerings (RH): 1, 2, 1, 2, 3, 1

G#m / Abm

Notes: G#, B, C#, D#, F#, G#
Fingerings (LH): 2, 1, 5, 4, 3, 2
Fingerings (RH): 2, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

Am

Notes: A, C, D, E, G, A
Fingerings (LH): 3, 2, 1, 3, 2, 1
Fingerings (RH): 1, 2, 3, 1, 2, 3

A#m / Bbm

Notes: A#, C#, D#, E#, G#, A#
Fingerings (LH): 4, 3, 2, 1, 4, 3
Fingerings (RH): 2, 3, 4, 1, 2, 3

Bm

Notes: B, D, E, F#, A, B
Fingerings (LH): 3, 2, 1, 3, 2, 1
Fingerings (RH): 2, 1, 2, 3, 1, 2

Pentatonic Minor Scales overview
C: C, Eb, F, G, Bb, C
C#/Db: C#, E, F#, G#, B, C#
D: D, F, G, A, C, D
D#/Eb: D#, F#, G#, A#, C#, D#
E: E, G, A, B, D, E
F: F, Ab, Bb, C, Eb, F
F#/Gb: F#, A, B, C#, E, F#
G: G, Bb, C, D, F, G
G#/Ab: G#, B, C#, D#, F#, G#
A: A, C, D, E, G, A
A#/Bb: A#, C#, D#, E#, G#, A#
B: B, D, E, F#, A, B
Interval: 1, b3, 4, 5, b7
Semi-notes: 3 - 2 - 2 - 3 - 2
Formula: Whole and a half, Whole, Whole, Whole and a half, Whole

Major Pentatonic Scales

This five-note scale is similar to the major scale but with the 4th and 7th degrees removed. Major pentatonic scales are especially common in traditional folk music, county and gospel. Here are pictures and notes of the major pentatonic scales.

C

Notes: C, D, E, G, A, C
Fingerings (LH): 3, 2, 1, 2, 1, 3
Fingerings (RH): 1, 2, 3, 1, 2, 3

C# / Db

Notes: C#, D#, F, G#, A#, C#
Fingerings (LH): 3, 2, 1, 4, 3, 2
Fingerings (RH): 3, 2, 1, 2, 3, 4

D

Notes: D, E, F#, A, B, D
Fingerings (LH): 2, 1, 3, 2, 1, 2
Fingerings (RH): 1, 2, 3, 1, 2, 4

D# / Eb

Notes: D#, F, G, A#, C, D#
Fingerings (LH): 3, 2, 1, 2, 1, 3
Fingerings (RH): 2, 1, 2, 3, 1, 2

E

Notes: E, F#, G#, B, C#, E
Fingerings (LH): 4, 3, 2, 1, 2, 1
Fingerings (RH): 1, 2, 3, 1, 2, 3

F

Notes: F, G, A, C, D, F
Fingerings (LH): 3, 2, 1, 2, 1, 3
Fingerings (RH): 1, 2, 3, 1, 2, 4

F# / Gb

Notes: F#, G#, A#, C#, D#, F#
Fingerings (LH): 3, 2, 1, 3, 2, 1
Fingerings (RH): 1, 2, 3, 1, 2, 3

G

Notes: G, A, B, D, E, G
Fingerings (LH): 3, 2, 1, 2, 1, 3
Fingerings (RH): 1, 2, 3, 1, 2, 4

G# / Ab

Notes: G#, A#, C, D#, F, G#
Fingerings (LH): 3, 2, 1, 2, 1, 3
Fingerings (RH): 3, 2, 1, 2, 1, 3

A

Notes: A, B, C#, E, F#, A
Fingerings (LH): 2, 1, 2, 1, 3, 2
Fingerings (RH): 1, 2, 3, 1, 2, 1

A# / Bb

Notes: A#, C, D, F, G, A#
Fingerings (LH): 3, 2, 1, 2, 1, 3
Fingerings (RH): 3, 1, 2, 1, 2, 3

B

Notes: B, C#, D#, F#, G#,B
Fingerings (LH): 1, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1
Fingerings (RH): 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 1

Pentatonic Major Scales overview
C: C, D, E, G, A, C
C#/Db: C#, D#, F, G#, A#, C#
D: D, E, F#, A, B, D
D#/Eb: D#, F, G, A#, C, D#
E: E, F#, G#, B, C#, E
F: F, G, A, C, D, F
F#/Gb: F#, G#, A#, C#, D#, F#
G: G, A, B, D, E, G
G#/Ab: G#, A#, C, D#, F, G#
A: A, B, C#, E, F#, A
A#/Bb: A#, C, D, F, G, A#
B: B, C#, D#, F#, G#,B
Interval: 1, 2, 3, 5, 6
Semi-notes: 2 - 2 - 3 - 2 - 3
Formula: Whole, Whole, Whole and a half, Whole, Whole and a half

Improvising with the Pentatonic Scale

The Pentatonic Scale is a flexible scale for improvising and apart from the standard way, which is combining a scale with chords in the same key, you could also be outside the key. By "being outside the key" means that you must not necessarily play chords and scale that belongs to the same key. For example, you could play G Major Pentatonic over  a C Major chord or E Minor Pentatonic over an A Minor chord.