Most beginner piano books print small numbers beside the notes. They aren’t note names and they aren’t beats. Each one tells you which finger to use, and once you know the system a page of music tells you where your hand goes before you touch a key.
01 The five numbers
| Finger | Number |
|---|---|
| Thumb | 1 |
| Index (pointer) finger | 2 |
| Middle finger | 3 |
| Ring finger | 4 |
| Little finger (pinky) | 5 |
Each thumb is 1 and each little finger is 5. Hold your hands up, palms facing away from you. The numbers run outwards from the thumbs, so the right hand counts 1 to 5 towards the right and the left hand counts 1 to 5 towards the left.
If you have played guitar or violin, be careful here. On those instruments the index finger is 1 and the thumb usually has no number, so a guitarist’s 1 is a pianist’s 2. A few very old British piano editions did something similar, marking the thumb with a cross and numbering the fingers 1 to 4. If the fingering in a secondhand book looks one off everywhere, check which system it uses.
02 Five-finger position: one finger per key
The first hand shape most books teach puts five fingers on five neighbouring white keys. In C position the right thumb sits on middle C and fingers 2, 3, 4 and 5 fall on D, E, F and G. The left hand takes the same five notes an octave lower, starting with its little finger on C.
| Note | Right hand, from middle C | Left hand, an octave lower |
|---|---|---|
| C | 1 | 5 |
| D | 2 | 4 |
| E | 3 | 3 |
| F | 4 | 2 |
| G | 5 | 1 |
Read down the left-hand column and it looks backwards. Nothing has been reversed. Your left hand is a mirror image of your right, so its little finger is at the left end, and going up the keyboard starts from there.
While the hand stays put, each number is tied to one note. In right-hand C position, 3 is always E, which is what lets you read a number and play it without looking down. When a book moves you to G position, the whole frame slides up so the right thumb sits on G. The numbers stay the same; the notes under them change.
03 Reading the numbers on the page
- Which hand. Right-hand fingering usually sits above the notes on the top (treble) staff, and left-hand fingering below the notes on the bottom (bass) staff. When space is tight an editor may move a number, so match it to the note it’s closest to.
- Chords. A chord gets a stack of numbers in the same order as its notes, top number for the top note. A right-hand C chord (C, E, G) reads 5 over 3 over 1. The left hand plays the same three notes with 5, 3 and 1 from the bottom up, so its stack reads 1 over 3 over 5.
- Gaps. Most notes carry no number. Editors mark the first note of a passage and the places where the hand has to move or the choice isn’t obvious. Between marks, keep going in order: up one key, next finger.
- Two numbers on one note. Something like 4–3 over a single note is a finger substitution: press the key with 4, then slip 3 onto it without letting it up. It turns up later, in smooth legato playing, and can wait.
04 Past five fingers: the thumb goes under
Scales are where the numbers start to earn their keep. The C major scale has eight notes and you have five fingers, so the thumb has to travel. The right hand plays C, D and E with 1, 2 and 3, tucks the thumb under to F, and finishes F to C with 1 to 5. Going up, the left hand plays C to G with 5 to 1, crosses 3 over the thumb to A, and ends on B and C with 2 and 1. Written out, that is 1-2-3-1-2-3-4-5 for the right hand and 5-4-3-2-1-3-2-1 for the left.
05 Mistakes that slow beginners down
- Counting from the index finger. The guitar habit again. Before you play, tap each finger on the table and say its number out loud, thumb first.
- Turning the left hand around. You see a 1 on the bass staff and reach with your little finger. Touch your left thumb and say “one” before a left-hand line.
- Changing the fingering every time. Another finger may work once, but the printed one is usually picked so the next few notes land under your hand. If you do change it, pencil your choice in and keep it. A passage played three different ways doesn’t get learned.
- Leaving out 4 and 5. Beginners hop the hand along with 2 and 3 because the outer fingers feel weak. Five-finger position gives 4 and 5 work on purpose. If the little finger’s end joint caves in, play softer and slower until it holds its shape.
- Looking down for the number. In position, your hand already knows where 3 is. Keep your eyes on the music and let the position do the finding.
Related reading
Questions
What are the finger numbers for piano?
Thumb 1, index finger 2, middle finger 3, ring finger 4 and little finger 5. Both hands use the same numbers, so each thumb is 1 and each little finger is 5.
Why does the left hand play 5-4-3-2-1?
Because the left hand is a mirror image of the right. Going up the keyboard, the left hand starts from its little finger (5) and ends on its thumb (1), while the right hand starts on its thumb.
Do I have to follow the fingering in the music?
At first, yes. Printed fingering is chosen so the next notes fall under your hand. If another fingering suits you better, pencil it in and use it the same way every time.