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Help please.
A person teaching blues piano online suggested using the thumb on I and 5 as a typical pattern, so I have been sticking to this rule for a while. So if am playing in G my thumb is on G and I pass my thumb under to reach to the D up the keyboard. He departs from this occasionally but I follow his finger pattern in that case.

I saw someone else teaching Bring it on Home to Me (Sam Cooke, The Animals). And he starts the solo off (in G) by going D (thumb), E (1st finger), G (3rd), B(5th). and at one point he goes up to the next D and uses 5 to do this, then switches to 345 to a little ornamentation a bit higher.
I was sticking to teacher number one's system using my thumb on G and D and have to say I found it a bit uncomfortable (and was missing from time to time).

Teacher number one posted a lesson on Bring it on Home to Me a couple of days ago and lo and behold, although he plays it in C he uses the same fingering as teacher number 2. So I switched to the thumb-under-free way of playing and I have to say I find this a lot easier - I mean a lot easier.

I could ask teacher number one this question but I asked a question before and he apologised but stressed that if he had to answer all the questions people send he would have no time to post his "free" lessons (he sells the music to tunes to help keep his lessons free, so he is quite a busy person).

So can anyone offer me some advice please about finger patterns to use as a rule of thumb (so to speak), and when it is permissible to deviate?

I don't knowingly play blues stuff unless it's in Gershwin or Joplin etc, so I have no idea what people who specialize in blues do.

But if you're still learning 5-finger positions, then your fingers will only play notes adjacent to each other. Sooner or later, you'll need to play with gaps (and therefore keys) between the fingers.....like arpeggios.

As for passing thumb beneath fingers, you should start with scales where you play thumb beneath/after 3, like C to C' using 1-2-3-1-2-3-4-5 and then back down, before passing thumb beneath 4 (which is trickier), as you would if playing more than one octave (1-2-3-1-2-3-4-1-2-3-1-2-3-4-5).

Thanks Benevis. I am not really learning 5-finger positions.
The online teacher spends some lessons teaching blues scales in C, G, A and E,...
As an aid for people like me (who have never really studied piano but can play a few chords and arpeggio them, for instance) he suggested that if we applied the idea of thumb on I and thumb on V that would help us a lot.

My question was why he departed from that rule in the example tune I cited and when is it wise to deviate from that principle?

I never heard of such a 'rule', but I suppose a reason for him teaching it is that chords I & V are the commonest in all Western music, so you're using the same fingerings for arpeggios and scales etc in them.

I've no idea how non-classical teachers teach piano, so I suggest you post your question in the Non-Classical Forum, where people might be better able to understand what you're getting at. It sounds like you're learning by copying what your teacher does by rote, and that's not the way I teach.

Thanks Bennevis. Very kind of you to take the time. I didn't know there was a non-classical forum. I am completely new here. I will take a look over there.

There is an over-riding principle:

. . . If a fingering rule doesn't work in a specific situation,
. . .. . ignore the rule,
. . . . . . and use a fingering that works.

There are (in classical teaching) "standard scale fingerings" which lots of pianists use to practice scales.

But in playing real pieces, those "standard" fingerings are no more than _suggestions_. Sometimes there's a scale passage, and the way it starts (or ends) means that the "standard" fingering is awkward:

. . . find another fingering that isn't awkward.

(I don't teach, this advice is worth what you paid.)

You might try this:
I'm going to assume you're using the blues scale: root, b3rd, 4th, b5th, 5th, 7th.

Key of C: 1 2 3 4 1 2 (thumbs on C and G)

D: 2 1 2 3 4 1 (thumbs on F and C)

Eb 1 2 3 1 2 3 (thumbs on Eb and A)

E 2 1 2 3 1 2 (thumbs on G and B)

F 1 2 3 1 2 3 (thumbs and F and B)

G 1 2 3 4 1 2 (thumbs on G and D)

Ab 1 2 3 1 2 3 (thumbs on Ab and D)

A 2 1 2 3 4 1 (thumbs on C and E)

Bb 1 2 3 1 2 3 (thumbs on Bb and E)

B 1 2 3 1 2 3 (thumbs on B and F)

There are other systems, but this one will get you going.

Thanks for these replies everybody.

Hi,

Slight corrections to the above fingerings. (I entered them too fast)

The Blues scale is: root, b3rd, 4th, b5th, 5th, b7th, and root 8va


The fingering for the E scale: 1 2 3 4 1 2 1 (thumbs on E and B)

A scale 1 2 3 4 1 2 1 (thumbs on A and E)

Thanks Henderson Hall.

That is what I do in fact. Thumb on the I and the V. I wanted to know in what circumstances I should deviate from this as I see my online teachers doing.

It is not unusual to run the blues scale using just fingers 1 and 3 in the right hand. You can peel off a pretty rapid run doing so, especially descending. Have both systems under your fingers. I don't believe the great players insist on hard and fast rules. Be ready to utilize whichever system fits the particular circumstance. The more you play the more comfortable you'll become with this system or that.
Be Well.

Useful tips. Thanks a lot.