THe last group of scaleS
This group includes the final scales beginning on black notes: Ab, Eb, and Bb.
The finger patterns for these scales are not as immediately obvious, so let’s walk through them together. The right and left hand do not follow the same pattern. We’ll start with the right hand.
Right Hand: two rules
Rule #1
Remember the “the three black/three long fingers” and “two black key/two long fingers” pattern from Group 2 (B, Gb, Db)? Sit down at the piano, find a three black key group, and place your three long fingers on these keys. Which finger falls on the highest black key, Bb?
It’s the ring finger, or finger 4. This gives us the first right hand rule: for right hand Ab, Eb, and Bb scales, finger 4 ALWAYS plays Bb. Try it out: play Bb with right hand finger 4 all over the keyboard.
Rule #2
Now find a two black key group, and place your two long fingers on these keys. Which finger falls on the highest black key, Eb?
The answer is the middle finger, or finger 3. This is Rule #2: for right hand Ab, Eb, and Bb scales, finger 3 ALWAYS plays Eb.
Left Hand
You’ve made it this far! I’ve got good news: the left hand pattern is simpler. It’s this:
No matter what key you’re starting on, ALWAYS start with finger 3 (middle finger). When you run out of fingers, cross to finger 4 (ring finger).
That’s it!
Put it all together
Now, how to practice these?
Follow the same steps for practicing other scales. First, review the notes of the scale:
- Play the 5 note scale.
- Play “Twinkle Little Star.”
- Play “1-4-5-THE-END.”
- Play “1-5-TWINKLE-THE-END.”
- Play the full scale with a single finger, singing “1-2-3-4-5, Twinkle, The End.” Notice what white and/or black keys are in the scale.
If you’d like a refresher on working through this scale prep, click here (link coming soon).
Once you’ve reinforced the notes in the scale, go ahead and put it all together: play the scale using the finger patterns outline above. Be sure to work each hand separately.
