Piano finger numbers, from thumb to little finger

Piano finger numbers go from 1 to 5, starting at the thumb: the thumb is 1, the index finger 2, the middle finger 3, the ring finger 4 and the little finger (pinky) 5. Both hands use the same numbers, so both thumbs are 1 and both little fingers are 5, even though the hands are mirror images of each other. In sheet music, a small number printed next to a note tells you which finger plays it.

The lit keys on the keyboard above show where all ten fingers sit in C position: the left hand from C3 to G3 and the right hand from C4 to G4, one finger per key.

The five finger numbers

Read across the rows and the mirror shows. On the keyboard, the right hand's numbers rise from left to right, with the thumb on the lowest note, while the left hand's numbers fall from left to right, with the little finger on the lowest note. Only the middle finger plays the same letter in both hands, E. To learn the numbers, tap each finger on a tabletop and say its number aloud, one hand at a time, then call out numbers at random and move the right finger.

How fingering is written in music

Fingering is printed as small numbers just above or below the notes. The numbers are suggestions from the composer or the editor rather than part of the music itself, so different editions of the same piece can give different fingerings, and a teacher may change them.

Many notes carry no number at all. Where one is missing, keep playing with the fingers that follow on naturally from the last number, and expect a new number where the hand has to move.

Two older or different systems can cause confusion:

• English fingering. Some British editions of the 1800s marked the thumb with a cross (+) and numbered the other fingers 1 to 4, so a 1 there means the index finger. From the early 1900s British publishers switched to the 1-to-5 system used everywhere today.
• String fingering. Guitar, violin and cello music numbers the fingers that press the strings 1 to 4, starting from the index finger, because the thumb does not normally play on a string. Piano numbers always include the thumb.

Hand positions

A five-finger position puts one finger over each of five neighboring notes, so the hand can play all five without moving. Two positions built on middle C are common starting points:

• C position. Right thumb on middle C, fingers 1 to 5 on C4, D4, E4, F4 and G4. Left little finger on C3, fingers 5 to 1 on C3, D3, E3, F3 and G3.
• Middle C position. The two thumbs meet on middle C. The right hand stays on C4 to G4, and the left hand moves up to F3, G3, A3, B3 and C4, little finger on F3.

The middle C guide shows how to find the starting key on any keyboard, and the keyboard layout guide names every key around it.

Thumb under and finger over

A hand has five fingers, but a scale has seven different notes before it reaches the octave, so the hand has to move partway through. Pianists do it without a jump: the thumb passes under the hand to reach the next note, or a finger crosses over the thumb. The C major scale, one octave on white keys only, shows both moves:

The fingering splits the octave into a group of three notes and a group of four, fingers 1-2-3 and 1-2-3-4, with finger 5 used only at the far end. Two habits make crossings smooth. Start moving the thumb toward its next key as soon as it has played, so it arrives under the hand without a lurch. And keep the thumb off black keys where you can: it is the shortest finger, so scale fingerings are arranged to land it on white keys.

The same thumb-under and finger-over moves carry through the other scales and through long melodies that climb or fall. For the other scales and their notes, open the scale finder on our companion site. In printed music, the numbers sit beside notes on the grand staff, whose upper staff usually carries the right-hand part and lower staff the left.