Piano Scales and Arpeggios: The Fingering Rules for Every Key, Plus a 15-Minute Daily Routine

C major feels comfortable, and then other keys fall apart: in F major the right hand suddenly starts 1-2-3-4, and D♭ major seems to begin on the wrong finger altogether. None of it is arbitrary. Every major and minor scale on our worksheets is built from two finger groups, 1-2-3 and 1-2-3-4, joined where the thumb crosses, and three rules explain where those groups fall. Learn them and a new key's fingering will make sense before you play it.

Every fingering shown here is copied from our free worksheets, including Scales in Every Key, which gives each key in both hands with audio.

A young pianist's hands on the keys, fingers gently curved. Photo: zaui/Scott Catron, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

Start with five fingers on five keys

Put your right thumb on middle C and rest the other four fingers on D, E, F and G: one finger per key, and the hand never moves. That is the C five-finger position on our C 5-Finger Scale sheet. Pianists number the fingers from the thumb in both hands, so the thumb is 1 and the little finger is 5, and the left hand becomes a mirror image: put your left pinky on the C below middle C and walk up C, D, E, F, G with 5-4-3-2-1, as the left-hand sheet shows.

Now move the same shape up to G. Nothing changes: thumb on G, fingers on A, B, C and D (The G 5-Finger Scale). Our 5-Finger Positions in Every Key chart gives all 24 positions, and each minor position is the major one with finger 3 a half step lower, as in A minor. These five notes begin the key's scale, so the position you learn first is where that scale starts.

The C position in each hand, and the same shape moved to G. Going up, the right hand counts 1 to 5 and the left hand 5 to 1.

The one new move: the thumb tucks under

A one-octave scale has eight notes and you have five fingers, so the hand has to travel. In C major the right hand plays C, D and E with 1-2-3, then the thumb tucks under the hand to land on F, and 1-2-3-4-5 carries you from F to the top C. Coming down, the same moves run in reverse: 5-4-3-2-1 back to F, then finger 3 crosses over the thumb onto E. The left hand mirrors it, 5-4-3-2-1 up to G, then 3 crosses over the thumb onto A; coming down, its thumb passes under 3 at G. Our Thumb-Under: the Full Scale sheet shows both hands, and The Major Scale gives the whole-and-half-step recipe that every major key follows.

C major, one octave, from our Thumb-Under sheet. In the right hand the thumb passes under 3 to reach F, and coming down 3 crosses back over it to E. In the left hand, 3 crosses over the thumb from G to A.

The secret is to send the thumb early. While fingers 2 and 3 play, the thumb is already sliding under the palm, so it arrives without a bump. Keep the wrist level, with no elbow swing and no dip.

The right hand in C major, seen from the player's seat. Going up, the thumb sets off as 2 plays D and slides under the palm while 3 plays E; then it plays F. Coming down, 3 crosses over the thumb onto E, and the thumb follows the hand to C.

Before you play the whole scale, drill the crossing on its own: rock between E and F with 3 and 1 until the hand stops lurching, then between B and C with 4 and 1, the crossing you meet once you play two octaves. The left hand drills G and A with 1 and 3, then C and D with 1 and 4.

The crossing drill. Every pair of notes and fingers comes straight from the C major scale; on the way up, the crossing finger lands on F and C in the right hand and on A and D in the left.

Three rules behind the fingerings

1. Fingers come in groups of three and four. Each octave of a scale has seven different notes, and each hand covers them with one group of three fingers, 1-2-3, and one group of four, 1-2-3-4. Every group has the thumb at one end, so the thumb plays twice in every octave. Two octaves of C major read 123 1234 123 12345 in the right hand, where the last 5 simply ends the scale, and 54321 321 4321 321 in the left.

C major, two octaves, both hands. The right hand plays groups of 1-2-3 and 1-2-3-4, the left hand the same groups backward, and finger 4 plays once per octave in each hand: B in the right hand, D in the left.

2. The thumb plays white keys only. As our Fingering Principles sheet puts it, "The thumb is short, so it belongs on a white key." Across all 24 major and minor scales on our sheets, neither thumb lands on a black key, and no black key gets finger 5; the black keys go to the long fingers 2, 3 and 4. This rule fixes the groups completely in the black-key scales, and explains why some scales start on 2, 3 or 4.

3. Find finger 4 first. Apart from a scale's first or last note, finger 4 plays just one note per octave in each hand, and once it is in place the other fingers fall into line. That is why every Scales in Every Key sheet has a box called "Where finger 4 lands." In C major it is B in the right hand and D in the left. Set both 4s on their keys before you start a new scale and you will rarely get lost.

The three rules on one card. Together they fit every major and minor scale fingering on our sheets.

None of this is new. In 1839 Carl Czerny, a pupil of Beethoven and one of Franz Liszt's main teachers, set out the same C major rule in the fingering volume of his piano school: "in the right hand we place the thumb on C and F, and in the left hand on C and G."

Part of page 7 of "On Fingering," the second volume of Carl Czerny's Complete Theoretical and Practical Piano Forte School, Op. 500 (London, 1839). This English edition marks the thumb with a cross and numbers the other fingers 1 to 4; Britain adopted today's 1-to-5 system in the early 20th century. Image: public domain, Boston Public Library scan via the Internet Archive.

Same groups, new keys

G, D, A and E major use exactly C major's fingering in both hands, and each new sharp lands under a long finger. The right hand's 4 always plays the 7th note: F♯ in G major, C♯ in D, G♯ in A and D♯ in E. The left hand's 4 plays the 2nd note: A in G major, E in D, B in A and F♯ in E.

F major is the first exception. With C major's pattern the right thumb would land on B♭, so the right hand plays 1-2-3-4 from F to B♭ and 1-2-3-4 again from C up to F, the "4+4" that One-Octave Scales: G, F & D shows. Over two octaves the first C–D–E takes 1-2-3 and the pattern starts over. The left hand keeps C major's fingering. From F onward, every flat major key puts the right hand's 4 on B♭, and in F, B♭, E♭, A♭ and D♭ major the right thumb plays C and F. That is why B♭ major starts on 2, with the thumb on the C that follows. In the left hand of B♭, E♭, A♭ and D♭ major, 4 plays the 4th note: E♭, A♭, D♭ and G♭.

The right hand, two octaves up, in G, D, F and B♭ major. In the sharp keys finger 4 plays the 7th note; in the flat keys it plays B♭. F major's top F also takes 4, because the scale ends inside a group of four.

In three keys the thumb rule does most of the work for you. B, G♭ and D♭ major each have five black keys and only two white ones, so both thumbs take the white keys and the long fingers take the rest: in both hands, 2 and 3 play the group of two black keys and 2, 3 and 4 the group of three. Chopin liked to start here. In his sketch for a piano method he called C major "the easiest to read, and the most difficult for the hand, as it has no pivot," and advised beginning "with the one that places the hand at ease with the longer fingers on the black keys, like B major for instance."

The black-key scales, one octave each, right-hand fingers above the keys and left-hand fingers below. Both thumbs share the two white keys; 2-3 and 2-3-4 cover the black ones. In B major the left hand starts on 4 and the right hand ends on 5.

To finger a key you have not met yet, work it out before you play:

1. Write out the notes and circle the black keys.
2. Give the thumbs white keys only, and the black keys to 2, 3 and 4.
3. Fill each octave with one group of three and one group of four, starting on whichever finger makes the thumbs fit. If several starts fit, as in C major, place the right hand's 4 on the 7th note in C and the sharp major keys and on B♭ in the flat major keys.
4. Check your answer, and finger 4 in particular, against the key's sheet.

Write the Fingering gives you four scales to try this on, with the answers printed upside down.

Minor scales: one keynote, three forms

Minor comes in three forms, and our Three Minors sheet lets you hear them side by side. The natural minor uses only the notes of its key signature. The harmonic minor raises the 7th, so the scale leans home again; in C minor, B♭ becomes B♮, a step and a half above A♭. The melodic minor raises the 6th and the 7th on the way up and returns to the natural minor on the way down.

Our minor sheets in Scales in Every Key finger the harmonic form, two octaves in each hand. In A, E, B, D, G, C and F minor that fingering matches the major scale on the same keynote, in both hands. C minor plays like C major: in the right hand, E♭ and A♭ fall under 3 and B♮ under 4. The notes that change between the three forms, the 6th and 7th, never fall under a thumb in C minor, so the thumbs stay on C and F in the right hand and on G and C in the left whichever form you play. E♭ and B♭ minor keep the right-hand fingering of their majors but not the left, and the sheets give F♯, C♯ and G♯ minor fingerings of their own.

C minor in three forms. The harmonic minor keeps C major's right-hand fingering, 123 1234 123 12345. The natural signs mark the raised notes: B♮ in the harmonic form, A♮ and B♮ in the melodic form going up.

Contrary motion: an easier way to put hands together

Playing both hands together in parallel is harder than it sounds, because each hand changes position at a different moment. In C major the right thumb tucks under on F, but the left hand crosses 3 over on the way from G to A, and the two hands share a finger only on E and A, where both play 3, and on the C halfway up, where both thumbs land together (look back at the two-octave figure).

Contrary motion removes the problem. Start both thumbs on middle C and let the hands move apart: in C major both hands play the same finger on every note, and both thumbs tuck under at the same moment. The same mirror works in G, D, A and E major. Contrary-Motion Scales has every key, two octaves out and back, and its advice is simple: say the finger numbers out loud.

C major in contrary motion, two octaves out from middle C. The fingers above and below match note for note, and the thumbs tuck under together.

The chromatic scale: three fingers

The chromatic scale plays every key, white and black, one half step at a time. The Chromatic Scale sums up its fingering in one line: 3 on every black key and the thumb on every white key, except where two white keys sit side by side, E–F and B–C, which take 1 and 2. The right hand puts 2 on the upper key of each pair, F and C; the left hand puts it on the lower one, E and B. Coming down, every key keeps the finger it had going up. When you play hands together an octave apart, a 2 in one hand always meets a 1 in the other, as The Chromatic Scale: Both Hands shows, with audio.

The chromatic scale, hands together an octave apart. Finger 2 plays F and C in the right hand, E and B in the left. A 2 in one hand always lines up with a 1 in the other.

Arpeggios: the same rules, wider gaps

An arpeggio plays a chord one note at a time; the word comes from the Italian arpeggiare, to play on a harp. In one octave the hand never moves: the right hand plays C–E–G–C with 1-2-3-5 and the left hand plays it with 5-4-2-1. On our Arpeggios in Every Key sheets that one-octave fingering stays the same in all 24 keys, even where the thumb lands on a black key, as in D♭ major. Arpeggios: One Hand starts you off in C.

Two octaves need one crossing each way. The right hand plays 1-2-3, tucks the thumb under to the next C and finishes 1-2-3-5; the left hand plays 5-4-2-1, crosses 4 over the thumb onto E and finishes 2-1. Our Two-Octave Arpeggios sheets suggest playing each hand position as a block chord first, then jumping between the blocks. In D, A, E, B and G♭ major, whose 3rd is a black key, the two-octave left hand reaches it with 3 instead: 5-3-2-1 (C, G, F and E♭ minor keep 4 on their black 3rd). In D♭, A♭, E♭ and B♭ major, whose root is a black key, the right hand starts on 2 so the thumb can take the first white key; G♭ major, whose chord is all black keys, keeps 1-2-3 with the thumb on G♭.

The C major arpeggio. In one octave each hand keeps one position. In two octaves each hand moves once each way: the right thumb passes under to C going up and 3 crosses over to G coming down; the left hand's 4 crosses over to E going up and the thumb passes under to C coming down.

Inversions start the same three notes on the 3rd or the 5th. In C, both inversions take 1-2-4-5 in the right hand, while the left hand plays 5-4-2-1 for the first inversion, E–G–C–E, and 5-3-2-1 for the second, G–C–E–G. Primary Chord Arpeggios then moves the root-position shape to the I, IV and V chords of each key, with the same fingering every time.

C major arpeggio inversions, one octave up, starting on C, E and G. The right hand uses 1-2-4-5 for both inversions; the left hand changes from 5-4-2-1 to 5-3-2-1.

For a bigger sound, Cross-Hand Arpeggios sweeps one C chord across the keyboard, the left hand flying over the right. Four-note chords change the finger group. A dominant 7th such as G–B–D–F, or a diminished 7th such as B–D–F–A♭, plus the top root makes five notes for five fingers: 1-2-3-4-5 in the right hand and 5-4-3-2-1 in the left, one octave, no crossing. Dominant 7th Arpeggios covers the 12 major keys, and Diminished 7th Arpeggios shows why only three different diminished 7th chords exist.

Two four-note arpeggios, one octave up: G7 and B°7. Right-hand fingers are above the notes, left-hand fingers below (the left hand plays an octave lower). The 7th is F in G7 and A♭ in B°7.

A 15-minute daily routine

Czerny's fingering volume warns that "rules are valueless, if we have them only in our heads, and not also at our fingers ends." This scale-and-arpeggio routine takes fifteen minutes; keep the order the same every day:

1. Warm up, 2 minutes: this week's key as a five-finger position, up and down in each hand, from the 5-Finger Positions chart.
2. New scale, hands separately, 4 minutes: set both 4s on their keys, then play two octaves up and down with the metronome at 60, one note per click.
3. Hands together, 3 minutes: contrary motion first (a true mirror in C, G, D, A and E major), then both hands an octave apart, slower than you played them alone.
4. Arpeggio, 3 minutes: block each position, then play one octave and two; once root position is easy, add the 1st inversion, then the 2nd.
5. Chromatic scale, 1 minute: one octave in each hand, then together.
6. Rhythms, 2 minutes: play the new scale long-short, then short-long, then even again.

The daily routine in order. The times add up to 15 minutes; the new scale gets the most.

When a scale is clean at one speed, raise the metronome 4 to 8 clicks, the step our Tempo & the Metronome sheet suggests, and go back down as soon as notes break. Its golden rule is worth taping to the piano: "the metronome sets the speed of your accuracy, not your ambition."

A Wittner mechanical metronome on a walnut Petrof piano. Start at 60 and climb in small steps. Photo: Paco from Badajoz, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

Rhythm practice is a teaching tradition, not a research finding: the English pianist and teacher Graham Fitch calls it "a tried and tested method," and dotted rhythms "not a panacea for all technical problems." Make the long notes really long, not a lazy triplet, and finish with the even version.

Learn one new key a week, in the order our Scales in Every Key sheets follow around the circle of fifths: G, D, A and E, which copy C major; B, G♭ and D♭, the black-key scales; A♭, E♭ and B♭, with 4 on B♭; and F, with its 1-2-3-4. After those eleven weeks, go round again with the minors, starting with A, E and B minor. Once a week, trade the warm-up for Write the Fingering or Write the Scales. For a fuller plan with a technical focus, your own piece and a log, use Your Daily Technique Routine.

Free worksheets for this lesson

• Scales in Every Key — all 24 keys, both hands, with audio.
• The C 5-Finger Scale — the first position.
• The C 5-Finger Scale: Left Hand — the same position in the bass clef.
• The G 5-Finger Scale — the same shape on G.
• The A Minor 5-Finger Scale — the first minor position.
• 5-Finger Positions in Every Key — all 24 positions on keyboard maps.
• Thumb-Under: the Full Scale — the crossing in C major.
• The Major Scale — the whole-and-half-step recipe.
• One-Octave Scales: G, F & D — three new keys, including F.
• Fingering Principles — positions, crossings and the thumb rule.
• Write the Fingering — scales and passages to finger yourself.
• The Three Minors — natural, harmonic and melodic, with audio.
• Write the Scales — major and minor scales to write out.
• Contrary-Motion Scales — every key, with audio.
• The Chromatic Scale — one octave and its fingering.
• The Chromatic Scale: Both Hands — hands together, with audio.
• Arpeggios: One Hand — the C major arpeggio in each hand.
• Cross-Hand Arpeggios — one chord across the keyboard.
• Arpeggios in Every Key — one octave, all 24 keys, with audio.
• Two-Octave Arpeggios in Every Key — with inversions and audio.
• Primary Chord Arpeggios in Every Key — I, IV and V, broken open.
• Dominant 7th Arpeggios — the V7 of all 12 major keys.
• Diminished 7th Arpeggios — the three diminished 7th chords.
• Tempo & the Metronome — raising the speed safely, with audio.
• How to Practice — five steps per session.
• Your Daily Technique Routine — the full 15-minute plan, with a log.

One key a week

Three rules lie behind every major and minor scale fingering on our sheets: two finger groups, thumbs on white keys, and finger 4 as the anchor. Arpeggios use the same thumb crossing over wider gaps, and the chromatic scale needs only three fingers. Print this week's key, set the metronome to 60 and give it fifteen minutes tomorrow.

If you want a second pair of eyes on your thumb crossing, a Tissimo piano teacher can check your fingering and your evenness in a live lesson and help you choose the next key.

Sources

• Complete Theoretical and Practical Piano Forte School, Op. 500, Vol. 2: On Fingering (Czerny, 1839) — Internet Archive
• Carl Czerny — Wikipedia
• Fingering (music) — Wikipedia
• A Practical Theory Lesson (Graham Fitch) — Practising the Piano
• Chopin's Pedagogy: A Practical Approach (David Korevaar) — University of Colorado
• A Scale Plan (Graham Fitch) — Practising the Piano
• On Dotted Rhythms (Graham Fitch) — Practising the Piano
• Graham Fitch — Wikipedia
• Minor scale — Wikipedia
• Arpeggio — Wikipedia